diff --git a/cheta/comps/ephem_stk.py b/cheta/comps/ephem_stk.py
index 63e5abf1..ec0b538c 100644
--- a/cheta/comps/ephem_stk.py
+++ b/cheta/comps/ephem_stk.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 from astropy.table import Column, Table
 from cxotime import CxoTime, CxoTimeLike
 from kadi import occweb
-from ska_helpers.retry import retry_call
 
 from .computed_msid import ComputedMsid
 
@@ -178,14 +177,8 @@ def read_stk_file_from_occweb(path: str | Path, format_out="stk", **kwargs) -> T
         Table of ephemeris data.
     """
     logger.info(f"Reading OCCweb STK file {path}")
-    text = retry_call(
-        occweb.get_occweb_page,
-        args=[path],
-        kwargs={"timeout": 10} | kwargs,
-        tries=3,
-        backoff=2,
-        logger=logger,
-    )
+    kwargs = {"timeout": 10} | kwargs
+    text = occweb.get_occweb_page(path, **kwargs)
     out = parse_stk_file_text(text, format_out=format_out)
     return out
 
@@ -309,7 +302,7 @@ def get_ephem_stk_paths(
     # Then try OCCweb
     for dir_path in [EPHEM_STK_RECENT_DIR, EPHEM_STK_ARCHIVE_DIR]:
         logger.info(f"Checking OCCweb directory {dir_path}")
-        files = occweb.get_occweb_dir(dir_path)
+        files = occweb.get_occweb_dir(dir_path, timeout=5)
         files_stk.extend(find_stk_files(files["Name"], dir_path, "occweb", start, stop))
         if latest_only and any(f["start"] <= start for f in files_stk):
             break
diff --git a/cheta/tests/test_comps.py b/cheta/tests/test_comps.py
index bf4c8a9e..4ab036b1 100644
--- a/cheta/tests/test_comps.py
+++ b/cheta/tests/test_comps.py
@@ -9,12 +9,15 @@
 import astropy.units as u
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
+import requests
+import ska_helpers.retry.api
 from cxotime import CxoTime
 from Quaternion import Quat
+from ska_helpers import retry
 
 from .. import fetch as fetch_cxc
 from .. import fetch_eng, fetch_sci
-from ..comps import ComputedMsid
+from ..comps import ComputedMsid, ephem_stk
 from ..comps.ephem_stk import (
     EPHEM_STK_DIRS_DEFAULT,
     get_ephem_stk_paths,
@@ -626,3 +629,25 @@ def test_dp_roll_css():
     )
     # fmt: on
     assert np.allclose(vals, exp, rtol=0, atol=2e-4)
+
+
+def test_stk_ephem_timeout(monkeypatch, tmp_path, clear_lru_cache):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        ephem_stk, "EPHEM_STK_CACHE_DIR_DEFAULT", str(tmp_path / "cache")
+    )
+    mock_requests_get = retry.MockFuncFailure(requests.get, n_fail=1)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(requests, "get", mock_requests_get)
+    # Make the test run faster by monkeypatching the default retry delay
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        ska_helpers.retry.api,
+        "RETRY_DEFAULTS",
+        ska_helpers.retry.api.RETRY_DEFAULTS | {"delay": 0.01},
+    )
+
+    result = fetch_cxc.Msid("orbitephem_stk_x", "2023:001", "2023:002")
+
+    assert result.MSID == "ORBITEPHEM_STK_X"
+    # Three places call requests.get (once via get_occweb_dir). Each of those will
+    # have at least one fail and one success, so >= 6 calls total. There could be a
+    # bona-fide network failure giving more than 6 calls.
+    assert len(mock_requests_get.calls) >= 6