diff --git a/elasticsearch/connection_pool.py b/elasticsearch/connection_pool.py
index c68a7a3b..c443d665 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/connection_pool.py
+++ b/elasticsearch/connection_pool.py
@@ -83,12 +83,15 @@ class ConnectionPool(object):
     live pool. A connection that has been peviously marked as dead and
     succeedes will be marked as live (it's fail count will be deleted).
     """
-    def __init__(self, connections, dead_timeout=60, selector_class=RoundRobinSelector, randomize_hosts=True, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, connections, dead_timeout=60, timeout_cutoff=5,
+        selector_class=RoundRobinSelector, randomize_hosts=True, **kwargs):
         """
         :arg connections: list of tuples containing the
             :class:`~elasticsearch.Connection` instance and it's options
         :arg dead_timeout: number of seconds a connection should be retired for
-            after a failure
+            after a failure, increases on consecutive failures
+        :arg timeout_cutoff: number of consecutive failures after which the
+            timeout doesn't increase
         :arg selector_class: :class:`~elasticsearch.ConnectionSelector`
             subclass to use
         :arg randomize_hosts: shuffle the list of connections upon arrival to
@@ -107,6 +110,7 @@ class ConnectionPool(object):
 
         # default timeout after which to try resurrecting a connection
         self.dead_timeout = dead_timeout
+        self.timeout_cutoff = timeout_cutoff
 
         self.selector = selector_class(dict(connections))
 
@@ -127,7 +131,8 @@ class ConnectionPool(object):
         else:
             dead_count = self.dead_count.get(connection, 0) + 1
             self.dead_count[connection] = dead_count
-            self.dead.put((now + self.dead_timeout * 2 ** (dead_count - 1), connection))
+            timeout = self.dead_timeout * 2 ** min(dead_count - 1, self.timeout_cutoff)
+            self.dead.put((now + timeout, connection))
 
     def mark_live(self, connection):
         """
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection_pool.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection_pool.py
index 51b98667..0d03cf90 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection_pool.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection_pool.py
@@ -74,6 +74,15 @@ class TestConnectionPool(TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(3, pool.dead_count[42])
         self.assertEquals((now + 4*60, 42), pool.dead.get())
 
+    def test_timeout_for_failed_connections_is_limitted(self):
+        pool = ConnectionPool([(x, {}) for x in range(100)])
+        now = time.time()
+        pool.dead_count[42] = 245
+        pool.mark_dead(42, now=now)
+
+        self.assertEquals(246, pool.dead_count[42])
+        self.assertEquals((now + 32*60, 42), pool.dead.get())
+
     def test_dead_count_is_wiped_clean_for_connection_if_marked_live(self):
         pool = ConnectionPool([(x, {}) for x in range(100)])
         now = time.time()