diff --git a/exporters/fluentd/include/opentelemetry/exporters/fluentd/common/fluentd_common.h b/exporters/fluentd/include/opentelemetry/exporters/fluentd/common/fluentd_common.h
index 8b21d82a7..0e8a4c188 100644
--- a/exporters/fluentd/include/opentelemetry/exporters/fluentd/common/fluentd_common.h
+++ b/exporters/fluentd/include/opentelemetry/exporters/fluentd/common/fluentd_common.h
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ struct FluentdExporterOptions {
   TransportFormat format = TransportFormat::kForward;
   std::string tag = "tag.service";
   size_t retry_count = 2; // number of retries before drop
+  uint32_t retry_delay_ms = 1000;
   std::string endpoint;
   bool convert_event_to_trace =
       false; // convert events to trace. Not used for Logs.
diff --git a/exporters/fluentd/src/log/fluentd_exporter.cc b/exporters/fluentd/src/log/fluentd_exporter.cc
index ea6e05f7f..9bddfe5e9 100644
--- a/exporters/fluentd/src/log/fluentd_exporter.cc
+++ b/exporters/fluentd/src/log/fluentd_exporter.cc
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ sdk::common::ExportResult FluentdExporter::Export(
  */
 bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
   size_t retryCount = options_.retry_count;
+  auto retrySleepMs = std::chrono::milliseconds(options_.retry_delay_ms);
   while (retryCount--) {
     int error_code = 0;
     // Check if socket is Okay
@@ -135,8 +136,12 @@ bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
     }
     // Reconnect if not Okay
     if (!connected_) {
+      Initialize(); // try a DNS lookup, etc
       // Establishing socket connection may take time
       if (!Connect()) {
+	if (retryCount) {
+	  std::this_thread::sleep_for(retrySleepMs);
+	}
         continue;
       }
       LOG_DEBUG("socket connected");
@@ -152,10 +157,15 @@ bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
     }
 
     LOG_WARN("send failed, retrying %lu ...", retryCount);
+    Disconnect();
     // Retry to connect and/or send
+    if (retryCount) {
+      std::this_thread::sleep_for(retrySleepMs);
+    }
   }
 
   LOG_ERROR("send failed!");
+  Disconnect();
   return false;
 }
 
diff --git a/exporters/fluentd/src/trace/fluentd_exporter.cc b/exporters/fluentd/src/trace/fluentd_exporter.cc
index c6119a16e..df75fc8a6 100644
--- a/exporters/fluentd/src/trace/fluentd_exporter.cc
+++ b/exporters/fluentd/src/trace/fluentd_exporter.cc
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ bool FluentdExporter::Connect() {
  */
 bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
   size_t retryCount = options_.retry_count;
+  auto retrySleepMs = std::chrono::milliseconds(options_.retry_delay_ms);
   while (retryCount--) {
     int error_code = 0;
     // Check if socket is Okay
@@ -238,8 +239,12 @@ bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
     }
     // Reconnect if not Okay
     if (!connected_) {
+      Initialize(); // try a DNS lookup, etc
       // Establishing socket connection may take time
       if (!Connect()) {
+	if (retryCount) {
+	  std::this_thread::sleep_for(retrySleepMs);
+	}
         continue;
       }
       LOG_DEBUG("socket connected");
@@ -255,10 +260,15 @@ bool FluentdExporter::Send(std::vector<uint8_t> &packet) {
     }
 
     LOG_WARN("send failed, retrying %u ...", (unsigned int)retryCount);
+    Disconnect();
     // Retry to connect and/or send
+    if (retryCount) {
+      std::this_thread::sleep_for(retrySleepMs);
+    }
   }
 
   LOG_ERROR("send failed!");
+  Disconnect();
   return false;
 }