diff --git a/lib/handler/retry-handler.js b/lib/handler/retry-handler.js
index 07b0ff83e00..d929b0c2ae0 100644
--- a/lib/handler/retry-handler.js
+++ b/lib/handler/retry-handler.js
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class RetryHandler {
         ? Math.min(retryAfterHeader, maxTimeout)
         : Math.min(minTimeout * timeoutFactor ** (counter - 1), maxTimeout)
 
-    setTimeout(() => cb(null), retryTimeout).unref()
+    setTimeout(() => cb(null), retryTimeout)
   }
 
   onResponseStart (controller, statusCode, headers, statusMessage) {