diff --git a/src/client.js b/src/client.js
index 9a0705b5e..50834af63 100644
--- a/src/client.js
+++ b/src/client.js
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@ import {StubStore} from "./store/stub";
 import {createNewMatrixCall} from "./webrtc/call";
 import * as utils from './utils';
 import {sleep} from './utils';
-import {MatrixError, PREFIX_MEDIA_R0, PREFIX_UNSTABLE} from "./http-api";
+import {
+    MatrixError,
+    PREFIX_MEDIA_R0,
+    PREFIX_UNSTABLE,
+    retryNetworkOperation,
+} from "./http-api";
 import {getHttpUriForMxc} from "./content-repo";
 import * as ContentHelpers from "./content-helpers";
 import * as olmlib from "./crypto/olmlib";
@@ -49,7 +54,6 @@ import {randomString} from './randomstring';
 import {PushProcessor} from "./pushprocessor";
 import {encodeBase64, decodeBase64} from "./crypto/olmlib";
 import { User } from "./models/user";
-import {retryNetworkOperation} from "./utils";
 
 const SCROLLBACK_DELAY_MS = 3000;
 export const CRYPTO_ENABLED = isCryptoAvailable();
diff --git a/src/http-api.js b/src/http-api.js
index bce0534ed..e7134bb59 100644
--- a/src/http-api.js
+++ b/src/http-api.js
@@ -948,3 +948,34 @@ export class AbortError extends Error {
         return "AbortError";
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Retries a network operation run in a callback.
+ * @param  {number}   maxAttempts maximum attempts to try
+ * @param  {Function} callback    callback that returns a promise of the network operation. If rejected with ConnectionError, it will be retried by calling the callback again.
+ * @return {any} the result of the network operation
+ * @throws {ConnectionError} If after maxAttempts the callback still throws ConnectionError
+ */
+export async function retryNetworkOperation(maxAttempts, callback) {
+    let attempts = 0;
+    let lastConnectionError = null;
+    while (attempts < maxAttempts) {
+        try {
+            if (attempts > 0) {
+                const timeout = 1000 * Math.pow(2, attempts);
+                console.log(`network operation failed ${attempts} times,` +
+                    ` retrying in ${timeout}ms...`);
+                await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, timeout));
+            }
+            return await callback();
+        } catch (err) {
+            if (err instanceof ConnectionError) {
+                attempts += 1;
+                lastConnectionError = err;
+            } else {
+                throw err;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    throw lastConnectionError;
+}
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index bf8e80664..350c48ae5 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -749,26 +749,3 @@ export function setCrypto(c: Object) {
 export function getCrypto(): Object {
     return crypto;
 }
-
-export async function retryNetworkOperation(maxAttempts, callback) {
-    let attempts = 0;
-    let lastConnectionError = null;
-    while (attempts < maxAttempts) {
-        try {
-            if (attempts > 0) {
-                const timeout = 1000 * Math.pow(2, attempts);
-                console.log(`network operation failed ${attempts} times, retrying in ${timeout}ms...`);
-                await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, timeout));
-            }
-            return await callback();
-        } catch (err) {
-            if (err instanceof ConnectionError) {
-                attempts += 1;
-                lastConnectionError = err;
-            } else {
-                throw err;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    throw lastConnectionError;
-}