diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 92ca247..84ab9de 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v7
         with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
+          python-version: "3.11"
           cache: 'pip'
 
       - name: Install Python dependencies
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v7
         with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
+          python-version: "3.11"
           cache: 'pip'
 
       - name: Install Python dependencies
@@ -160,6 +160,43 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
     
+  test_retries:
+    name: Test retry inputs
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        os: [ ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest ]
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: bash
+    steps:
+
+      - name: Checkout repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
+
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v7
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+          cache: 'pip'
+
+      - name: Install Python dependencies
+        run: pip install -r test/requirements.txt
+
+      - name: Install executables
+        uses: ./
+        with:
+          path: ""
+          cache: 'false'
+          retries: 5
+          retry_wait_seconds: 1
+
+      - name: Test installation
+        run: python test/test.py "" "executables"
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
   test_tag:
     name: Test release tag input
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
@@ -179,7 +216,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v7
         with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
+          python-version: "3.11"
           cache: 'pip'
 
       - name: Install Python dependencies
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cee590d..88e80a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ An action to setup MODFLOW 6 and related programs.
   - [`subset`](#subset)
   - [`cache`](#cache)
   - [`ostag`](#ostag)
+  - [`retries`](#retries)
+  - [`retry_wait_seconds`](#retry_wait_seconds)
 - [Outputs](#outputs)
   - [`cache-hit`](#cache-hit)
 - [MODFLOW Resources](#modflow-resources)
@@ -66,6 +68,8 @@ The action accepts the following optional inputs:
 - `owner`
 - `path`
 - `repo`
+- `retries`
+- `retry_wait_seconds`
 - `subset`
 - `tag`
 
@@ -116,6 +120,16 @@ The `cache` input is a boolean that controls whether the action caches the MODFL
 
 The `ostag` input allows selecting a release by operating system. By default, this is the system the action is running on. Typically one will not need to override this default — one reason to do so is to select an Intel macOS distribution on an ARM macOS runner.
 
+### `retries`
+
+The `retries` input is the number of extra attempts the action makes to download the executables before giving up. The default is `3`. Set it to `0` to attempt the download only once.
+
+This value is also passed to `curl` (via `--retry`) for the release metadata and install script requests.
+
+### `retry_wait_seconds`
+
+The number of seconds to wait between download attempts. The default is `5`.
+
 ## Outputs
 
 The action has the following outputs:
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index a4a6c51..aef4f23 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,15 @@ inputs:
     description: Operating system tag; default is to automatically choose.
     required: false
     default: ''
-  
+  retries:
+    description: Number of times to retry the download if it fails (e.g. a reset connection). Set to 0 to disable.
+    required: false
+    default: '3'
+  retry_wait_seconds:
+    description: Seconds to wait between download attempts.
+    required: false
+    default: '5'
+
 outputs:
   cache-hit:
     description: Whether the installation was restored from cache
@@ -79,7 +87,7 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         # get info for the executables repository's latest release
-        release_json=$(curl -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $GH_TOKEN" "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ inputs.owner }}/${{ inputs.repo }}/releases/latest") || echo "No release to check, skipping"
+        release_json=$(curl --retry ${{ inputs.retries }} --retry-all-errors --retry-delay ${{ inputs.retry_wait_seconds }} -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $GH_TOKEN" "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ inputs.owner }}/${{ inputs.repo }}/releases/latest") || echo "No release to check, skipping"
 
         # get asset ID of the release's metadata file, if one exists
         get_download_url="
@@ -97,7 +105,7 @@ runs:
         # asset_id is empty if code.json asset wasn't found on the release
         if [[ -n "$download_url" ]]; then
           echo "Downloading code.json from $download_url to $code_json"
-          curl -L -H "Authorization: Bearer $GH_TOKEN" "$download_url" >> "$code_json"
+          curl -L --retry ${{ inputs.retries }} --retry-all-errors --retry-delay ${{ inputs.retry_wait_seconds }} -H "Authorization: Bearer $GH_TOKEN" "$download_url" >> "$code_json"
           echo "Found code.json for distribution '${{ inputs.repo }}' with contents:"
           cat "$code_json"
         else
@@ -161,6 +169,10 @@ runs:
           export SSL_CERT_FILE="$cert_file"
         fi
 
+        retries="${{ inputs.retries }}"
+        wait_seconds="${{ inputs.retry_wait_seconds }}"
+        max_attempts=$((retries + 1))
+
         # download the installation script if necessary
         if command -v get-modflow &> /dev/null
         then
@@ -169,12 +181,26 @@ runs:
         else
           echo "get-modflow command not available, downloading install script"
           script_path="$RUNNER_TEMP/get_modflow.py"
-          curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modflowpy/flopy/develop/flopy/utils/get_modflow.py -o "$script_path"
+          curl --fail --silent --show-error --location \
+            --retry "$retries" --retry-all-errors --retry-delay "$wait_seconds" \
+            https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modflowpy/flopy/develop/flopy/utils/get_modflow.py -o "$script_path"
           cmd="python3 $script_path"
         fi
 
+        # the download reaches out to github and occasionally has its connection
+        # reset, so retry a few times before giving up (see the retries input)
         echo "starting installation"
-        $cmd $MODFLOW_BIN_PATH $args
+        attempt=1
+        until $cmd $MODFLOW_BIN_PATH $args; do
+          status=$?
+          if [ "$attempt" -ge "$max_attempts" ]; then
+            echo "get-modflow failed after $attempt attempt(s) (exit $status)"
+            exit $status
+          fi
+          echo "get-modflow attempt $attempt/$max_attempts failed (exit $status); retrying in ${wait_seconds}s"
+          attempt=$((attempt + 1))
+          sleep "$wait_seconds"
+        done
       env:
         GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ steps.set-github-token.outputs.token }}