diff --git a/src/backupformat/rsync.js b/src/backupformat/rsync.js
index 0447e57aa..c0bccbdf3 100644
--- a/src/backupformat/rsync.js
+++ b/src/backupformat/rsync.js
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ async function downloadDir(backupConfig, backupFilePath, dataLayout, progressCal
         const [mkdirError] = await safe(fs.promises.mkdir(path.dirname(destFilePath), { recursive: true }));
         if (mkdirError) throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, mkdirError.message);
 
-        await promiseRetry({ times: 5, interval: 20000 }, async function () {
+        await promiseRetry({ times: 3, interval: 20000 }, async function () {
             const [downloadError, sourceStream] = await safe(storage.api(backupConfig.provider).download(backupConfig, entry.fullPath));
             if (downloadError) {
                 progressCallback({ message: `Download ${entry.fullPath} to ${destFilePath} errored: ${downloadError.message}` });
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ async function downloadDir(backupConfig, backupFilePath, dataLayout, progressCal
     const concurrency = backupConfig.limits?.downloadConcurrency || (backupConfig.provider === 's3' ? 30 : 10);
     let marker = null;
     while (true) {
-        const batch = await storage.api(backupConfig.provider).listDir(backupConfig, backupFilePath, 1000, marker);
+        const batch = await storage.api(backupConfig.provider).listDir(backupConfig, backupFilePath, marker === null ? 1 : 1000, marker); // try with one file first. if that works out, we continue faster
         await async.eachLimit(batch.entries, concurrency, downloadFile);
         if (!batch.marker) break;
         marker = batch.marker;