diff --git a/zio-http/jvm/src/test/scala/zio/http/ClientHttpsSpec.scala b/zio-http/jvm/src/test/scala/zio/http/ClientHttpsSpec.scala
index cc44aeb1c3..3e466bb4d5 100644
--- a/zio-http/jvm/src/test/scala/zio/http/ClientHttpsSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/jvm/src/test/scala/zio/http/ClientHttpsSpec.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ package zio.http
 
 import zio._
 import zio.test.Assertion._
-import zio.test.TestAspect.{flaky, nonFlaky}
+import zio.test.TestAspect.{flaky, ignore, nonFlaky}
 import zio.test.{TestAspect, assertZIO}
 
 import zio.http.netty.NettyConfig
@@ -51,15 +51,18 @@ abstract class ClientHttpsSpecBase extends ZIOHttpSpec {
       assertZIO(actual)(anything)
     },
     test("should respond as Bad Request") {
-      val actual = Client
-        .batched(Request.get(badRequest))
-        .map(_.status)
-        .reject { case Status.ServiceUnavailable =>
-          new RuntimeException("503 is expected from time to time")
-        }
-        .retry(Schedule.exponential(1.second) && Schedule.recurs(5))
+      val actual = Client.batched(Request.get(badRequest)).map(_.status)
       assertZIO(actual)(equalTo(Status.BadRequest))
-    } @@ flaky /* sometimes we get 503 */,
+    } @@ ignore /* started getting 503 consistently,
+    flaky does not help, nor exponential retries.
+    Either we're being throttled, or the service is under high load.
+    Regardless, we should not depend on an external service like that.
+    Luckily, httpbin is available via docker.
+    So once we make sure to:
+
+    $ docker run -p 80:80 kennethreitz/httpbin
+
+    before invoking tests, we can un-ignore this test. */,
     test("should throw DecoderException for handshake failure") {
       val actual = Client.batched(Request.get(untrusted)).exit
       assertZIO(actual)(