diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 0b0846a..dc28ad6 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ repository.
 `db-retry` is a library of retry, connection, and transaction helpers for PostgreSQL applications
 built on SQLAlchemy's asyncio extension and asyncpg; [`CONTEXT.md`](CONTEXT.md) opens with what it
 does and owns the vocabulary — read it before naming a concept in code, a test name, or an issue
-title. The words most easily got wrong here are the ones this package shares with PostgreSQL and
-with tenacity: what "retriable" covers, what a "retry" counts, and what "primary" does not mean.
+title. The words most easily got wrong here are the ones this package shares with PostgreSQL: what
+"retriable" covers, what a "retry" counts, and what "primary" does not mean.
 
 ## Commands
 
diff --git a/CONTEXT.md b/CONTEXT.md
index cb6f03b..edfa462 100644
--- a/CONTEXT.md
+++ b/CONTEXT.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ is safe, and the two come apart: `StatementCompletionUnknownError` (`40003`) is
 
 **Attempt**:
 One call of the wrapped coroutine. `postgres_retry(retries=N)` bounds *attempts*, not retries — `N`
-goes to tenacity's `stop_after_attempt`, so `retries=1` runs the body once and never re-runs it,
+caps the calls of the body, so `retries=1` runs the body once and never re-runs it,
 and the `DB_RETRY_RETRIES_NUMBER` default of `3` allows two re-runs.
 _Avoid_: retry, as a count. The knob is spelled `retries` for callers and cannot be renamed without
 breaking them, but every number in this package counts attempts.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fe9337b..8ede908 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -213,7 +213,6 @@ export DB_RETRY_RETRIES_NUMBER=5
 - Python 3.11+
 - SQLAlchemy with asyncio support
 - asyncpg PostgreSQL driver
-- tenacity for retry logic
 
 ## 📦 [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/db-retry)
 
diff --git a/db_retry/retry.py b/db_retry/retry.py
index 2ac62cf..fdd8855 100644
--- a/db_retry/retry.py
+++ b/db_retry/retry.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
+import asyncio
 import functools
 import logging
+import random
 import typing
 
-import tenacity
-
 from db_retry import settings
 from db_retry.retriable import is_retriable
 
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ def _log_and_decide(exception: BaseException) -> bool:
     return False
 
 
+def _backoff(attempt: int) -> float:
+    return 2 ** (attempt - 1) + random.uniform(0, 1)  # noqa: S311
+
+
 P = typing.ParamSpec("P")
 T = typing.TypeVar("T")
 
@@ -42,14 +46,16 @@ def postgres_retry(
     def decorator(f: _Func[P, T]) -> _Func[P, T]:
         @functools.wraps(f)
         async def wrapped_method(*args: P.args, **kwargs: P.kwargs) -> T:
-            retryer = tenacity.AsyncRetrying(
-                stop=tenacity.stop_after_attempt(retries if retries is not None else settings.get_retries_number()),
-                wait=tenacity.wait_exponential_jitter(),
-                retry=tenacity.retry_if_exception(_log_and_decide),
-                reraise=True,
-                before=tenacity.before_log(logger, logging.DEBUG),
-            )
-            return await retryer(f, *args, **kwargs)
+            attempt = 1
+            while True:
+                try:
+                    return await f(*args, **kwargs)
+                except Exception as exception:
+                    attempts = retries if retries is not None else settings.get_retries_number()
+                    if not _log_and_decide(exception) or attempt >= attempts:
+                        raise
+                await asyncio.sleep(_backoff(attempt))
+                attempt += 1
 
         return wrapped_method
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 844ba12..19aa175 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 version = "0"
 dependencies = [
-    "tenacity>=8.4.1",
     # 2.0.31 is the first release that tolerates the __static_attributes__ and __firstlineno__
     # attributes Python 3.13 added; below it SQLAlchemy's TypingOnly check fails at import.
     # 2.0.20, not 2.0.18: advanced-alchemy requires it, so nothing here can exercise 2.0.18.
diff --git a/tests/test_retry.py b/tests/test_retry.py
index d9b2b90..1e7beda 100644
--- a/tests/test_retry.py
+++ b/tests/test_retry.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def _retriable_error() -> DBAPIError:
 
 
 def _record_backoff(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> list[float]:
-    """Replace the retryer's sleep with a recorder, so attempt counts cost no wall time."""
+    """Replace the retry loop's sleep with a recorder, so attempt counts cost no wall time."""
     waits: list[float] = []
 
     async def _record(delay: float) -> None:
@@ -119,17 +119,16 @@ async def _always_fails() -> None:
             await _always_fails()
         assert attempts == int(configured)
 
-    assert waits, "asyncio.sleep is no longer the retryer's sleep; this test would wait out real backoff"
+    assert waits, "asyncio.sleep is no longer the retry loop's sleep; this test would wait out real backoff"
 
 
 async def test_a_retry_never_re_runs_the_body_immediately(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
     """INVARIANT: every retry is separated from the attempt before it by a non-zero wait.
 
-    Broken by dropping ``wait=tenacity.wait_exponential_jitter()`` from the retryer, or swapping it
-    for ``wait_none()`` -- a change that keeps every attempt-count assertion in this file green,
-    because the counts do not depend on the delay. Waiting is the reason to reach for tenacity at
-    all rather than a bare loop: both retriable classes are failures of an overloaded or unreachable
-    server, and re-running instantly turns one serialization conflict into a spin against the same
+    Broken by dropping the ``asyncio.sleep`` from the retry loop, or making ``_backoff`` return
+    ``0`` -- a change that keeps every attempt-count assertion in this file green, because the
+    counts do not depend on the delay. Both retriable classes are failures of an overloaded or
+    unreachable server, and re-running instantly turns one serialization conflict into a spin against the same
     row and one refused connection into a flood at a node that is already down. Tuning the curve --
     the initial delay, the base, how much jitter -- stays within the invariant; removing the wait
     does not.
@@ -208,3 +207,20 @@ async def select_one() -> int | None:
 
         assert await select_one() == 1
     assert attempts == 2  # noqa: PLR2004  # the closed connection, then a fresh one
+
+
+async def test_a_retriable_first_failure_waits_once_then_succeeds(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    waits: typing.Final = _record_backoff(monkeypatch)
+    attempts = 0
+
+    @postgres_retry(retries=3)
+    async def _fails_once() -> int:
+        nonlocal attempts
+        attempts += 1
+        if attempts == 1:
+            raise _retriable_error()
+        return attempts
+
+    assert await _fails_once() == 2  # noqa: PLR2004  # the failed attempt, then the one that succeeds
+    assert len(waits) == 1
+    assert waits[0] > 0