diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/redgifs.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/redgifs.py
index f688d1e63..098fb8185 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/redgifs.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/redgifs.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def _fetch_oauth_token(self, video_id):
         self._API_HEADERS['authorization'] = f'Bearer {auth["token"]}'
 
     def _call_api(self, ep, video_id, *args, **kwargs):
-        for attempt in range(2):
+        for first_attempt in True, False:
             if 'authorization' not in self._API_HEADERS:
                 self._fetch_oauth_token(video_id)
             try:
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ def _call_api(self, ep, video_id, *args, **kwargs):
                     f'https://api.redgifs.com/v2/{ep}', video_id, headers=headers, *args, **kwargs)
                 break
             except ExtractorError as e:
-                if not attempt and isinstance(e.cause, urllib.error.HTTPError) and e.cause.code == 401:
+                if first_attempt and isinstance(e.cause, urllib.error.HTTPError) and e.cause.code == 401:
                     del self._API_HEADERS['authorization']  # refresh the token
+                    continue
                 raise
 
         if 'error' in data: