diff --git a/src/curl.cpp b/src/curl.cpp
index 27fe9be..5eeda1d 100644
--- a/src/curl.cpp
+++ b/src/curl.cpp
@@ -2382,12 +2382,14 @@ int S3fsCurl::RequestPerform(bool dontAddAuthHeaders /*=false*/)
                         break;
 
                     case 500:
-                    case 503:
+                    case 503: {
                         S3FS_PRN_INFO3("HTTP response code %ld was returned, slowing down", responseCode);
                         S3FS_PRN_DBG("Body Text: %s", bodydata.str());
-                        sleep(4 << retry_count);
+                        // Add jitter to avoid thundering herd.
+                        unsigned int sleep_time = 2 << retry_count;
+                        sleep(sleep_time + random() % sleep_time);
                         break;
-
+                    }
                     default:
                         S3FS_PRN_ERR("HTTP response code %ld, returning EIO. Body Text: %s", responseCode, bodydata.str());
                         result = -EIO;