<!--IssueSummary start--> <details> <summary> Everyone can contribute. [Help move this issue forward](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/developer-relations/contributor-success/community-contributors-workflows/#contributor-links) while earning points, leveling up and collecting rewards. </summary> - [Close this issue](https://contributors.gitlab.com/manage-issue?action=close&projectId=278964&issueIid=515305) </details> <!--IssueSummary end--> ## Context In CI, we are still retrying feature specs when they fail (we want to stop doing this with https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/449030+). ## The problem The `ee/spec/features/projects/settings/ee/protected_branches_spec.rb` spec (and its FOSS counterpart, `spec/features/projects/settings/ee/protected_branches_spec.rb`) are being retried a lot, and **they are causing CI/CD job timeouts**: 1. https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/jobs/8936448614#L1579 2. https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/jobs/8937668233#L900 3. https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/jobs/8915646421#L1933 ## Goal Make those feature specs **more stable**, so that we can eventually stop retrying them for them to pass.