diff --git a/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/pool.go b/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/pool.go
index 82fdd877af..a2c179357e 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/pool.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/pool.go
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ func (p *RetryPool) withRetries(ctx context.Context, fn func(conn *pgxpool.Conn)
 		log.Ctx(ctx).Warn().Err(err).Uint8("retries", retries).Msg("error is not resettable or retryable")
 		return err
 	}
-	return &MaxRetryError{MaxRetries: p.maxRetries, LastErr: err}
+	return &MaxRetryError{MaxRetries: maxRetries, LastErr: err}
 }
 
 // GC marks a connection for destruction on the next Acquire.
diff --git a/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/slqerrors.go b/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/slqerrors.go
index ee688c9944..a5ed007ab5 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/slqerrors.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/crdb/pool/slqerrors.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ package pool
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	"strconv"
+	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgconn"
 )
@@ -27,8 +27,12 @@ type MaxRetryError struct {
 }
 
 func (e *MaxRetryError) Error() string {
-	return strconv.Itoa(int(e.MaxRetries)) + "max retries reached" + ": " + e.LastErr.Error()
+	if e.MaxRetries == 0 {
+		return "retries disabled: " + e.LastErr.Error()
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("max retries reached (%d): %s", e.MaxRetries, e.LastErr.Error())
 }
+
 func (e *MaxRetryError) Unwrap() error { return e.LastErr }
 
 // ResettableError is an error that we think may succeed if retried against a new connection.