diff --git a/.changeset/good-cats-tap.md b/.changeset/good-cats-tap.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ab0ef23a42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/good-cats-tap.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend-module-msgraph': patch
+---
+
+Retry msgraph API calls, due to frequent ETIMEDOUT errors. Also allow disabling fetching user photos.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/api-report.md b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/api-report.md
index 7f5c4b804c..911564d160 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/api-report.md
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ export class MicrosoftGraphClient {
   requestRaw(
     url: string,
     headers?: Record<string, string>,
+    retryCount?: number,
   ): Promise<Response_2>;
 }
 
@@ -210,6 +211,7 @@ export type MicrosoftGraphProviderConfig = {
   groupSearch?: string;
   groupSelect?: string[];
   queryMode?: 'basic' | 'advanced';
+  loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
   schedule?: TaskScheduleDefinition;
 };
 
@@ -244,6 +246,7 @@ export function readMicrosoftGraphOrg(
     userExpand?: string;
     userFilter?: string;
     userSelect?: string[];
+    loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
     userGroupMemberSearch?: string;
     userGroupMemberFilter?: string;
     groupExpand?: string;
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/config.d.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/config.d.ts
index 9d341215cd..5a1f56a03f 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/config.d.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/config.d.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,11 @@ export interface Config {
                * E.g. "accountEnabled eq true and userType eq 'member'"
                */
               filter?: string;
+              /**
+               * Set to false to not load user photos.
+               * This can be useful for huge organizations.
+               */
+              loadPhotos?: boolean;
             };
 
             group?: {
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/client.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/client.ts
index f1ccc44a99..1233b1e2f9 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/client.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/client.ts
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ export class MicrosoftGraphClient {
   async requestRaw(
     url: string,
     headers?: Record<string, string>,
+    retryCount = 2,
   ): Promise<Response> {
     // Make sure that we always have a valid access token (might be cached)
     const urlObj = new URL(url);
@@ -227,12 +228,19 @@ export class MicrosoftGraphClient {
       throw new Error('Failed to obtain token from Azure Identity');
     }
 
-    return await fetch(url, {
-      headers: {
-        ...headers,
-        Authorization: `Bearer ${token.token}`,
-      },
-    });
+    try {
+      return await fetch(url, {
+        headers: {
+          ...headers,
+          Authorization: `Bearer ${token.token}`,
+        },
+      });
+    } catch (e: any) {
+      if (e?.code === 'ETIMEDOUT' && retryCount > 0) {
+        return this.requestRaw(url, headers, retryCount - 1);
+      }
+      throw e;
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/config.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/config.ts
index 1d9592e96f..1545114e45 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/config.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/config.ts
@@ -126,6 +126,12 @@ export type MicrosoftGraphProviderConfig = {
    */
   queryMode?: 'basic' | 'advanced';
 
+  /**
+   * Set to false to not load user photos.
+   * This can be useful for huge organizations.
+   */
+  loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
+
   /**
    * Schedule configuration for refresh tasks.
    */
@@ -280,6 +286,7 @@ export function readProviderConfig(
   const userExpand = config.getOptionalString('user.expand');
   const userFilter = config.getOptionalString('user.filter');
   const userSelect = config.getOptionalStringArray('user.select');
+  const loadUserPhotos = config.getOptionalBoolean('user.loadPhotos');
 
   const groupExpand = config.getOptionalString('group.expand');
   const groupFilter = config.getOptionalString('group.filter');
@@ -335,6 +342,7 @@ export function readProviderConfig(
     userExpand,
     userFilter,
     userSelect,
+    loadUserPhotos,
     groupExpand,
     groupFilter,
     groupSearch,
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/read.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/read.ts
index ccf4c51556..68fe2280b9 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/read.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-msgraph/src/microsoftGraph/read.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphUsers(
     userExpand?: string;
     userFilter?: string;
     userSelect?: string[];
+    loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
     transformer?: UserTransformer;
     logger: Logger;
   },
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphUsers(
       client,
       users,
       options.logger,
+      options.loadUserPhotos,
       options.transformer,
     ),
   };
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphUsersInGroups(
     userExpand?: string;
     userFilter?: string;
     userSelect?: string[];
+    loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
     userGroupMemberSearch?: string;
     userGroupMemberFilter?: string;
     groupExpand?: string;
@@ -145,6 +148,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphUsersInGroups(
       client,
       userGroupMembers.values(),
       options.logger,
+      options.loadUserPhotos,
       options.transformer,
     ),
   };
@@ -366,6 +370,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphOrg(
     userExpand?: string;
     userFilter?: string;
     userSelect?: string[];
+    loadUserPhotos?: boolean;
     userGroupMemberSearch?: string;
     userGroupMemberFilter?: string;
     groupExpand?: string;
@@ -391,6 +396,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphOrg(
         userSelect: options.userSelect,
         userGroupMemberFilter: options.userGroupMemberFilter,
         userGroupMemberSearch: options.userGroupMemberSearch,
+        loadUserPhotos: options.loadUserPhotos,
         transformer: options.userTransformer,
         logger: options.logger,
       },
@@ -402,6 +408,7 @@ export async function readMicrosoftGraphOrg(
       userExpand: options.userExpand,
       userFilter: options.userFilter,
       userSelect: options.userSelect,
+      loadUserPhotos: options.loadUserPhotos,
       transformer: options.userTransformer,
       logger: options.logger,
     });
@@ -429,6 +436,7 @@ async function transformUsers(
   client: MicrosoftGraphClient,
   users: Iterable<MicrosoftGraph.User> | AsyncIterable<MicrosoftGraph.User>,
   logger: Logger,
+  loadUserPhotos = true,
   transformer?: UserTransformer,
 ) {
   const limiter = limiterFactory(10);
@@ -443,12 +451,14 @@ async function transformUsers(
       limiter(async () => {
         let userPhoto;
         try {
-          userPhoto = await client.getUserPhotoWithSizeLimit(
-            user.id!,
-            // We are limiting the photo size, as users with full resolution photos
-            // can make the Backstage API slow
-            120,
-          );
+          if (loadUserPhotos) {
+            userPhoto = await client.getUserPhotoWithSizeLimit(
+              user.id!,
+              // We are limiting the photo size, as users with full resolution photos
+              // can make the Backstage API slow
+              120,
+            );
+          }
         } catch (e) {
           logger.warn(`Unable to load user photo for`, {
             user: user.id,