diff --git a/packages/webdriver/src/request/index.ts b/packages/webdriver/src/request/index.ts
index 9dd4c56be62..07d483b8dfa 100644
--- a/packages/webdriver/src/request/index.ts
+++ b/packages/webdriver/src/request/index.ts
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@ export default abstract class WebDriverRequest extends EventEmitter {
              * stop retrying if totalRetryCount was exceeded or there is no reason to
              * retry, e.g. if sessionId is invalid
              */
-            const is429 = !(response instanceof Error) && response.statusCode === 429
             if (retryCount >= totalRetryCount || error.message.includes('invalid session id')) {
                 log.error(`Request failed with status ${response.statusCode} due to ${error}`)
                 this.emit('response', { error })
@@ -211,7 +210,7 @@ export default abstract class WebDriverRequest extends EventEmitter {
             log.warn(msg)
             log.info(`Retrying ${retryCount}/${totalRetryCount}`)
 
-            if (is429) {
+            if (response.statusCode === 429) {
                 const delay = Math.min(Math.round(RETRY_429_BASE_DELAY * 2 ** (retryCount - 1) + Math.random() * 1000), RETRY_429_MAX_DELAY)
                 log.debug(`Request rate-limited (429), retrying in ${delay}ms`)
                 await new Promise<void>(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay))
diff --git a/packages/webdriverio/package.json b/packages/webdriverio/package.json
index 22cb61d3a93..2fc3fcba20e 100644
--- a/packages/webdriverio/package.json
+++ b/packages/webdriverio/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@testplane/webdriverio",
   "description": "Next-gen browser and mobile automation test framework for Node.js",
-  "version": "9.6.0",
+  "version": "9.6.1",
   "homepage": "https://webdriver.io",
   "author": "Christian Bromann <mail@bromann.dev>",
   "license": "MIT",