diff --git a/s3fs/core.py b/s3fs/core.py
index 7e7664f3..d6eb4e45 100644
--- a/s3fs/core.py
+++ b/s3fs/core.py
@@ -118,13 +118,13 @@ async def _error_wrapper(func, *, args=(), kwargs=None, retries):
         except ClientError as e:
             logger.debug("Client error (maybe retryable): %s", e)
             err = e
-            wait_time = asyncio.sleep(min(1.7**i * 0.1, 15))
+            wait_time = min(1.7**i * 0.1, 15)
             if "SlowDown" in str(e):
-                await wait_time
+                await asyncio.sleep(wait_time)
             elif "reduce your request rate" in str(e):
-                await wait_time
+                await asyncio.sleep(wait_time)
             elif "XAmzContentSHA256Mismatch" in str(e):
-                await wait_time
+                await asyncio.sleep(wait_time)
             else:
                 break
         except Exception as e: