diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/75142-ssh-retries-collision.yml b/changelogs/fragments/75142-ssh-retries-collision.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a97895453f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/75142-ssh-retries-collision.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - >-
+    task_executor/ssh_connection - use the ``retries`` value from ``ssh_connection`` settings,
+    not the default from the ``Task`` field attributes (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/75142).
+
+  - ssh_connection - set the default for ``reconnection_retries`` back to ``0`` (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/75142).
+  - ssh_connection - rename ``retries`` to ``reconnection_retries`` to avoid conflicts with task vars (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/75142).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
index fe54b559a1c..e9f9007f1b8 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
@@ -1020,6 +1020,9 @@ class TaskExecutor:
             # config system instead of directly accessing play_context.
             task_keys['password'] = self._play_context.password
 
+        # Prevent task retries from overriding connection retries
+        del(task_keys['retries'])
+
         # set options with 'templated vars' specific to this plugin and dependent ones
         self._connection.set_options(task_keys=task_keys, var_options=options)
         varnames.extend(self._set_plugin_options('shell', variables, templar, task_keys))
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index e869753259a..da7f38704a8 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -167,9 +167,9 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
               version_added: '2.7'
           cli:
             - name: ssh_extra_args
-      retries:
+      reconnection_retries:
           description: Number of attempts to connect.
-          default: 3
+          default: 0
           type: integer
           env:
             - name: ANSIBLE_SSH_RETRIES
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ def _ssh_retry(func):
     """
     @wraps(func)
     def wrapped(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        remaining_tries = int(self.get_option('retries')) + 1
+        remaining_tries = int(self.get_option('reconnection_retries')) + 1
         cmd_summary = u"%s..." % to_text(args[0])
         conn_password = self.get_option('password') or self._play_context.password
         for attempt in range(remaining_tries):
diff --git a/test/units/plugins/connection/test_ssh.py b/test/units/plugins/connection/test_ssh.py
index 7c7afa049b6..d693313ff01 100644
--- a/test/units/plugins/connection/test_ssh.py
+++ b/test/units/plugins/connection/test_ssh.py
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ class TestConnectionBaseClass(unittest.TestCase):
         conn._bare_run.return_value = (0, '', '')
         conn.host = "some_host"
 
-        conn.set_option('retries', 9)
+        conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 9)
         conn.set_option('ssh_transfer_method', None)  # unless set to None scp_if_ssh is ignored
 
         # Test with SCP_IF_SSH set to smart
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ class TestConnectionBaseClass(unittest.TestCase):
         conn._bare_run.return_value = (0, '', '')
         conn.host = "some_host"
 
-        conn.set_option('retries', 9)
+        conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 9)
         conn.set_option('ssh_transfer_method', None)  # unless set to None scp_if_ssh is ignored
 
         # Test with SCP_IF_SSH set to smart
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRun(object):
 class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
     def test_incorrect_password(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 5)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 5)
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
 
         self.mock_popen_res.stdout.read.side_effect = [b'']
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
 
     def test_retry_then_success(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 3)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 3)
 
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
 
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
 
     def test_multiple_failures(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 9)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 9)
 
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
 
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
 
     def test_abitrary_exceptions(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 9)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 9)
 
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
 
@@ -625,7 +625,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
 
     def test_put_file_retries(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 3)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 3)
 
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
         monkeypatch.setattr('ansible.plugins.connection.ssh.os.path.exists', lambda x: True)
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ class TestSSHConnectionRetries(object):
 
     def test_fetch_file_retries(self, monkeypatch):
         self.conn.set_option('host_key_checking', False)
-        self.conn.set_option('retries', 3)
+        self.conn.set_option('reconnection_retries', 3)
 
         monkeypatch.setattr('time.sleep', lambda x: None)
         monkeypatch.setattr('ansible.plugins.connection.ssh.os.path.exists', lambda x: True)