diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflow.java b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflow.java
index c9a9af455..4c1ac8ddb 100644
--- a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflow.java
+++ b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflow.java
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ package io.dapr.examples.workflows.childworkflow;
 
 import io.dapr.workflows.Workflow;
 import io.dapr.workflows.WorkflowStub;
+import io.dapr.workflows.WorkflowTaskOptions;
+import io.dapr.workflows.WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
 
 public class DemoChildWorkflow implements Workflow {
   @Override
@@ -22,11 +26,18 @@ public class DemoChildWorkflow implements Workflow {
     return ctx -> {
       ctx.getLogger().info("Starting ChildWorkflow: " + ctx.getName());
 
+      WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy policy = WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.newBuilder()
+              .setFirstRetryInterval(Duration.ofSeconds(1))
+              .setMaxNumberOfAttempts(10)
+              .build();
+
+      WorkflowTaskOptions options = new WorkflowTaskOptions(policy);
+
       var childWorkflowInput = ctx.getInput(String.class);
       ctx.getLogger().info("ChildWorkflow received input: " + childWorkflowInput);
 
       ctx.getLogger().info("ChildWorkflow is calling Activity: " + ReverseActivity.class.getName());
-      String result = ctx.callActivity(ReverseActivity.class.getName(), childWorkflowInput, String.class).await();
+      String result = ctx.callActivity(ReverseActivity.class.getName(), childWorkflowInput, options, String.class).await();
 
       ctx.getLogger().info("ChildWorkflow finished with: " + result);
       ctx.complete(result);
diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflowWorker.java b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflowWorker.java
index 0e692551e..dce40e97e 100644
--- a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflowWorker.java
+++ b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/workflows/childworkflow/DemoChildWorkflowWorker.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ public class DemoChildWorkflowWorker {
 
     // Build and then start the workflow runtime pulling and executing tasks
     WorkflowRuntime runtime = builder.build();
+    runtime.start();
     System.out.println("Start workflow runtime");
   }
 }
diff --git a/sdk-workflows/pom.xml b/sdk-workflows/pom.xml
index 0a5289daf..e763e7630 100644
--- a/sdk-workflows/pom.xml
+++ b/sdk-workflows/pom.xml
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.dapr</groupId>
       <artifactId>durabletask-client</artifactId>
-      <version>1.5.2</version>
+      <version>1.5.3</version>
     </dependency>
     <!--
     manually declare durabletask-client's jackson dependencies
diff --git a/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.java b/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.java
index cc63274ee..b0e72f917 100644
--- a/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.java
+++ b/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.java
@@ -166,9 +166,10 @@ public final class WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy {
      * @return This builder
      */
     public Builder setRetryTimeout(Duration retryTimeout) {
-      if (retryTimeout != null && retryTimeout.compareTo(this.firstRetryInterval) < 0) {
+      if (retryTimeout == null || retryTimeout.compareTo(this.firstRetryInterval) < 0) {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-            "The value for retryTimeout must be greater than or equal to the value for firstRetryInterval.");
+            "The value for retryTimeout cannot be null and"
+                    + " must be greater than or equal to the value for firstRetryInterval.");
       }
 
       this.retryTimeout = retryTimeout;
diff --git a/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/runtime/DefaultWorkflowContext.java b/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/runtime/DefaultWorkflowContext.java
index a6c09fe76..f6964b6d2 100644
--- a/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/runtime/DefaultWorkflowContext.java
+++ b/sdk-workflows/src/main/java/io/dapr/workflows/runtime/DefaultWorkflowContext.java
@@ -240,7 +240,9 @@ public class DefaultWorkflowContext implements WorkflowContext {
     );
 
     retryPolicy.setBackoffCoefficient(workflowTaskRetryPolicy.getBackoffCoefficient());
-    retryPolicy.setRetryTimeout(workflowTaskRetryPolicy.getRetryTimeout());
+    if (workflowTaskRetryPolicy.getRetryTimeout() != null) {
+      retryPolicy.setRetryTimeout(workflowTaskRetryPolicy.getRetryTimeout());
+    }
 
     return new TaskOptions(retryPolicy);
   }
diff --git a/sdk-workflows/src/test/java/io/dapr/workflows/DefaultWorkflowContextTest.java b/sdk-workflows/src/test/java/io/dapr/workflows/DefaultWorkflowContextTest.java
index 0de864c88..54265c741 100644
--- a/sdk-workflows/src/test/java/io/dapr/workflows/DefaultWorkflowContextTest.java
+++ b/sdk-workflows/src/test/java/io/dapr/workflows/DefaultWorkflowContextTest.java
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ public class DefaultWorkflowContextTest {
 
     assertEquals(retryPolicy.getMaxNumberOfAttempts(), taskOptions.getRetryPolicy().getMaxNumberOfAttempts());
     assertEquals(retryPolicy.getFirstRetryInterval(), taskOptions.getRetryPolicy().getFirstRetryInterval());
+    assertEquals(Duration.ZERO, taskOptions.getRetryPolicy().getRetryTimeout());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -327,4 +328,52 @@ public class DefaultWorkflowContextTest {
     String expectedMessage = "No implementation found.";
     assertEquals(expectedMessage, runtimeException.getMessage());
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void workflowRetryPolicyRetryTimeoutValueShouldHaveRightValueWhenBeingSet() {
+    String expectedName = "TestActivity";
+    String expectedInput = "TestInput";
+    String expectedInstanceId = "TestInstanceId";
+    WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy retryPolicy = WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.newBuilder()
+            .setMaxNumberOfAttempts(1)
+            .setFirstRetryInterval(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
+            .setRetryTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
+            .build();
+    WorkflowTaskOptions executionOptions = new WorkflowTaskOptions(retryPolicy);
+    ArgumentCaptor<TaskOptions> captor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(TaskOptions.class);
+
+    context.callChildWorkflow(expectedName, expectedInput, expectedInstanceId, executionOptions, String.class);
+
+    verify(mockInnerContext, times(1))
+            .callSubOrchestrator(
+                    eq(expectedName),
+                    eq(expectedInput),
+                    eq(expectedInstanceId),
+                    captor.capture(),
+                    eq(String.class)
+            );
+
+    TaskOptions taskOptions = captor.getValue();
+
+    assertEquals(Duration.ofSeconds(10), taskOptions.getRetryPolicy().getRetryTimeout());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void workflowRetryPolicyRetryThrowIllegalArgumentWhenNullRetryTimeoutIsSet() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () ->
+            WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.newBuilder()
+                    .setMaxNumberOfAttempts(1)
+                    .setFirstRetryInterval(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
+                    .setRetryTimeout(null)
+                    .build());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void workflowRetryPolicyRetryThrowIllegalArgumentWhenRetryTimeoutIsLessThanMaxRetryInterval() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> WorkflowTaskRetryPolicy.newBuilder()
+            .setMaxNumberOfAttempts(1)
+            .setFirstRetryInterval(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
+            .setRetryTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(9))
+            .build());
+  }
 }