diff --git a/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClient.java b/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClient.java
index 4ae6651784..93bfeb36b3 100644
--- a/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClient.java
+++ b/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClient.java
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@ final class ClientXdsClient extends AbstractXdsClient {
           || Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getenv("GRPC_XDS_EXPERIMENTAL_FAULT_INJECTION"));
   @VisibleForTesting
   static boolean enableRetry =
-      !Strings.isNullOrEmpty(System.getenv("GRPC_XDS_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_RETRY"))
-          && Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getenv("GRPC_XDS_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_RETRY"));
+      Strings.isNullOrEmpty(System.getenv("GRPC_XDS_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_RETRY"))
+          || Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getenv("GRPC_XDS_EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLE_RETRY"));
 
   private static final String TYPE_URL_HTTP_CONNECTION_MANAGER_V2 =
       "type.googleapis.com/envoy.config.filter.network.http_connection_manager.v2"
diff --git a/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClientDataTest.java b/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClientDataTest.java
index 4b12ebd71c..60ce2befe4 100644
--- a/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClientDataTest.java
+++ b/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/ClientXdsClientDataTest.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ public class ClientXdsClientDataTest {
   @Before
   public void setUp() {
     originalEnableRetry = ClientXdsClient.enableRetry;
-    assertThat(originalEnableRetry).isFalse();
+    assertThat(originalEnableRetry).isTrue();
   }
 
   @After