diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
index 0a40e7b21ba..8853be8a9f5 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource/builder.go
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ import (
 var FileExtensions = []string{".json", ".yaml", ".yml"}
 var InputExtensions = append(FileExtensions, "stdin")
 
+const defaultHttpGetAttempts int = 3
+
 // Builder provides convenience functions for taking arguments and parameters
 // from the command line and converting them to a list of resources to iterate
 // over using the Visitor interface.
@@ -109,7 +111,7 @@ func (b *Builder) FilenameParam(enforceNamespace, recursive bool, paths ...strin
 				b.errs = append(b.errs, fmt.Errorf("the URL passed to filename %q is not valid: %v", s, err))
 				continue
 			}
-			b.URL(url)
+			b.URL(defaultHttpGetAttempts, url)
 		default:
 			b.Path(recursive, s)
 		}
@@ -123,11 +125,12 @@ func (b *Builder) FilenameParam(enforceNamespace, recursive bool, paths ...strin
 }
 
 // URL accepts a number of URLs directly.
-func (b *Builder) URL(urls ...*url.URL) *Builder {
+func (b *Builder) URL(httpAttemptCount int, urls ...*url.URL) *Builder {
 	for _, u := range urls {
 		b.paths = append(b.paths, &URLVisitor{
-			URL:           u,
-			StreamVisitor: NewStreamVisitor(nil, b.mapper, u.String(), b.schema),
+			URL:              u,
+			StreamVisitor:    NewStreamVisitor(nil, b.mapper, u.String(), b.schema),
+			HttpAttemptCount: httpAttemptCount,
 		})
 	}
 	return b
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
index e29513dbd0d..288bfa85aca 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
@@ -222,10 +222,11 @@ func ValidateSchema(data []byte, schema validation.Schema) error {
 type URLVisitor struct {
 	URL *url.URL
 	*StreamVisitor
+	HttpAttemptCount int
 }
 
 func (v *URLVisitor) Visit(fn VisitorFunc) error {
-	body, err := readHttpWithRetries(httpgetImpl, time.Second, v.URL.String())
+	body, err := readHttpWithRetries(httpgetImpl, time.Second, v.URL.String(), v.HttpAttemptCount)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -234,11 +235,14 @@ func (v *URLVisitor) Visit(fn VisitorFunc) error {
 	return v.StreamVisitor.Visit(fn)
 }
 
-// readHttpWithRetries tries to http.Get the v.URL 3 times before giving up.
-func readHttpWithRetries(get httpget, duration time.Duration, u string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+// readHttpWithRetries tries to http.Get the v.URL retries times before giving up.
+func readHttpWithRetries(get httpget, duration time.Duration, u string, attempts int) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	var err error
 	var body io.ReadCloser
-	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+	if attempts <= 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("http attempts must be greater than 0, was %d", attempts)
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < attempts; i++ {
 		var statusCode int
 		var status string
 		if i > 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor_test.go
index c69231e9ff3..e781c90c249 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor_test.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func TestVisitorHttpGet(t *testing.T) {
 			return 0, "", nil, expectedErr
 		}
 		return 0, "", nil, fmt.Errorf("Unexpected error")
-	}, 0, "hello")
+	}, 0, "hello", 3)
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedErr, actualErr)
 	assert.Nil(t, actualBytes)
 	assert.Equal(t, 3, i)
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func TestVisitorHttpGet(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "hello", url)
 		i++
 		return 501, "Status", nil, nil
-	}, 0, "hello")
+	}, 0, "hello", 3)
 	assert.Error(t, actualErr)
 	assert.Nil(t, actualBytes)
 	assert.Equal(t, 3, i)
@@ -59,14 +59,35 @@ func TestVisitorHttpGet(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "hello", url)
 		i++
 		return 300, "Status", nil, nil
-	}, 0, "hello")
+	}, 0, "hello", 3)
 	assert.Error(t, actualErr)
 	assert.Nil(t, actualBytes)
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, i)
 
-	// Test Success
+	// Test attempt count is respected
+	i = 0
+	actualBytes, actualErr = readHttpWithRetries(func(url string) (int, string, io.ReadCloser, error) {
+		assert.Equal(t, "hello", url)
+		i++
+		return 501, "Status", nil, nil
+	}, 0, "hello", 1)
+	assert.Error(t, actualErr)
+	assert.Nil(t, actualBytes)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, i)
+
+	// Test attempts less than 1 results in an error
 	i = 0
 	b := bytes.Buffer{}
+	actualBytes, actualErr = readHttpWithRetries(func(url string) (int, string, io.ReadCloser, error) {
+		return 200, "Status", ioutil.NopCloser(&b), nil
+	}, 0, "hello", 0)
+	assert.Error(t, actualErr)
+	assert.Nil(t, actualBytes)
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, i)
+
+	// Test Success
+	i = 0
+	b = bytes.Buffer{}
 	actualBytes, actualErr = readHttpWithRetries(func(url string) (int, string, io.ReadCloser, error) {
 		assert.Equal(t, "hello", url)
 		i++
@@ -74,7 +95,7 @@ func TestVisitorHttpGet(t *testing.T) {
 			return 200, "Status", ioutil.NopCloser(&b), nil
 		}
 		return 501, "Status", nil, nil
-	}, 0, "hello")
+	}, 0, "hello", 3)
 	assert.Nil(t, actualErr)
 	assert.NotNil(t, actualBytes)
 	assert.Equal(t, 2, i)