diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 4d1b4b510989..58e4da1474f2 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -14,14 +14,13 @@ markers =
     service(arg): a service integration test. For example 'docker'
     enable_api_log_handler: by default, sending logs to the API is disabled. Tests marked with this use the handler.
     clear_db: marker to clear the database after test completion
-    enable_client_retries: by default, client retries are disabled. Tests with this mark turn on retries.
 
 env =
     # NOTE: Additional Prefect setting values are set dynamically in conftest.py
     PREFECT_TEST_MODE = 1
 
 asyncio_mode = auto
-timeout = 45
+timeout = 90
 
 # Error on unhandled warnings
 filterwarnings =
diff --git a/src/prefect/cli/cloud/__init__.py b/src/prefect/cli/cloud/__init__.py
index ca81f4678b91..2eaafafed26d 100644
--- a/src/prefect/cli/cloud/__init__.py
+++ b/src/prefect/cli/cloud/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 import traceback
 import urllib.parse
 import webbrowser
-from asyncio import CancelledError
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from typing import Hashable, Iterable, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
@@ -428,8 +427,6 @@ async def login(
             )
         except httpx.HTTPStatusError as exc:
             exit_with_error(f"Error connecting to Prefect Cloud: {exc!r}")
-        except (CancelledError, TimeoutError):
-            exit_with_error("Error connecting to Prefect Cloud: Connection timed out.")
 
     if workspace_handle:
         # Search for the given workspace
diff --git a/src/prefect/cli/profile.py b/src/prefect/cli/profile.py
index 3e7866846393..c2065b74bb5d 100644
--- a/src/prefect/cli/profile.py
+++ b/src/prefect/cli/profile.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 import os
 import textwrap
-from asyncio import CancelledError
 from typing import Optional
 
 import httpx
@@ -289,8 +288,6 @@ async def check_orion_connection():
                     return ConnectionStatus.EPHEMERAL
                 else:
                     return ConnectionStatus.ORION_CONNECTED
-            except (CancelledError, TimeoutError):
-                return ConnectionStatus.ORION_ERROR
             except Exception as exc:
                 return ConnectionStatus.ORION_ERROR
         else:
@@ -313,5 +310,3 @@ async def check_orion_connection():
             return ConnectionStatus.ORION_ERROR
     except (httpx.ConnectError, httpx.UnsupportedProtocol):
         return ConnectionStatus.INVALID_API
-    except (CancelledError, TimeoutError):
-        return ConnectionStatus.CLOUD_ERROR
diff --git a/src/prefect/client/base.py b/src/prefect/client/base.py
index 789fb3397370..b3c883d8db17 100644
--- a/src/prefect/client/base.py
+++ b/src/prefect/client/base.py
@@ -302,7 +302,6 @@ async def send(self, request: Request, *args, **kwargs) -> Response:
         - 403 Forbidden, if the request failed due to CSRF protection
         - 408 Request Timeout
         - 429 CloudFlare-style rate limiting
-        - 500 Internal server error
         - 502 Bad Gateway
         - 503 Service unavailable
         - Any additional status codes provided in `PREFECT_CLIENT_RETRY_EXTRA_CODES`
@@ -318,7 +317,6 @@ async def send(self, request: Request, *args, **kwargs) -> Response:
                 status.HTTP_429_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS,
                 status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
                 status.HTTP_502_BAD_GATEWAY,
-                status.HTTP_500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
                 status.HTTP_408_REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
                 *PREFECT_CLIENT_RETRY_EXTRA_CODES.value(),
             },
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_profile.py b/tests/cli/test_profile.py
index 1d16755b5d7c..fe34824719ca 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_profile.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_profile.py
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ def profiles(self):
                     settings={
                         "PREFECT_API_URL": prefect_cloud_orion_api_url,
                         "PREFECT_API_KEY": "a working cloud api key",
-                        "PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES": 0,
                     },
                 ),
                 Profile(
@@ -58,19 +57,17 @@ def profiles(self):
                     settings={
                         "PREFECT_API_URL": prefect_cloud_orion_api_url,
                         "PREFECT_API_KEY": "a broken cloud api key",
-                        "PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES": 0,
                     },
                 ),
                 Profile(
                     name="hosted-orion",
                     settings={
                         "PREFECT_API_URL": hosted_orion_api_url,
-                        "PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES": 0,
                     },
                 ),
                 Profile(
                     name="ephemeral-prefect",
-                    settings={"PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES": 0},
+                    settings={},
                 ),
             ],
             active=None,
@@ -167,7 +164,6 @@ def test_unauthorized_cloud_connection(self, unauthorized_cloud, profiles):
 
