diff --git a/state/remote/atlas.go b/state/remote/atlas.go
index 5343c0236..ead0acbcb 100644
--- a/state/remote/atlas.go
+++ b/state/remote/atlas.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/md5"
 	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -276,9 +277,26 @@ func (c *AtlasClient) http() (*retryablehttp.Client, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	rc := retryablehttp.NewClient()
+
+	rc.CheckRetry = func(resp *http.Response, err error) (bool, error) {
+		if err != nil {
+			// don't bother retrying if the certs don't match
+			if err, ok := err.(*url.Error); ok {
+				if _, ok := err.Err.(x509.UnknownAuthorityError); ok {
+					return false, nil
+				}
+			}
+			// continue retrying
+			return true, nil
+		}
+		return retryablehttp.DefaultRetryPolicy(resp, err)
+	}
+
 	t := cleanhttp.DefaultTransport()
 	t.TLSClientConfig = tlsConfig
 	rc.HTTPClient.Transport = t
+
+	c.HTTPClient = rc
 	return rc, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/state/remote/atlas_test.go b/state/remote/atlas_test.go
index 9d4f226fe..060d79455 100644
--- a/state/remote/atlas_test.go
+++ b/state/remote/atlas_test.go
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ package remote
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -36,6 +39,53 @@ func TestAtlasClient(t *testing.T) {
 	testClient(t, client)
 }
 
+func TestAtlasClient_noRetryOnBadCerts(t *testing.T) {
+	acctest.RemoteTestPrecheck(t)
+
+	client, err := atlasFactory(map[string]string{
+		"access_token": "NOT_REQUIRED",
+		"name":         "hashicorp/test-remote-state",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	ac := client.(*AtlasClient)
+	// trigger the AtlasClient to build the http client and assign HTTPClient
+	httpClient, err := ac.http()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// remove the CA certs from the client
+	brokenCfg := &tls.Config{
+		RootCAs: new(x509.CertPool),
+	}
+	httpClient.HTTPClient.Transport.(*http.Transport).TLSClientConfig = brokenCfg
+
+	// Instrument CheckRetry to make sure we didn't retry
+	retries := 0
+	oldCheck := httpClient.CheckRetry
+	httpClient.CheckRetry = func(resp *http.Response, err error) (bool, error) {
+		if retries > 0 {
+			t.Fatal("retried after certificate error")
+		}
+		retries++
+		return oldCheck(resp, err)
+	}
+
+	_, err = client.Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		if err, ok := err.(*url.Error); ok {
+			if _, ok := err.Err.(x509.UnknownAuthorityError); ok {
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Fatalf("expected x509.UnknownAuthorityError, got %v", err)
+}
+
 func TestAtlasClient_ReportedConflictEqualStates(t *testing.T) {
 	fakeAtlas := newFakeAtlas(t, testStateModuleOrderChange)
 	srv := fakeAtlas.Server()