diff --git a/client/client.go b/client/client.go
index 17b63d3d9..4c4d41eb9 100644
--- a/client/client.go
+++ b/client/client.go
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ var (
 	ErrClusterUnavailable    = errors.New("client: etcd cluster is unavailable or misconfigured")
 	ErrNoLeaderEndpoint      = errors.New("client: no leader endpoint available")
 	errTooManyRedirectChecks = errors.New("client: too many redirect checks")
+
+	// oneShotCtxValue is set on a context using WithValue(&oneShotValue) so
+	// that Do() will not retry a request
+	oneShotCtxValue interface{}
 )
 
 var DefaultRequestTimeout = 5 * time.Second
@@ -335,6 +339,7 @@ func (c *httpClusterClient) Do(ctx context.Context, act httpAction) (*http.Respo
 	var body []byte
 	var err error
 	cerr := &ClusterError{}
+	isOneShot := ctx.Value(&oneShotCtxValue) != nil
 
 	for i := pinned; i < leps+pinned; i++ {
 		k := i % leps
@@ -348,6 +353,9 @@ func (c *httpClusterClient) Do(ctx context.Context, act httpAction) (*http.Respo
 			if err == context.Canceled || err == context.DeadlineExceeded {
 				return nil, nil, err
 			}
+			if isOneShot {
+				return nil, nil, err
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 		if resp.StatusCode/100 == 5 {
@@ -358,6 +366,9 @@ func (c *httpClusterClient) Do(ctx context.Context, act httpAction) (*http.Respo
 			default:
 				cerr.Errors = append(cerr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("client: etcd member %s returns server error [%s]", eps[k].String(), http.StatusText(resp.StatusCode)))
 			}
+			if isOneShot {
+				return nil, nil, cerr.Errors[0]
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 		if k != pinned {
diff --git a/client/keys.go b/client/keys.go
index 5c7a3d57d..62d5d506e 100644
--- a/client/keys.go
+++ b/client/keys.go
@@ -337,7 +337,11 @@ func (k *httpKeysAPI) Set(ctx context.Context, key, val string, opts *SetOptions
 		act.Dir = opts.Dir
 	}
 
-	resp, body, err := k.client.Do(ctx, act)
+	doCtx := ctx
+	if act.PrevExist == PrevNoExist {
+		doCtx = context.WithValue(doCtx, &oneShotCtxValue, &oneShotCtxValue)
+	}
+	resp, body, err := k.client.Do(doCtx, act)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -385,7 +389,8 @@ func (k *httpKeysAPI) Delete(ctx context.Context, key string, opts *DeleteOption
 		act.Recursive = opts.Recursive
 	}
 
-	resp, body, err := k.client.Do(ctx, act)
+	doCtx := context.WithValue(ctx, &oneShotCtxValue, &oneShotCtxValue)
+	resp, body, err := k.client.Do(doCtx, act)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}