Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for handling acknowledgement and retransmission timers during sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) communication. An example method by a transmitter user equipment (UE) generally includes transmitting a first repetition of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) to a receiver UE prior to entering an inactive state, while the transmitter UE is operating in a sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) mode; returning to an active state to monitor for acknowledgment feedback from the receiver UE, wherein the return is based on a first timer relative to an end of the first repetition of the PSSCH; remaining in the active state for a duration defined by a second timer; and taking one or more actions depending on whether the transmitter UE receives acknowledgment feedback during the duration indicating failed reception of the first repetition of the PSSCH by the receiver UE.