diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 553cab85..71b568ed 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/gliderlabs/ssh v0.3.3
 	github.com/google/shlex v0.0.0-20191202100458-e7afc7fbc510 // indirect
 	github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.0 // indirect
+	github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp v0.7.0
 	github.com/kevinburke/ssh_config v1.1.0
 	github.com/libdns/gandi v1.0.2
 	github.com/libdns/libdns v0.2.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index f9e19ad7..03654e7f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -444,8 +444,14 @@ github.com/hailocab/go-hostpool v0.0.0-20160125115350-e80d13ce29ed h1:5upAirOpQc
 github.com/hailocab/go-hostpool v0.0.0-20160125115350-e80d13ce29ed/go.mod h1:tMWxXQ9wFIaZeTI9F+hmhFiGpFmhOHzyShyFUhRm0H4=
 github.com/hashicorp/errwrap v0.0.0-20141028054710-7554cd9344ce/go.mod h1:YH+1FKiLXxHSkmPseP+kNlulaMuP3n2brvKWEqk/Jc4=
 github.com/hashicorp/errwrap v1.0.0/go.mod h1:YH+1FKiLXxHSkmPseP+kNlulaMuP3n2brvKWEqk/Jc4=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-cleanhttp v0.5.1 h1:dH3aiDG9Jvb5r5+bYHsikaOUIpcM0xvgMXVoDkXMzJM=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-cleanhttp v0.5.1/go.mod h1:JpRdi6/HCYpAwUzNwuwqhbovhLtngrth3wmdIIUrZ80=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog v0.9.2 h1:CG6TE5H9/JXsFWJCfoIVpKFIkFe6ysEuHirp4DxCsHI=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog v0.9.2/go.mod h1:5CU+agLiy3J7N7QjHK5d05KxGsuXiQLrjA0H7acj2lQ=
 github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror v0.0.0-20161216184304-ed905158d874/go.mod h1:JMRHfdO9jKNzS/+BTlxCjKNQHg/jZAft8U7LloJvN7I=
 github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dHtQlpGsu+cZNNAkkCN/P3hoUDHhCYQXV3UM06sGGrk=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp v0.7.0 h1:eu1EI/mbirUgP5C8hVsTNaGZreBDlYiwC1FZWkvQPQ4=
+github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp v0.7.0/go.mod h1:vAew36LZh98gCBJNLH42IQ1ER/9wtLZZ8meHqQvEYWY=
 github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru v0.5.0/go.mod h1:/m3WP610KZHVQ1SGc6re/UDhFvYD7pJ4Ao+sR/qLZy8=
 github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru v0.5.1/go.mod h1:/m3WP610KZHVQ1SGc6re/UDhFvYD7pJ4Ao+sR/qLZy8=
 github.com/hashicorp/hcl v1.0.0 h1:0Anlzjpi4vEasTeNFn2mLJgTSwt0+6sfsiTG8qcWGx4=
diff --git a/pkg/catalogue/catalogue.go b/pkg/catalogue/catalogue.go
index 68ff5b98..b3a85700 100644
--- a/pkg/catalogue/catalogue.go
+++ b/pkg/catalogue/catalogue.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
@@ -122,7 +121,7 @@ func (r ByRecipeName) Less(i, j int) bool {
 // recipeCatalogueFSIsLatest checks whether the recipe catalogue stored locally
 // is up to date.
 func recipeCatalogueFSIsLatest() (bool, error) {
-	httpClient := &http.Client{Timeout: web.Timeout}
+	httpClient := web.NewHTTPRetryClient()
 	res, err := httpClient.Head(RecipeCatalogueURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
diff --git a/pkg/client/registry.go b/pkg/client/registry.go
index f374266e..eac7ab11 100644
--- a/pkg/client/registry.go
+++ b/pkg/client/registry.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 
 	"coopcloud.tech/abra/pkg/web"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/reference"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp"
 )
 
 type RawTag struct {
@@ -35,12 +36,12 @@ func GetRegistryTags(image string) (RawTags, error) {
 func getRegv2Token(image reference.Named) (string, error) {
 	img := reference.Path(image)
 	authTokenURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://auth.docker.io/token?service=registry.docker.io&scope=repository:%s:pull", img)
-	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", authTokenURL, nil)
+	req, err := retryablehttp.NewRequest("GET", authTokenURL, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	client := &http.Client{Timeout: web.Timeout}
+	client := web.NewHTTPRetryClient()
 	res, err := client.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ func GetTagDigest(image reference.Named) (string, error) {
 	tag := image.(reference.NamedTagged).Tag()
 	manifestURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://index.docker.io/v2/%s/manifests/%s", img, tag)
 
-	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", manifestURL, nil)
+	req, err := retryablehttp.NewRequest("GET", manifestURL, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ func GetTagDigest(image reference.Named) (string, error) {
 		"Authorization": []string{fmt.Sprintf("Bearer %s", token)},
 	}
 
-	client := &http.Client{Timeout: web.Timeout}
+	client := web.NewHTTPRetryClient()
 	res, err := client.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/pkg/web/client.go b/pkg/web/client.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db889fc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/web/client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package web
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-retryablehttp"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+)
+
+type customLeveledLogger struct {
+	retryablehttp.Logger
+}
+
+func (l customLeveledLogger) Printf(msg string, args ...interface{}) {
+	logrus.Debugf(fmt.Sprintf(msg, args...))
+}
+
+// NewHTTPRetryClient instantiates a new http client with retries baked in
+func NewHTTPRetryClient() *retryablehttp.Client {
+	retryClient := retryablehttp.NewClient()
+	retryClient.Logger = customLeveledLogger{}
+	return retryClient
+}
diff --git a/pkg/web/web.go b/pkg/web/web.go
index 3102118c..0fe567a7 100644
--- a/pkg/web/web.go
+++ b/pkg/web/web.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package web
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"net/http"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -13,7 +12,7 @@ const Timeout = 10 * time.Second
 
 // ReadJSON reads JSON and parses it into your chosen interface pointer
 func ReadJSON(url string, target interface{}) error {
-	httpClient := &http.Client{Timeout: Timeout}
+	httpClient := NewHTTPRetryClient()
 	res, err := httpClient.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err