diff --git a/docs/producer.md b/docs/producer.md
index fdc7d5d..eae0d8e 100644
--- a/docs/producer.md
+++ b/docs/producer.md
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ Options:
 
 It also supports all the constructor options of `Base`.
 
+When `idempotent` is enabled, `retries` defaults to `Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER` when not set, and it is raised to `Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER` for values less than or equal to `1` to avoid unsafe idempotent retry behavior.
+
 The default partitioning behavior for keyed messages uses the library's own murmur2 normalization. If you need compatibility with Java/kafkajs partitioning, use `compatibilityPartitioner`:
 
 ```typescript
diff --git a/src/clients/producer/producer.ts b/src/clients/producer/producer.ts
index db5a423..8bcbbe5 100644
--- a/src/clients/producer/producer.ts
+++ b/src/clients/producer/producer.ts
@@ -115,7 +115,9 @@ export class Producer<Key = Buffer, Value = Buffer, HeaderKey = Buffer, HeaderVa
     if (options.idempotent) {
       options.maxInflights = 1
       options.acks = ProduceAcks.ALL
-      options.retries = Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
+      if (options.retries === undefined || (typeof options.retries === 'number' && options.retries <= 1)) {
+        options.retries = Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
+      }
     } else {
       options.idempotent = false
     }
diff --git a/test/clients/producer/producer.test.ts b/test/clients/producer/producer.test.ts
index 6ab0429..fa74b1d 100644
--- a/test/clients/producer/producer.test.ts
+++ b/test/clients/producer/producer.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { deepStrictEqual, ok, rejects, strictEqual } from 'node:assert'
 import { test } from 'node:test'
 import * as Prometheus from 'prom-client'
-import { kConnections } from '../../../src/clients/base/base.ts'
+import { kConnections, kOptions } from '../../../src/clients/base/base.ts'
 import {
   baseMetadataChannel,
   type ClientDiagnosticEvent,
@@ -143,6 +143,31 @@ test('constructor should validat other options even when not in strict mode', ()
   }
 })
 
+test('constructor should keep custom retries when idempotent is enabled', t => {
+  const producer = createProducer(t, {
+    idempotent: true,
+    retries: 7
+  })
+
+  strictEqual((producer[kOptions] as { retries: number }).retries, 7)
+})
+
+test('constructor should default retries to safe value only when not set', t => {
+  const producer = createProducer(t, { idempotent: true })
+
+  strictEqual((producer[kOptions] as { retries: number }).retries, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER)
+})
+
+test('constructor should set retries to safe value when idempotent and too low', t => {
+  const producerZero = createProducer(t, { idempotent: true, retries: 0 })
+  const producerOne = createProducer(t, { idempotent: true, retries: 1 })
+  const producerNone = createProducer(t, { idempotent: true })
+
+  strictEqual((producerZero[kOptions] as { retries: number }).retries, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER)
+  strictEqual((producerOne[kOptions] as { retries: number }).retries, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER)
+  strictEqual((producerNone[kOptions] as { retries: number }).retries, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER)
+})
+
 test('constructor should emit warnings for experimental APIs', () => {
   const warnings: string[] = []
   const originalEmitWarning = process.emitWarning