diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 12b2ab088..2e66792b0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4715,6 +4715,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "scale-info",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "finito"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2384245d85162258a14b43567a9ee3598f5ae746a1581fb5d3d2cb780f0dbf95"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-timer",
+ "pin-project",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fixed-hash"
 version = "0.8.0"
@@ -21235,6 +21245,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "derive-where",
  "either",
+ "finito",
  "frame-metadata 17.0.0",
  "futures",
  "hex",
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index 6690c12cc..f0d3bac9a 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ build-polka-storage-provider-server:
 
 # Build the storagext CLI binary
 build-storagext-cli:
-  cargo build --release --features storagext/insecure_url -p storagext-cli
+  cargo build --release -p storagext-cli
 
 # Build the mater CLI binary
 build-mater-cli:
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage-provider/client/Cargo.toml b/cli/polka-storage-provider/client/Cargo.toml
index 4fad6816f..0a5657353 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage-provider/client/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/polka-storage-provider/client/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ polka-storage-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["std", "substrate"] }
 polka-storage-provider-common = { workspace = true }
 primitives-commitment = { workspace = true }
 primitives-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["clap", "std"] }
-storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap", "insecure_url"] }
+storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap"] }
 
 async-trait = { workspace = true }
 bls12_381 = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage-provider/common/Cargo.toml b/cli/polka-storage-provider/common/Cargo.toml
index 58da3dd12..5e840041b 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage-provider/common/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/polka-storage-provider/common/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 # "Homegrown" crates
 primitives-commitment = { workspace = true }
 primitives-proofs = { workspace = true }
-storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap", "insecure_url"] }
+storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap"] }
 
 chrono = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
 cid = { workspace = true, features = ["serde", "std"] }
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage-provider/server/Cargo.toml b/cli/polka-storage-provider/server/Cargo.toml
index b83fecaa2..c2f8acb16 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage-provider/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/polka-storage-provider/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ polka-storage-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["std", "substrate"] }
 polka-storage-provider-common = { workspace = true }
 primitives-commitment = { workspace = true, features = ["serde", "std"] }
 primitives-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["clap"] }
-storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap", "insecure_url"] }
+storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap"] }
 
 async-trait = { workspace = true }
 axum = { workspace = true, features = ["macros", "multipart"] }
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage/storagext-cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/polka-storage/storagext-cli/Cargo.toml
index 15929b2c2..33b67ac78 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage/storagext-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/polka-storage/storagext-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ name = "storagext-cli"
 repository.workspace = true
 version = "0.1.0"
 
-[features]
-insecure_url = ["storagext/insecure_url"]
 
 [dependencies]
 storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["clap"] }
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage/storagext/Cargo.toml b/cli/polka-storage/storagext/Cargo.toml
index 0b6b1a554..19569cd63 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage/storagext/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/polka-storage/storagext/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 [features]
 clap = ["dep:clap"]
 default = []
-insecure_url = []
 
 [dependencies]
 anyhow.workspace = true
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ primitives-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { workspace = true }
 sha2 = { workspace = true }
-subxt = { workspace = true, features = ["jsonrpsee", "substrate-compat"] }
+subxt = { workspace = true, features = ["jsonrpsee", "reconnecting-rpc-client", "substrate-compat"] }
 subxt-signer = { workspace = true, features = ["subxt"] }
 thiserror = { workspace = true, default-features = true }
 tokio = { workspace = true, features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread"] }
diff --git a/cli/polka-storage/storagext/src/runtime/client.rs b/cli/polka-storage/storagext/src/runtime/client.rs
index b9319666d..a5b266671 100644
--- a/cli/polka-storage/storagext/src/runtime/client.rs
+++ b/cli/polka-storage/storagext/src/runtime/client.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,13 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 
 use codec::Encode;
 use hex::ToHex;
-use subxt::{blocks::Block, events::Events, utils::H256, OnlineClient};
+use subxt::{
+    backend::rpc::reconnecting_rpc_client::{FixedInterval, RpcClient},
+    blocks::Block,
+    events::Events,
+    utils::H256,
+    OnlineClient,
+};
 
 use crate::PolkaStorageConfig;
 
@@ -30,9 +36,6 @@ pub struct Client {
 
 impl Client {
     /// Create a new [`RuntimeClient`] from a target `rpc_address`.
-    ///
-    /// By default, this function does not support insecure URLs,
-    /// to enable support for them, use the `insecure_url` feature.
     #[tracing::instrument(skip_all, fields(rpc_address = rpc_address.as_ref()))]
     pub async fn new(
         rpc_address: impl AsRef<str>,
@@ -41,30 +44,18 @@ impl Client {
     ) -> Result<Self, subxt::Error> {
         let rpc_address = rpc_address.as_ref();
 
-        let mut current_retries = 0;
-        loop {
-            let client = if cfg!(feature = "insecure_url") {
-                OnlineClient::<_>::from_insecure_url(rpc_address).await
-            } else {
-                OnlineClient::<_>::from_url(rpc_address).await
-            };
-
-            match client {
-                Ok(client) => return Ok(Self { client }),
-                Err(err) => {
-                    tracing::error!(
-                        attempt = current_retries,
-                        "failed to connect to node, error: {}",
-                        err
-                    );
-                    current_retries += 1;
-                    if current_retries >= n_retries {
-                        return Err(err);
-                    }
-                    tokio::time::sleep(retry_interval).await;
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        let rpc_client = RpcClient::builder()
+            // the cast should never pose an issue since storagext is target at 64bit systems
+            .retry_policy(FixedInterval::new(retry_interval).take(n_retries as usize))
+            .build(rpc_address)
+            // subxt-style conversion
+            // https://github.com/paritytech/subxt/blob/v0.38.0/subxt/src/backend/rpc/rpc_client.rs#L38
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| subxt::error::RpcError::ClientError(Box::new(e)))?;
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            client: OnlineClient::<_>::from_rpc_client(rpc_client).await?,
+        })
     }
 
     pub(crate) async fn unsigned<Call>(
diff --git a/docker/dockerfiles/polka-storage-node.Dockerfile b/docker/dockerfiles/polka-storage-node.Dockerfile
index 1d7f2f834..38dbfefe2 100644
--- a/docker/dockerfiles/polka-storage-node.Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/dockerfiles/polka-storage-node.Dockerfile
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ RUN cargo chef cook --release --recipe-path recipe.json
 # Build application
 COPY . .
 RUN cargo build --release --features polka-storage-runtime/testnet -p polka-storage-node
-RUN cargo build --release --features storagext/insecure_url -p storagext-cli
+RUN cargo build --release -p storagext-cli
 
 FROM debian:bookworm-slim AS runtime
 
diff --git a/docker/dockerfiles/storagext-cli.Dockerfile b/docker/dockerfiles/storagext-cli.Dockerfile
index 1f5337cfa..033c26293 100644
--- a/docker/dockerfiles/storagext-cli.Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/dockerfiles/storagext-cli.Dockerfile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ COPY --from=planner /app/rust-toolchain.toml rust-toolchain.toml
 RUN cargo chef cook --bin storagext-cli --release --recipe-path recipe.json
 # Build application
 COPY . .
-RUN cargo build --release --features storagext/insecure_url --bin storagext-cli
+RUN cargo build --release --bin storagext-cli
 
 ################
 ##### Runtime
diff --git a/docs/src/getting-started/building/source.md b/docs/src/getting-started/building/source.md
index b53eb5642..420244e51 100644
--- a/docs/src/getting-started/building/source.md
+++ b/docs/src/getting-started/building/source.md
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ After all this setup, it is time to start building the binaries, which you can d
 
 When building `polka-storage-node` you should add `--features polka-storage-runtime/testnet` which enables the testnet configuration; all the code in the repo is currently targeting this feature, not including it may lead to unexpected behavior.
 
-When building `storagext-cli` you may want to add `--features storagext/insecure_url` which enables using non-TLS HTTP and WebSockets.
 </div>
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/maat/Cargo.toml b/maat/Cargo.toml
index 9a5764008..7f62c68b6 100644
--- a/maat/Cargo.toml
+++ b/maat/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ tracing = { workspace = true }
 tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true, features = ["env-filter"] }
 
 primitives-proofs = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
-storagext = { workspace = true, features = ["insecure_url"] }
+storagext = { workspace = true }
 
 zombienet-configuration.workspace = true
 zombienet-sdk.workspace = true