diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-build-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/test-build-deploy.yml
index 1dd1b4fa5a..9f6d938943 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-build-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-build-deploy.yml
@@ -258,24 +258,42 @@ jobs:
       - name: Preload Images
         # We download docker images used by integration tests so that all images are available
         # locally and the download time doesn't account in the test execution time, which is subject
-        # to a timeout
+        # to a timeout. Each pull is wrapped in a small retry helper so a transient Docker Hub /
+        # quay.io registry hiccup (e.g. "context deadline exceeded") doesn't fail the whole job.
         run: |
-          docker pull minio/minio:RELEASE.2024-05-28T17-19-04Z
-          docker pull consul:1.8.4
-          docker pull quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.5.29
+          # Retry a command up to 3 times with exponential backoff (5s, then 10s). A transient
+          # docker pull failure is retried; a genuine, persistent failure still fails the step
+          # because the final `return 1` propagates under `bash -e`.
+          retry() {
+            local max_attempts=3 attempt=1 delay=5
+            until "$@"; do
+              if [ "$attempt" -ge "$max_attempts" ]; then
+                echo "ERROR: '$*' failed after ${max_attempts} attempts." >&2
+                return 1
+              fi
+              echo "WARNING: '$*' failed (attempt ${attempt}/${max_attempts}); retrying in ${delay}s..." >&2
+              sleep "$delay"
+              attempt=$((attempt + 1))
+              delay=$((delay * 2))
+            done
+          }
+
+          retry docker pull minio/minio:RELEASE.2024-05-28T17-19-04Z
+          retry docker pull consul:1.8.4
+          retry docker pull quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.5.29
           if [ "$TEST_TAGS" = "integration_backward_compatibility" ]; then
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.16.1
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.17.2
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.18.1
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.19.1
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.20.1
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.21.0
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.16.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.17.2
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.18.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.19.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.20.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.21.0
           elif [ "$TEST_TAGS" = "integration_query_fuzz" ]; then
-            docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.20.1
-            docker pull quay.io/prometheus/prometheus:v3.8.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/cortexproject/cortex:v1.20.1
+            retry docker pull quay.io/prometheus/prometheus:v3.8.1
           fi
-          docker pull memcached:1.6.1
-          docker pull redis:7.0.4-alpine
+          retry docker pull memcached:1.6.1
+          retry docker pull redis:7.0.4-alpine
         env:
           TEST_TAGS: ${{ matrix.tags }}
       - name: Integration Tests