     def test_unhealthy_cloud_connection(self, unhealthy_cloud, profiles):
         save_profiles(profiles)
-
         invoke_and_assert(
             ["profile", "use", "prefect-cloud"],
             expected_output_contains="Error connecting to Prefect Cloud",
diff --git a/tests/client/test_base_client.py b/tests/client/test_base_client.py
index 23d4c12be9e3..2cc1d9064a31 100644
--- a/tests/client/test_base_client.py
+++ b/tests/client/test_base_client.py
@@ -76,11 +76,6 @@ def disable_jitter():
         yield
 
 
-# Enable client retries for all tests in this module, as many rely on
-# retry functionality
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
-
 class TestPrefectHttpxClient:
     @pytest.mark.usefixtures("mock_anyio_sleep", "disable_jitter")
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -90,7 +85,6 @@ class TestPrefectHttpxClient:
             status.HTTP_429_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS,
             status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
             status.HTTP_502_BAD_GATEWAY,
-            status.HTTP_500_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
         ],
     )
     async def test_prefect_httpx_client_retries_on_designated_error_codes(
diff --git a/tests/client/test_prefect_client.py b/tests/client/test_prefect_client.py
index f10411258a30..f62341b83d04 100644
--- a/tests/client/test_prefect_client.py
+++ b/tests/client/test_prefect_client.py
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@
     PREFECT_API_TLS_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY,
     PREFECT_API_URL,
     PREFECT_CLIENT_CSRF_SUPPORT_ENABLED,
-    PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES,
     PREFECT_CLOUD_API_URL,
     PREFECT_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_FLOW_RUN_INFRA_OVERRIDES,
     PREFECT_UNIT_TEST_MODE,
@@ -89,10 +88,6 @@
 from prefect.tasks import task
 from prefect.testing.utilities import AsyncMock, exceptions_equal
 
-# Enable client retries for all tests in this module, as many rely on
-# retry functionality
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def enable_infra_overrides():
@@ -2125,12 +2120,11 @@ async def raise_error():
     app = create_app(ephemeral=True)
     app.api_app.add_api_route("/raise_error", raise_error)
 
-    with temporary_settings({PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES: 0}):
-        async with PrefectClient(
-            api=app,
-        ) as client:
-            with pytest.raises(prefect.exceptions.HTTPStatusError, match="500"):
-                await client._client.get("/raise_error")
+    async with PrefectClient(
+        api=app,
+    ) as client:
+        with pytest.raises(prefect.exceptions.HTTPStatusError, match="500"):
+            await client._client.get("/raise_error")
 
 
 async def test_prefect_client_follow_redirects():
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index e8273198f7cf..f2fcb4b64d86 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@
     PREFECT_ASYNC_FETCH_STATE_RESULT,
     PREFECT_CLI_COLORS,
     PREFECT_CLI_WRAP_LINES,
-    PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES,
     PREFECT_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_ENHANCED_CANCELLATION,
     PREFECT_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_WORKERS,
     PREFECT_EXPERIMENTAL_WARN_ENHANCED_CANCELLATION,
@@ -329,8 +328,6 @@ def pytest_sessionstart(session):
             PREFECT_API_BLOCKS_REGISTER_ON_START: False,
             # Code is being executed in a unit test context
             PREFECT_UNIT_TEST_MODE: True,
-            # Disable retries unless we opt in explicitly to test retries
-            PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES: 0,
         },
         source=__file__,
     )
diff --git a/tests/docker/test_image_builder_assertions.py b/tests/docker/test_image_builder_assertions.py
index b2feb0bd2e8e..f87393dd5bbf 100644
--- a/tests/docker/test_image_builder_assertions.py
+++ b/tests/docker/test_image_builder_assertions.py
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 from prefect.testing.docker import capture_builders
 from prefect.utilities.dockerutils import ImageBuilder
 
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def contexts() -> Path:
diff --git a/tests/docker/test_image_builds.py b/tests/docker/test_image_builds.py
index 6089efd1bffc..73c9e00ea865 100644
--- a/tests/docker/test_image_builds.py
+++ b/tests/docker/test_image_builds.py
@@ -22,11 +22,8 @@
 
 IMAGE_ID_PATTERN = re.compile("^sha256:[a-fA-F0-9]{64}$")
 
