diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b794857..98b3d24 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ stat -c "%h" "/data/media/music/<Artist>/<Album> (<Year>)/<NN> - <Title>.flac"
 | `MUSE_MIN_MATCH` | `0.45` | filename-to-track similarity floor |
 | `MUSE_TITLE_FLOOR` | `0.5` | the title alone must clear this before the artist counts |
 | `MUSE_CANDIDATES` | `8` | ranked candidates kept per request, for fallback |
-| `MUSE_MAX_ATTEMPTS` | `5` | peers tried before a request is given up on |
+| `MUSE_MAX_ATTEMPTS` | `MUSE_CANDIDATES` | peers tried before a request is given up on |
 | `MUSE_ATTEMPT_BACKOFF` | `4` | seconds between candidate attempts |
 | `MUSE_SYSTEMIC_LIMIT` | `2` | consecutive connection failures before stopping |
 | `MUSE_STALL_MINUTES` | `20` | a transfer moving no bytes for this long is abandoned |
diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 8b82e4c..eab156a 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -80,7 +80,14 @@ TITLE_FLOOR = float(os.getenv("MUSE_TITLE_FLOOR", "0.5"))
 # one is tried instead of failing the request -- "File not shared." is a
 # per-file condition, so candidate two usually just works.
 CANDIDATES = int(os.getenv("MUSE_CANDIDATES", "8"))
-MAX_ATTEMPTS = int(os.getenv("MUSE_MAX_ATTEMPTS", "5"))
+
+# Defaults to the size of the ladder, because keeping eight candidates and then
+# refusing to try three of them is a cap with no reasoning behind it. Measured
+# on a live instance: slskd answers 500 whenever it cannot open a connection to
+# a peer, which is common enough that requests routinely need four or five
+# attempts. One succeeded on exactly the fifth; another gave up at the cap with
+# three candidates still in hand.
+MAX_ATTEMPTS = int(os.getenv("MUSE_MAX_ATTEMPTS", str(CANDIDATES)))
 
 # A download that has moved no bytes for this long is not going to. The peer
 # queued it and vanished, or slskd lost the transfer; either way the job used
diff --git a/tests/test_acquisition.py b/tests/test_acquisition.py
index 7061840..feebae4 100644
--- a/tests/test_acquisition.py
+++ b/tests/test_acquisition.py
@@ -209,12 +209,18 @@ def main() -> int:
     # every peer refuses to accept the transfer
     fake2.enqueue_status = {f"u{i}": 500 for i in range(8)}
     app.slskd_client = fake2
+    # The cap defaults to the ladder size, so lower it here or this only ever
+    # proves the list ran out -- which is a different branch.
+    cap, app.MAX_ATTEMPTS = app.MAX_ATTEMPTS, 3
     make_job("j2", "Radiohead", "Creep")
     asyncio.run(app.pick_and_enqueue("j2", "Radiohead", "Creep"))
     r = job_row("j2")
     check("gives up at MAX_ATTEMPTS, not at the end of the list",
-          r["state"] == "failed" and r["attempts"] == app.MAX_ATTEMPTS,
+          r["state"] == "failed" and r["attempts"] == 3,
           f"state={r['state']} attempts={r['attempts']}")
+    check("and leaves the untried remainder alone",
+          len(json.loads(r["candidates"] or "[]")) > 0, r["candidates"])
+    app.MAX_ATTEMPTS = cap
     check("unreachable peers are reported as such",
           "could not reach peer" in (r["tried"] or ""), r["detail"])