diff --git a/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer-node.test.ts b/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer-node.test.ts
index 440072ece77..0910c99b996 100644
--- a/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer-node.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer-node.test.ts
@@ -156,39 +156,28 @@ describe('pinned runtime archive request ownership', () => {
 // used to see only Chromium's bare `net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED` under "couldn't start its server".
 describe('a pinned runtime archive this computer cannot download', () => {
   it('says this computer could not reach the download, and where an offline copy goes', async () => {
-    vi.useFakeTimers({ toFake: ['setTimeout', 'clearTimeout'] })
-    try {
-      const cacheRoot = join(root, 'cache')
-      const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>(async () => {
-        throw new Error('net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED')
-      })
-      let settled = false
-      const failure = materializeNodeRuntimeArchive(TARGET, cacheRoot, { fetcher }).catch(
-        (error: unknown) => error
-      )
-      void failure.finally(() => (settled = true))
-      // Real file I/O runs between the retry pauses, so yield to it before skipping each pause.
-      for (let turn = 0; !settled && turn < 1_000; turn += 1) {
-        await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve))
-        vi.advanceTimersByTime(10_000)
-      }
-      const error = await failure
-      expect(fetcher).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4)
-      const offlinePath = join(cacheRoot, 'node', 'archives', originalAsset.archive)
+    const cacheRoot = join(root, 'cache')
+    const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>(async () => {
+      throw new Error('net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED')
+    })
+    // Every attempt still runs; only the pauses between them are skipped.
+    const error = await materializeNodeRuntimeArchive(TARGET, cacheRoot, {
+      fetcher,
+      retryDelaysMs: [0, 0, 0]
+    }).catch((caught: unknown) => caught)
+    expect(fetcher).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4)
+    const offlinePath = join(cacheRoot, 'node', 'archives', originalAsset.archive)
 
-      expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error)
-      const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : ''
-      expect(message).toContain("This computer couldn't download Node from https://")
-      expect(message).toContain(`/v${NODE_RUNTIME_PIN.version}/${originalAsset.archive}`)
-      expect(message).toContain('(net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED)')
-      expect(message).toContain("the host doesn't need internet access")
-      expect(message).toContain(`copy it to ${offlinePath}`)
-      expect(error instanceof Error ? error.cause : null).toMatchObject({
-        message: 'net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED'
-      })
-    } finally {
-      vi.useRealTimers()
-    }
+    expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(Error)
+    const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : ''
+    expect(message).toContain("This computer couldn't download Node from https://")
+    expect(message).toContain(`/v${NODE_RUNTIME_PIN.version}/${originalAsset.archive}`)
+    expect(message).toContain('(net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED)')
+    expect(message).toContain("the host doesn't need internet access")
+    expect(message).toContain(`copy it to ${offlinePath}`)
+    expect(error instanceof Error ? error.cause : null).toMatchObject({
+      message: 'net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED'
+    })
   })
 
   it.skipIf(process.platform === 'win32')(
diff --git a/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer.ts b/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer.ts
index 3a94e584001..133f8ecb55e 100644
--- a/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer.ts
+++ b/src/main/node-runtime/pinned-runtime-materializer.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import {
 export type PinnedRuntimeMaterializeOptions = {
   fetcher?: MainHttpClient['fetch']
   signal?: AbortSignal
+  retryDelaysMs?: readonly number[]
 }
 
 export type PinnedRuntimeArchive = {
@@ -69,7 +70,8 @@ export async function materializeVerifiedRuntimeArchive(
       archive,
       downloaded,
       options.fetcher ?? getMainHttpClient().fetch,
-      options.signal
+      options.signal,
+      options.retryDelaysMs
     ).catch((error: unknown) => {
       throw unreachableArchiveError(archive, cached.path, error, options.signal)
     })
@@ -138,7 +140,8 @@ export async function materializeCachedRuntimeExecutable(
       runtime,
       archivePath,
       options.fetcher ?? getMainHttpClient().fetch,
-      options.signal
+      options.signal,
+      options.retryDelaysMs
     )
     options.signal?.throwIfAborted()
     const extractedDir = join(temporaryDir, 'extracted')