diff --git a/app/models/ci/build.rb b/app/models/ci/build.rb
index 09b03278939..b133c756fcf 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/build.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/build.rb
@@ -324,6 +324,11 @@ module Ci
       retries.is_a?(Hash) && retries.fetch(:max, 0) || retries || 0
     end
 
+    def retry_when
+      retries = self.options[:retry]
+      retries.is_a?(Hash) && retries.fetch(:when, 'always').to_s || 'always'
+    end
+
     def latest?
       !retried?
     end
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
index 88a466317a5..ba1de3612ad 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
@@ -1512,6 +1512,32 @@ describe Ci::Build do
         end
       end
     end
+
+    describe '#retry_when' do
+      context 'when value is defined' do
+        subject { create(:ci_build, options: { retry: { when: :something } }) }
+
+        it 'returns the configured value' do
+          expect(subject.retry_when).to eq :something
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when value is not defined' do
+        subject { create(:ci_build) }
+
+        it 'returns `always`' do
+          expect(subject.retry_when).to eq :always
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when retry is only defined as an integer' do
+        subject { create(:ci_build, options: { retry: 1 }) }
+
+        it 'returns `always`' do
+          expect(subject.retry_when).to eq :always
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe '#keep_artifacts!' do