diff --git a/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.test.ts b/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.test.ts
index 8405aec78a..c7671e86fd 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.test.ts
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ describe('BaseLlmClient', () => {
       await client.generateJson(defaultOptions);
 
       expect(retryWithBackoff).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(Function), {
-        maxAttempts: undefined,
+        maxAttempts: 5,
       });
     });
   });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.ts b/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.ts
index e76cb4cfb9..4dc86eddd5 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core/baseLlmClient.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import { logMalformedJsonResponse } from '../telemetry/loggers.js';
 import { MalformedJsonResponseEvent } from '../telemetry/types.js';
 import { retryWithBackoff } from '../utils/retry.js';
 
+const DEFAULT_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5;
+
 /**
  * Options for the generateJson utility function.
  */
@@ -105,7 +107,9 @@ export class BaseLlmClient {
           promptId,
         );
 
-      const result = await retryWithBackoff(apiCall, { maxAttempts });
+      const result = await retryWithBackoff(apiCall, {
+        maxAttempts: maxAttempts ?? DEFAULT_MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+      });
 
       let text = getResponseText(result)?.trim();
       if (!text) {