diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 72ff6762..7a06b8d7 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-## [1.2.1] - 2024-04-25
-
 ### Changed
 
 * fix: retry logic now includes delays with exponential backoff. Retries should no longer happen too quickly for the replica to catch up.
@@ -11,6 +9,11 @@
 ### Added
 
 * new `HttpAgent` option: `backoffStrategy` - allows you to set a custom delay strategy for retries. The default is a newly exported `exponentialBackoff`, but you can pass your own function to customize the delay between retries.
+
+## [1.2.1] - 2024-04-25
+
+### Added
+
 - feat: make `IdbStorage` `get/set` methods generic
 - chore: add context to errors thrown when failing to decode CBOR values.
 - chore: replaces globle npm install with setup-node for size-limit action
diff --git a/e2e/node/basic/mainnet.test.ts b/e2e/node/basic/mainnet.test.ts
index 3368c003..e96a040c 100644
--- a/e2e/node/basic/mainnet.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/basic/mainnet.test.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ const createWhoamiActor = async (identity: Identity) => {
 };
 
 describe('certified query', () => {
-  vi.useRealTimers();
   it('should verify a query certificate', async () => {
     const actor = await createWhoamiActor(new AnonymousIdentity());
     const result = await actor.whoami();
diff --git a/e2e/node/basic/watermark.test.ts b/e2e/node/basic/watermark.test.ts
index 83e2c6f6..797606db 100644
--- a/e2e/node/basic/watermark.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/node/basic/watermark.test.ts
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ test('replay queries only', async () => {
 }, 10_000);
 
 test('replay attack', async () => {
-  vi.useRealTimers();
   const fetchProxy = new FetchProxy();
   global.fetch;
 
@@ -92,7 +91,6 @@ test('replay attack', async () => {
     backoffStrategy: () => ({
       next: () => 0,
     }),
-    retryTimes: 3,
   });
 
   const agent = Actor.agentOf(actor) as HttpAgent;
diff --git a/packages/agent/src/actor.test.ts b/packages/agent/src/actor.test.ts
index 7d7fcc34..2c467e94 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/actor.test.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/actor.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { CallRequest, SubmitRequestType, UnSigned } from './agent/http/types';
 import * as cbor from './cbor';
 import { requestIdOf } from './request_id';
 import * as pollingImport from './polling';
-import { Actor, ActorConfig } from './actor';
+import { ActorConfig } from './actor';
 
 const importActor = async (mockUpdatePolling?: () => void) => {
   jest.dontMock('./polling');
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@ afterEach(() => {
   global.Date.now = originalDateNowFn;
 });
 
-
-jest.setTimeout(30000);
 describe('makeActor', () => {
   // TODO: update tests to be compatible with changes to Certificate
   it.skip('should encode calls', async () => {
@@ -135,7 +133,7 @@ describe('makeActor', () => {
 
     const expectedCallRequestId = await requestIdOf(expectedCallRequest.content);
 
-    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ fetch: mockFetch, retryTimes: 0 });
+    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ fetch: mockFetch });
 
     const actor = Actor.createActor(actorInterface, { canisterId, agent: httpAgent });
     const reply = await actor.greet(argValue);
@@ -230,7 +228,6 @@ describe('makeActor', () => {
     });
   });
   it('should enrich actor interface with httpDetails', async () => {
-    jest.useRealTimers();
     const canisterDecodedReturnValue = 'Hello, World!';
     const expectedReplyArg = IDL.encode([IDL.Text], [canisterDecodedReturnValue]);
     const { Actor } = await importActor(() =>
@@ -277,12 +274,6 @@ describe('makeActor', () => {
       fetch: mockFetch,
       host: 'http://127.0.0.1',
       verifyQuerySignatures: false,
-      backoffStrategy: () => {
-        return {
-          next: () => 0,
-        };
-      },
-      retryTimes: 0,
     });
     const canisterId = Principal.fromText('2chl6-4hpzw-vqaaa-aaaaa-c');
     const actor = Actor.createActor(actorInterface, { canisterId, agent: httpAgent });
@@ -322,7 +313,7 @@ describe('makeActor', () => {
         greet: IDL.Func([IDL.Text], [IDL.Text]),
       });
     };
-    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ fetch: mockFetch, host: 'http://127.0.0.1', retryTimes: 0 });
+    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ fetch: mockFetch, host: 'http://127.0.0.1' });
     const canisterId = Principal.fromText('2chl6-4hpzw-vqaaa-aaaaa-c');
     const actor = Actor.createActor(actorInterface, { canisterId, agent: httpAgent });
 
@@ -337,7 +328,7 @@ describe('makeActor', () => {
     }
   });
   it('should throw a helpful error if the canisterId is not set', async () => {
-    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ host: 'http://127.0.0.1', retryTimes: 0 });
+    const httpAgent = new HttpAgent({ host: 'http://127.0.0.1' });
     const actorInterface = () => {
       return IDL.Service({
         greet: IDL.Func([IDL.Text], [IDL.Text]),
diff --git a/packages/agent/src/agent/http/http.test.ts b/packages/agent/src/agent/http/http.test.ts
index 3d958262..2b8e4d48 100644
--- a/packages/agent/src/agent/http/http.test.ts
+++ b/packages/agent/src/agent/http/http.test.ts
@@ -789,7 +789,6 @@ test('retry requests that fail due to a network failure', async () => {
   const agent = new HttpAgent({
     host: HTTP_AGENT_HOST,
     fetch: mockFetch,
-    retryTimes: 3,
   });
 
   try {