diff --git a/src/ahriman/core/http/sync_http_client.py b/src/ahriman/core/http/sync_http_client.py
index db987bc6..2bb30d92 100644
--- a/src/ahriman/core/http/sync_http_client.py
+++ b/src/ahriman/core/http/sync_http_client.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import sys
 
 from functools import cached_property
 from requests.adapters import BaseAdapter, HTTPAdapter
-from typing import Any, IO, Literal
+from typing import Any, ClassVar, IO, Literal
 from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
 
 from ahriman import __version__
@@ -39,14 +39,18 @@ class SyncHttpClient(LazyLogging):
     wrapper around requests library to reduce boilerplate
 
     Attributes:
+        DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES(int): (class attribute) default maximum amount of retries
+        DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF(float): (class attribute) default retry exponential backoff
+        DEFAULT_TIMEOUT(int | None): (class attribute) default HTTP request timeout in seconds
         auth(tuple[str, str] | None): HTTP basic auth object if set
-        retry(Retry): retry policy of the HTTP client. Disabled by default
+        retry(Retry): retry policy of the HTTP client
         suppress_errors(bool): suppress logging of request errors
         timeout(int | None): HTTP request timeout in seconds
     """
 
-    retry: Retry = Retry()
-    timeout: int | None = None
+    DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES: ClassVar[int] = 0
+    DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF: ClassVar[float] = 0.0
+    DEFAULT_TIMEOUT: ClassVar[int | None] = 30
 
     def __init__(self, configuration: Configuration | None = None, section: str | None = None, *,
                  suppress_errors: bool = False) -> None:
@@ -65,10 +69,10 @@ class SyncHttpClient(LazyLogging):
 
         self.suppress_errors = suppress_errors
 
-        self.timeout = configuration.getint(section, "timeout", fallback=30)
+        self.timeout = configuration.getint(section, "timeout", fallback=self.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT)
         self.retry = SyncHttpClient.retry_policy(
-            max_retries=configuration.getint(section, "max_retries", fallback=0),
-            retry_backoff=configuration.getfloat(section, "retry_backoff", fallback=0.0),
+            max_retries=configuration.getint(section, "max_retries", fallback=self.DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES),
+            retry_backoff=configuration.getfloat(section, "retry_backoff", fallback=self.DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF),
         )
 
     @cached_property
diff --git a/src/ahriman/core/repository/repository.py b/src/ahriman/core/repository/repository.py
index 19c736dc..7d223278 100644
--- a/src/ahriman/core/repository/repository.py
+++ b/src/ahriman/core/repository/repository.py
@@ -88,11 +88,9 @@ class Repository(Executor, UpdateHandler):
         Args:
             configuration(Configuration): configuration instance
         """
-        AUR.timeout = configuration.getint("aur", "timeout", fallback=30)
-        AUR.retry = AUR.retry_policy(
-            max_retries=configuration.getint("aur", "max_retries", fallback=0),
-            retry_backoff=configuration.getfloat("aur", "retry_backoff", fallback=0.0),
-        )
+        AUR.DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES = configuration.getint("aur", "max_retries", fallback=0)
+        AUR.DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF = configuration.getfloat("aur", "retry_backoff", fallback=0.0)
+        AUR.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = configuration.getint("aur", "timeout", fallback=30)
 
     def _set_context(self) -> None:
         """
diff --git a/tests/ahriman/core/http/test_sync_http_client.py b/tests/ahriman/core/http/test_sync_http_client.py
index 4324c1e8..7fac1e3d 100644
--- a/tests/ahriman/core/http/test_sync_http_client.py
+++ b/tests/ahriman/core/http/test_sync_http_client.py
@@ -49,14 +49,18 @@ def test_retry_policy() -> None:
     """
     must set retry policy
     """
-    SyncHttpClient.retry = SyncHttpClient.retry_policy(1, 2.0)
-    AUR.retry = AUR.retry_policy(3, 4.0)
+    SyncHttpClient.DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES = 1
+    SyncHttpClient.DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF = 2.0
+    AUR.DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES = 3
+    AUR.DEFAULT_RETRY_BACKOFF = 4.0
 
-    assert SyncHttpClient.retry.connect == 1
-    assert SyncHttpClient.retry.backoff_factor == 2.0
+    client = SyncHttpClient()
+    assert client.retry.connect == 1
+    assert client.retry.backoff_factor == 2.0
 
-    assert AUR.retry.connect == 3
-    assert AUR.retry.backoff_factor == 4.0
+    aur = AUR()
+    assert aur.retry.connect == 3
+    assert aur.retry.backoff_factor == 4.0
 
 
 def test_exception_response_text() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/ahriman/core/repository/test_repository.py b/tests/ahriman/core/repository/test_repository.py
index cb4e885f..e2e39b38 100644
--- a/tests/ahriman/core/repository/test_repository.py
+++ b/tests/ahriman/core/repository/test_repository.py
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ def test_set_globals(configuration: Configuration) -> None:
     configuration.set_option("aur", "max_retries", "10")
 
     Repository._set_globals(configuration)
-    assert AUR.timeout == 42
-    assert AUR.retry.connect == 10
+    aur = AUR()
+    assert aur.timeout == 42
+    assert aur.retry.connect == 10
 
 
 def test_set_context(configuration: Configuration, database: SQLite, mocker: MockerFixture) -> None: