diff --git a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/core/messageSender.ts b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/core/messageSender.ts
index d55221e8e1e9..1214c5172d93 100644
--- a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/core/messageSender.ts
+++ b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/core/messageSender.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import {
 } from "../serviceBusMessage";
 import { ClientEntityContext } from "../clientEntityContext";
 import { LinkEntity } from "./linkEntity";
-import { getUniqueName, normalizeRetryOptions, RetryOptionsInternal } from "../util/utils";
+import { getUniqueName } from "../util/utils";
 import { throwErrorIfConnectionClosed } from "../util/errors";
 import { ServiceBusMessageBatch, ServiceBusMessageBatchImpl } from "../serviceBusMessageBatch";
 import { CreateBatchOptions } from "../models";
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export class MessageSender extends LinkEntity {
    * @property {Sender} [_sender] The AMQP sender link.
    */
   private _sender?: AwaitableSender;
-  private _retryOptions: RetryOptionsInternal;
+  private _retryOptions: RetryOptions;
 
   /**
    * Creates a new MessageSender instance.
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export class MessageSender extends LinkEntity {
       address: context.entityPath,
       audience: `${context.namespace.config.endpoint}${context.entityPath}`
     });
-    this._retryOptions = normalizeRetryOptions(retryOptions);
+    this._retryOptions = retryOptions;
     this._onAmqpError = (context: EventContext) => {
       const senderError = context.sender && context.sender.error;
       if (senderError) {
@@ -254,6 +254,10 @@ export class MessageSender extends LinkEntity {
     options: OperationOptions | undefined
   ): Promise<void> {
     const abortSignal = options?.abortSignal;
+    let timeoutInMs =
+      this._retryOptions.timeoutInMs == undefined
+        ? Constants.defaultOperationTimeoutInMs
+        : this._retryOptions.timeoutInMs;
 
     const sendEventPromise = () =>
       new Promise<void>(async (resolve, reject) => {
@@ -279,7 +283,7 @@ export class MessageSender extends LinkEntity {
                 description: desc
               };
               return rejectInitTimeoutPromise(translate(e));
-            }, this._retryOptions.timeoutInMs);
+            }, timeoutInMs);
           });
 
           try {
@@ -325,9 +329,20 @@ export class MessageSender extends LinkEntity {
           );
         }
         if (this._sender!.sendable()) {
+          if (timeoutInMs <= timeTakenByInit) {
+            const desc: string =
+              `[${this._context.namespace.connectionId}] Sender "${this.name}" ` +
+              `with address "${this.address}", was not able to send the message right now, due ` +
+              `to operation timeout.`;
+            log.error(desc);
+            const e: AmqpError = {
+              condition: ErrorNameConditionMapper.ServiceUnavailableError,
+              description: desc
+            };
+            return reject(translate(e));
+          }
           try {
-            this._sender!.sendTimeoutInSeconds =
-              (this._retryOptions.timeoutInMs - timeTakenByInit) / 1000;
+            this._sender!.sendTimeoutInSeconds = (timeoutInMs - timeTakenByInit) / 1000;
             const delivery = await this._sender!.send(
               encodedMessage,
               undefined,
diff --git a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/serviceBusClient.ts b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/serviceBusClient.ts
index aef82cb2aa41..9e03a021c901 100644
--- a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/serviceBusClient.ts
+++ b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/serviceBusClient.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import { CreateSessionReceiverOptions, CreateSenderOptions } from "./models";
 import { Receiver, ReceiverImpl } from "./receivers/receiver";
 import { SessionReceiver, SessionReceiverImpl } from "./receivers/sessionReceiver";
 import { ReceivedMessageWithLock, ReceivedMessage } from "./serviceBusMessage";
-import { getRetryAttemptTimeoutInMs } from "./util/utils";
 
 /**
  * A client that can create Sender instances for sending messages to queues and
@@ -83,9 +82,14 @@ export class ServiceBusClient {
     }
     this.fullyQualifiedNamespace = this._connectionContext.config.host;
     this._clientOptions.retryOptions = this._clientOptions.retryOptions || {};
-    this._clientOptions.retryOptions.timeoutInMs = getRetryAttemptTimeoutInMs(
-      this._clientOptions.retryOptions
-    );
+
+    const timeoutInMs = this._clientOptions.retryOptions.timeoutInMs;
+    if (
+      timeoutInMs != undefined &&
+      (typeof timeoutInMs !== "number" || !isFinite(timeoutInMs) || timeoutInMs <= 0)
+    ) {
+      throw new Error(`${timeoutInMs} is an invalid value for retryOptions.timeoutInMs`);
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/util/utils.ts b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/util/utils.ts
index d42a2d643c3b..26be40bac87f 100644
--- a/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/util/utils.ts
+++ b/sdk/servicebus/service-bus/src/util/utils.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import { generate_uuid } from "rhea-promise";
 import isBuffer from "is-buffer";
 import { Buffer } from "buffer";
 import * as Constants from "../util/constants";
-import { Constants as CoreAMQPConstants, RetryOptions } from "@azure/core-amqp";
 
 // This is the only dependency we have on DOM types, so rather than require
 // the DOM lib we can just shim this in.
@@ -42,47 +41,6 @@ export function getUniqueName(name: string): string {
   return `${name}-${generate_uuid()}`;
 }
 
-/**
- * @internal
- * @ignore
- *
- * TODO: I think this is duplicated from core-amqp and should be du-duped, but _before_
- * that happens we should question whether it's even a legitimate way of setting the timeout
- * because it just squashes all timeouts beneath 60 seconds to be 60 seconds instead.
- */
-export function getRetryAttemptTimeoutInMs(retryOptions: RetryOptions | undefined): number {
-  const timeoutInMs =
-    retryOptions == undefined ||
-    typeof retryOptions.timeoutInMs !== "number" ||
-    !isFinite(retryOptions.timeoutInMs) ||
-    // TODO: not sure what the justification is for always forcing at least 60 seconds.
-    retryOptions.timeoutInMs < CoreAMQPConstants.defaultOperationTimeoutInMs
-      ? CoreAMQPConstants.defaultOperationTimeoutInMs
-      : retryOptions.timeoutInMs;
-
-  return timeoutInMs;
-}
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * @ignore
- */
-export type RetryOptionsInternal = Required<Pick<RetryOptions, "timeoutInMs">> &
-  Exclude<RetryOptions, "timeoutInMs">;
-
-/**
- * @internal
- * @ignore
- */
-export function normalizeRetryOptions(
-  retryOptions: RetryOptions | undefined
-): RetryOptionsInternal {
-  return {
-    ...retryOptions,
-    timeoutInMs: getRetryAttemptTimeoutInMs(retryOptions)
-  };
-}
-
 /**
  * @internal
  * @ignore