diff --git a/src/Socket/messages-recv.ts b/src/Socket/messages-recv.ts
index 7420ad9b..e2a90d2f 100644
--- a/src/Socket/messages-recv.ts
+++ b/src/Socket/messages-recv.ts
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ export const makeMessagesRecvSocket = (config: SocketConfig) => {
 	const willSendMessageAgain = (id: string, participant: string) => {
 		const key = `${id}:${participant}`
 		const retryCount = msgRetryCache.get<number>(key) || 0
-		return retryCount < maxMsgRetryCount
+		return retryCount <= maxMsgRetryCount
 	}
 
 	const updateSendMessageAgainCount = (id: string, participant: string) => {
@@ -614,8 +614,10 @@ export const makeMessagesRecvSocket = (config: SocketConfig) => {
 		logger.debug({ participant, sendToAll }, 'forced new session for retry recp')
 
 		for (const [i, msg] of msgs.entries()) {
-			if (msg) {
-				updateSendMessageAgainCount(ids[i]!, participant)
+			if (!ids[i]) continue
+
+			if (msg && willSendMessageAgain(ids[i], participant)) {
+				updateSendMessageAgainCount(ids[i], participant)
 				const msgRelayOpts: MessageRelayOptions = { messageId: ids[i] }
 
 				if (sendToAll) {
@@ -703,9 +705,10 @@ export const makeMessagesRecvSocket = (config: SocketConfig) => {
 						// correctly set who is asking for the retry
 						key.participant = key.participant || attrs.from
 						const retryNode = getBinaryNodeChild(node, 'retry')
-						if (willSendMessageAgain(ids[0]!, key.participant!)) {
+						if (ids[0] && key.participant && willSendMessageAgain(ids[0], key.participant!)) {
 							if (key.fromMe) {
 								try {
+									updateSendMessageAgainCount(ids[0], key.participant)
 									logger.debug({ attrs, key }, 'recv retry request')
 									await sendMessagesAgain(key, ids, retryNode!)
 								} catch (error: any) {