diff --git a/examples/component-actions/zarf.yaml b/examples/component-actions/zarf.yaml
index 357c37a184..717a146b45 100644
--- a/examples/component-actions/zarf.yaml
+++ b/examples/component-actions/zarf.yaml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ components:
               - thing=stuff
             # maxRetries is the number of times to retry the action if it fails
             maxRetries: 0
-            # maxTotalSeconds is the maximum amount of times the action can run before it is killed, including retries
+            # maxTotalSeconds is the maximum amount of times the action can run before it is killed, over all retries
             maxTotalSeconds: 30
             # mute determine if actions output should be printed to the console
             mute: false
@@ -145,12 +145,10 @@ components:
     actions:
       # runs during "zarf package deploy"
       onDeploy:
-        # defaults allow you to specify default values for the actions in that acitonSet
+        # defaults allow you to specify default values for the actions in that actionSet
         defaults:
-          # maxTotalSeconds is the maximum amount of time the action can run before it is killed, including retries
+          # maxTotalSeconds is the maximum amount of time the action can run before it is killed, over all retries
           maxTotalSeconds: 1
-          # maxRetries is the maximum number of times the action will be retried on failure
-          maxRetries: 3
         before:
           # this action will fail after 1 second
           - cmd: sleep 10
diff --git a/src/pkg/packager/actions.go b/src/pkg/packager/actions.go
index 5f92085c4f..75d2cc1822 100644
--- a/src/pkg/packager/actions.go
+++ b/src/pkg/packager/actions.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ func (p *Packager) runAction(defaultCfg types.ZarfComponentActionDefaults, actio
 	timeout := time.After(duration)
 
 	// Keep trying until the max retries is reached.
+retryCmd:
 	for remaining := cfg.MaxRetries + 1; remaining > 0; remaining-- {
 
 		// Perform the action run.
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ func (p *Packager) runAction(defaultCfg types.ZarfComponentActionDefaults, actio
 		if cfg.MaxTotalSeconds < 1 {
 			spinner.Updatef("Waiting for \"%s\" (no timeout)", cmdEscaped)
 			if err := tryCmd(context.TODO()); err != nil {
-				continue
+				continue retryCmd
 			}
 
 			return nil
@@ -144,23 +145,31 @@ func (p *Packager) runAction(defaultCfg types.ZarfComponentActionDefaults, actio
 		// Run the command on repeat until success or timeout.
 		spinner.Updatef("Waiting for \"%s\" (timeout: %ds)", cmdEscaped, cfg.MaxTotalSeconds)
 		select {
-		// On timeout abort.
+		// On timeout break the loop to abort.
 		case <-timeout:
-			cancel()
-			return fmt.Errorf("command \"%s\" timed out", cmdEscaped)
+			break retryCmd
 
 		// Otherwise, try running the command.
 		default:
 			ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), duration)
 			defer cancel()
-			if err := tryCmd(ctx); err == nil {
-				return nil
+			if err := tryCmd(ctx); err != nil {
+				continue retryCmd
 			}
+
+			return nil
 		}
 	}
 
-	// If we've reached this point, the retry limit has been reached.
-	return fmt.Errorf("command \"%s\" failed after %d retries", cmdEscaped, cfg.MaxRetries)
+	select {
+	case <-timeout:
+		// If we reached this point, the timeout was reached.
+		return fmt.Errorf("command \"%s\" timed out after %d seconds", cmdEscaped, cfg.MaxTotalSeconds)
+
+	default:
+		// If we reached this point, the retry limit was reached.
+		return fmt.Errorf("command \"%s\" failed after %d retries", cmdEscaped, cfg.MaxRetries)
+	}
 }
 
 // convertWaitToCmd will return the wait command if it exists, otherwise it will return the original command.
diff --git a/src/test/e2e/02_component_actions_test.go b/src/test/e2e/02_component_actions_test.go
index 5d9206cdb3..06e4892714 100644
--- a/src/test/e2e/02_component_actions_test.go
+++ b/src/test/e2e/02_component_actions_test.go
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ func TestComponentActions(t *testing.T) {
 		// Deploy the simple action that should fail the timeout.
 		stdOut, stdErr, err = e2e.Zarf("package", "deploy", path, "--components=on-deploy-with-timeout", "--confirm")
 		require.Error(t, err, stdOut, stdErr)
+		require.Contains(t, stdErr, "after 1 second")
 		require.Contains(t, stdErr, "😭😭😭 this action failed because it took too long to run 😭😭😭")
 	})