diff --git a/pkg/cli/environment.go b/pkg/cli/environment.go
index 83b6bdbba..45d773eb4 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/environment.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/environment.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import (
 
 	"helm.sh/helm/v4/internal/version"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/helmpath"
-	"helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/kube"
+	"helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/kubeenv"
 )
 
 // defaultMaxHistory sets the maximum number of releases to 0: unlimited
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func New() *EnvSettings {
 			config.Burst = env.BurstLimit
 			config.QPS = env.QPS
 			config.Wrap(func(rt http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTripper {
-				return &kube.RetryingRoundTripper{Wrapped: rt}
+				return &kubeenv.RetryingRoundTripper{Wrapped: rt}
 			})
 			config.UserAgent = version.GetUserAgent()
 			return config
diff --git a/pkg/kube/roundtripper.go b/pkg/kube/roundtripper.go
index 52cb5bad2..e13f2103a 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/roundtripper.go
+++ b/pkg/kube/roundtripper.go
@@ -16,65 +16,9 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package kube
 
-import (
-	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
-	"io"
-	"net/http"
-	"strings"
-)
+import "helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/kubeenv"
 
-type RetryingRoundTripper struct {
-	Wrapped http.RoundTripper
-}
-
-func (rt *RetryingRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
-	return rt.roundTrip(req, 1, nil)
-}
-
-func (rt *RetryingRoundTripper) roundTrip(req *http.Request, retry int, prevResp *http.Response) (*http.Response, error) {
-	if retry < 0 {
-		return prevResp, nil
-	}
-	resp, rtErr := rt.Wrapped.RoundTrip(req)
-	if rtErr != nil {
-		return resp, rtErr
-	}
-	if resp.StatusCode < 500 {
-		return resp, rtErr
-	}
-	if resp.Header.Get("content-type") != "application/json" {
-		return resp, rtErr
-	}
-	b, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-	resp.Body.Close()
-	if err != nil {
-		return resp, err
-	}
-
-	var ke kubernetesError
-	r := bytes.NewReader(b)
-	err = json.NewDecoder(r).Decode(&ke)
-	r.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
-	resp.Body = io.NopCloser(r)
-	if err != nil {
-		return resp, err
-	}
-	if ke.Code < 500 {
-		return resp, nil
-	}
-	// Matches messages like "etcdserver: leader changed"
-	if strings.HasSuffix(ke.Message, "etcdserver: leader changed") {
-		return rt.roundTrip(req, retry-1, resp)
-	}
-	// Matches messages like "rpc error: code = Unknown desc = raft proposal dropped"
-	if strings.HasSuffix(ke.Message, "raft proposal dropped") {
-		return rt.roundTrip(req, retry-1, resp)
-	}
-	return resp, nil
-}
-
-type kubernetesError struct {
-	Message string `json:"message"`
-	Code    int    `json:"code"`
-}
+// RetryingRoundTripper retries transient Kubernetes API server errors on a
+// wrapped [http.RoundTripper]. The implementation lives in [kubeenv] so
+// consumers can depend on that package without importing all of kube.
+type RetryingRoundTripper = kubeenv.RetryingRoundTripper
diff --git a/pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper.go b/pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e00f93984
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper.go
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+Copyright The Helm Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package kubeenv holds small, cycle-free Kubernetes client helpers shared by
+// higher-level packages (for example pkg/cli and pkg/kube).
+package kubeenv
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// RetryingRoundTripper retries transient Kubernetes API server errors on a
+// wrapped [http.RoundTripper].
+type RetryingRoundTripper struct {
+	Wrapped http.RoundTripper
+}
+
+func (rt *RetryingRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+	return rt.roundTrip(req, 1, nil)
+}
+
+func (rt *RetryingRoundTripper) roundTrip(req *http.Request, retry int, prevResp *http.Response) (*http.Response, error) {
+	if retry < 0 {
+		return prevResp, nil
+	}
+	resp, rtErr := rt.Wrapped.RoundTrip(req)
+	if rtErr != nil {
+		return resp, rtErr
+	}
+	if resp.StatusCode < 500 {
+		return resp, rtErr
+	}
+	if resp.Header.Get("content-type") != "application/json" {
+		return resp, rtErr
+	}
+	b, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	resp.Body.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		return resp, err
+	}
+
+	var ke kubernetesError
+	r := bytes.NewReader(b)
+	err = json.NewDecoder(r).Decode(&ke)
+	r.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
+	resp.Body = io.NopCloser(r)
+	if err != nil {
+		return resp, err
+	}
+	if ke.Code < 500 {
+		return resp, nil
+	}
+	// Matches messages like "etcdserver: leader changed"
+	if strings.HasSuffix(ke.Message, "etcdserver: leader changed") {
+		return rt.roundTrip(req, retry-1, resp)
+	}
+	// Matches messages like "rpc error: code = Unknown desc = raft proposal dropped"
+	if strings.HasSuffix(ke.Message, "raft proposal dropped") {
+		return rt.roundTrip(req, retry-1, resp)
+	}
+	return resp, nil
+}
+
+type kubernetesError struct {
+	Message string `json:"message"`
+	Code    int    `json:"code"`
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kube/roundtripper_test.go b/pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from pkg/kube/roundtripper_test.go
rename to pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper_test.go
index 96602c1f4..b921eac82 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/roundtripper_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubeenv/roundtripper_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package kube
+package kubeenv
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"