diff --git a/sources/org.osbuild.curl b/sources/org.osbuild.curl
index dbc7d3df..d46cd6a0 100755
--- a/sources/org.osbuild.curl
+++ b/sources/org.osbuild.curl
@@ -15,12 +15,10 @@ up the download.
 
 import concurrent.futures
 import itertools
-import math
 import os
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tempfile
-import time
 
 from osbuild import sources
 
@@ -93,17 +91,13 @@ def fetch(url, checksum, directory):
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="osbuild-unverified-file-", dir=directory) as tmpdir:
         # some mirrors are sometimes broken. retry manually, because we could be
         # redirected to a different, working, one on retry.
-        start_time = time.monotonic()
         return_code = 0
-        for _ in range(20):
-            elapsed_time = time.monotonic() - start_time
-            if elapsed_time >= 300:
-                continue
+        for _ in range(10):
             curl_command = [
                 "curl",
                 "--silent",
-                "--max-time", f"{int(math.ceil(300 - elapsed_time))}",
-                "--connect-timeout", "60",
+                "--speed-limit", "1000",
+                "--connect-timeout", "30",
                 "--fail",
                 "--location",
                 "--output", checksum,