In an approach to adaptive tape calibration criteria based on the number of dead tracks, the number of rewrite occurrences for each dead track on a tape drive is determined. Responsive to detecting that a head is in a dead track state, the number of dead tracks is stored on the tape drive. A calibration threshold is determined, where the calibration threshold includes the number of dead track rewrites and the calibration reference value for a specific tape drive type. Responsive to the number of rewrite occurrences exceeding the calibration threshold while writing a data set, a calibration of the tape drive.