diff --git a/pkg/api/v1/client_test.go b/pkg/api/v1/client_test.go
index 73db215..ac91ad8 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1/client_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1/client_test.go
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"github.com/trisacrypto/courier/pkg/api/v1"
 )
@@ -63,3 +66,31 @@ func TestStoreCertificatePassword(t *testing.T) {
 	err = client.StoreCertificatePassword(context.Background(), req)
 	require.ErrorIs(t, err, api.ErrIDRequired, "client should error if no ID is provided")
 }
+
+func TestRetriesWithBackoff(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a test server
+	var attempts uint32
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		atomic.AddUint32(&attempts, 1)
+		http.Error(w, http.StatusText(http.StatusTooEarly), http.StatusTooEarly)
+	}))
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	// Create a client to test the client method
+	client, err := api.New(ts.URL, api.WithRetries(10), api.WithBackoff(func() backoff.BackOff {
+		return backoff.NewConstantBackOff(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	}))
+	require.NoError(t, err, "could not create client")
+
+	rawClient, ok := client.(*api.APIv1)
+	require.True(t, ok, "expected client to be an APIv1 client")
+
+	req, err := rawClient.NewRequest(context.Background(), http.MethodGet, "/", nil, nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "could not create request")
+
+	start := time.Now()
+	_, err = rawClient.Do(req, nil, true)
+	require.Error(t, err, "expected an error to be returned")
+	require.Equal(t, uint32(11), attempts, "expected 10 retry attempts")
+	require.Greater(t, time.Since(start), 950*time.Millisecond, "expected backoff delay")
+}
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1/errors.go b/pkg/api/v1/errors.go
index 20b7d28..50b374e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1/errors.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1/errors.go
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ func ErrorResponse(err interface{}) Reply {
 }
 
 func NewStatusError(code int, err string) error {
+	if err == "" {
+		err = http.StatusText(code)
+	}
 	return &StatusError{Code: code, Err: err}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1/errors_test.go b/pkg/api/v1/errors_test.go
index 8b97634..cf5e761 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1/errors_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1/errors_test.go
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ func TestJoinStatusErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("SingleStatusError", func(t *testing.T) {
-		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(1, 421*time.Millisecond, api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, "could not reach specified service"))
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(1, 421*time.Millisecond, api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""))
 		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
 
-		serr, ok := err.(*api.StatusError)
+		_, ok := err.(*api.StatusError)
 		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a status error, not a multi status error")
-		require.Equal(t, 503, serr.Code)
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "[503]: Service Unavailable")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("SingleError", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -37,15 +37,69 @@ func TestJoinStatusErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		require.EqualError(t, err, "something went wrong")
 	})
 
-	t.Run("MultiStatusErrors", func(t *testing.T) {})
+	t.Run("MultiStatusErrors", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(3, 1829*time.Millisecond,
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusUnauthorized, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusInsufficientStorage, ""),
+		)
+		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
 
-	t.Run("MultiErrors", func(t *testing.T) {})
+		_, ok := err.(*api.MultiStatusError)
+		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a multi-status error")
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "after 3 attempts: [507]: Insufficient Storage")
+	})
 
-	t.Run("Mixed", func(t *testing.T) {})
+	t.Run("MultiErrors", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(2, 727*time.Millisecond,
+			errors.New("oopsie"), errors.New("something went wrong"),
+		)
+		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
 
-	t.Run("Deduplication", func(t *testing.T) {})
+		_, ok := err.(*api.MultiStatusError)
+		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a multi-status error")
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "after 2 attempts: something went wrong")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Mixed", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(2, 3217*time.Millisecond,
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+			errors.New("something went wrong"),
+		)
+		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
+
+		_, ok := err.(*api.MultiStatusError)
+		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a multi-status error")
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "after 2 attempts: something went wrong")
+	})
 
-	t.Run("MultiDeduplication", func(t *testing.T) {})
+	t.Run("Deduplication", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(3, 2451*time.Millisecond,
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+		)
+		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
+
+		_, ok := err.(*api.StatusError)
+		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a status error")
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "[503]: Service Unavailable")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("MultiDeduplication", func(t *testing.T) {
+		err := api.JoinStatusErrors(5, 3257*time.Millisecond,
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusUnauthorized, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusUnauthorized, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusInsufficientStorage, ""),
+			api.NewStatusError(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, ""),
+		)
+		require.Error(t, err, "expected error to be returned")
+
+		_, ok := err.(*api.MultiStatusError)
+		require.True(t, ok, "expected error to be a multi-status error")
+		require.EqualError(t, err, "after 5 attempts: [507]: Insufficient Storage")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestMultiStatusError(t *testing.T) {