diff --git a/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/aws/plugins/retry_errors_spec.rb b/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/aws/plugins/retry_errors_spec.rb
index 7ea64b65756..e911e43236d 100644
--- a/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/aws/plugins/retry_errors_spec.rb
+++ b/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/aws/plugins/retry_errors_spec.rb
@@ -312,11 +312,8 @@ module Plugins
               expect: { available_capacity: 10, retries: 2 }
             }
           ]
-
-          # failure cases ending in success
           handle_with_retry(test_case_def)
 
-          # after success, new request
           test_case_post_success = [
             {
               response: { status_code: 500, error: service_error },
@@ -327,10 +324,7 @@ module Plugins
               expect: { available_capacity: 10, retries: 1 }
             }
           ]
-          # reset request
-          config.max_attempts = 2
-          resp.context.retries = 0
-          resp.context.metadata[:retries] = {}
+          reset_request
           handle_with_retry(test_case_post_success)
         end
 
diff --git a/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/retry_errors_helper.rb b/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/retry_errors_helper.rb
index 302a7eff733..87b3120a633 100644
--- a/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/retry_errors_helper.rb
+++ b/gems/aws-sdk-core/spec/retry_errors_helper.rb
@@ -40,7 +40,11 @@ def handle_with_retry(test_cases)
   apply_expectations(test_cases[i - 1])
 end
 
-
+# Reset the request context for a subsequent call
+def reset_request
+  resp.context.retries = 0
+  resp.context.metadata[:retries] = {}
+end
 
 # apply a delay to the current test case
 # See handle_with_retry for test case definition