-pytestmark = [
-    pytest.mark.service("docker"),
-    pytest.mark.timeout(120.0),
-    pytest.mark.enable_client_retries,
-]
+
+pytestmark = [pytest.mark.service("docker"), pytest.mark.timeout(120.0)]
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/docker/test_image_parsing.py b/tests/docker/test_image_parsing.py
index f96c98ab41cb..292a9426f7b2 100644
--- a/tests/docker/test_image_parsing.py
+++ b/tests/docker/test_image_parsing.py
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
     split_repository_path,
 )
 
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "value,expected",
diff --git a/tests/docker/test_registry_pushes.py b/tests/docker/test_registry_pushes.py
index 85d60f5d0fb8..ac652eec20fa 100644
--- a/tests/docker/test_registry_pushes.py
+++ b/tests/docker/test_registry_pushes.py
@@ -20,11 +20,7 @@
     from docker import DockerClient
     from docker.errors import NotFound
 
-pytestmark = [
-    pytest.mark.service("docker"),
-    pytest.mark.timeout(120.0),
-    pytest.mark.enable_client_retries,
-]
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.service("docker")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/engine/reliability/test_deadlocks.py b/tests/engine/reliability/test_deadlocks.py
index bd08ce2f8435..cc26ab7ad195 100644
--- a/tests/engine/reliability/test_deadlocks.py
+++ b/tests/engine/reliability/test_deadlocks.py
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@
 
 from prefect import flow
 
-# Enable client retries for all tests in this module, as many rely on
-# retry functionality
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @pytest.mark.skip(reason="This test takes multiple minutes")
 def test_map_wait_for_many_tasks():
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/client.py b/tests/fixtures/client.py
index 5cff970be5cd..48c302ad3297 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/client.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures/client.py
@@ -5,11 +5,7 @@
 from prefect import flow
 from prefect.blocks.core import Block
 from prefect.client.orchestration import PrefectClient, get_client
-from prefect.settings import (
-    PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES,
-    PREFECT_CLOUD_API_URL,
-    temporary_settings,
-)
+from prefect.settings import PREFECT_CLOUD_API_URL
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -53,19 +49,3 @@ class x(Block):
         foo: str
 
     return x
-
-
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def enable_client_retries_if_marked(request):
-    """
-    Client retries are disabled during testing by default to reduce overhead.
-
-    Test functions or classes can be marked with `@pytest.mark.enable_client_retries`
-    to turn on client retries if they are testing retry functionality.
-    """
-    marker = request.node.get_closest_marker("enable_client_retries")
-    if marker is not None:
-        with temporary_settings(updates={PREFECT_CLIENT_MAX_RETRIES: 5}):
-            yield True
-    else:
-        yield False
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/logging.py b/tests/fixtures/logging.py
index 2e60f931a8d2..d70cab06ec02 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/logging.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures/logging.py
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from prefect.logging.handlers import APILogHandler
-from prefect.settings import (
-    PREFECT_LOGGING_TO_API_ENABLED,
-    temporary_settings,
-)
+from prefect.settings import PREFECT_LOGGING_TO_API_ENABLED, temporary_settings
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
diff --git a/tests/runner/test_runner.py b/tests/runner/test_runner.py
index 773f9b8cf36f..fd182500047e 100644
--- a/tests/runner/test_runner.py
+++ b/tests/runner/test_runner.py
@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@
 from prefect.testing.utilities import AsyncMock
 from prefect.utilities.dockerutils import parse_image_tag
 
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @flow(version="test")
 def dummy_flow_1():
diff --git a/tests/server/orchestration/test_core_policy.py b/tests/server/orchestration/test_core_policy.py
index 3fa017a1ef8f..1e831ffe8d05 100644
--- a/tests/server/orchestration/test_core_policy.py
+++ b/tests/server/orchestration/test_core_policy.py
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ async def before_transition(self, initial_state, proposed_state, context):
     return FizzlingRule
 
 
-# @pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("run_type", ["task", "flow"])
 class TestWaitForScheduledTimeRule:
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
diff --git a/tests/utilities/test_importtools.py b/tests/utilities/test_importtools.py
index 22c5bd3d5692..7284fd1fafce 100644
--- a/tests/utilities/test_importtools.py
+++ b/tests/utilities/test_importtools.py
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@ class Foo:
 # Note we use the hosted API to avoid Postgres engine caching errors
 pytest.mark.usefixtures("hosted_orion")
 
-# Enable client retries for all tests in this module, as many rely on
-# retry functionality
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.enable_client_retries
-
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "obj,expected",