diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 4df0c6919..298456dc6 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -2940,10 +2940,9 @@ operate(struct Configurable *config, int argc, char *argv[])
   int res = 0;
   int i;
   int up; /* upload file counter within a single upload glob */
-  long retry_sleep_default = config->retry_delay?
-    config->retry_delay*1000:RETRY_SLEEP_DEFAULT; /* ms */
+  long retry_sleep_default;
   long retry_numretries;
-  long retry_sleep = retry_sleep_default;
+  long retry_sleep;
   long response;
   struct timeval retrystart;
 
@@ -3050,6 +3049,10 @@ operate(struct Configurable *config, int argc, char *argv[])
     }
   }
 
+  retry_sleep_default = config->retry_delay?
+    config->retry_delay*1000:RETRY_SLEEP_DEFAULT; /* ms */
+  retry_sleep = retry_sleep_default;
+
   if((!config->url_list || !config->url_list->url) && !config->list_engines) {
     clean_getout(config);
     helpf("no URL specified!\n");