diff --git a/packages/core/src/test/testRunner.ts b/packages/core/src/test/testRunner.ts
index b53b555564f..9ba9c7cd01e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/test/testRunner.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/test/testRunner.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export async function runTests(
     testFolder: string | string[],
     extensionId: string,
     initTests: string[] = [],
-    testFiles?: string[]
+    options?: { retries?: number; testFiles?: string[] }
 ): Promise<void> {
     if (!process.env['AWS_TOOLKIT_AUTOMATION']) {
         throw new Error('Expected the "AWS_TOOLKIT_AUTOMATION" environment variable to be set for tests.')
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export async function runTests(
                 mochaFile: outputFile,
             },
         },
-        retries: 3, // runs a max of 4 times (3 retries + original)
+        retries: options?.retries ?? 0,
         timeout: 0,
     })
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ export async function runTests(
         testFilePath = testFile ? path.resolve(dist, testFile) : undefined
     }
 
-    if (testFile && testFiles) {
+    if (testFile && options?.testFiles) {
         throw new Error('Individual file and list of files given to run tests on. One must be chosen.')
     }
 
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ export async function runTests(
     }
 
     let files: string[] = []
-    if (testFiles) {
-        files = testFiles
+    if (options?.testFiles) {
+        files = options.testFiles
     } else {
         for (const f of Array.isArray(testFolder) ? testFolder : [testFolder]) {
             files = [...files, ...(await glob(testFilePath ?? `**/${f}/**/**.test.js`, { cwd: dist }))]
diff --git a/packages/toolkit/test/unit/index.ts b/packages/toolkit/test/unit/index.ts
index 998953c7fd4..6f2052d5647 100644
--- a/packages/toolkit/test/unit/index.ts
+++ b/packages/toolkit/test/unit/index.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ import { runTests } from 'aws-core-vscode/test'
 import { VSCODE_EXTENSION_ID } from 'aws-core-vscode/utils'
 
 export function run(): Promise<void> {
-    return runTests(process.env.TEST_DIR ?? ['test/unit', '../../core/dist/src/test'], VSCODE_EXTENSION_ID.awstoolkit, [
-        '../../core/dist/src/test/globalSetup.test.ts',
-    ])
+    return runTests(
+        process.env.TEST_DIR ?? ['test/unit', '../../core/dist/src/test'],
+        VSCODE_EXTENSION_ID.awstoolkit,
+        ['../../core/dist/src/test/globalSetup.test.ts'],
+        { retries: 3 }
+    )
 }