diff --git a/lib/writer/block-read-stream.js b/lib/writer/block-read-stream.js
index 1af849b5..63a902aa 100644
--- a/lib/writer/block-read-stream.js
+++ b/lib/writer/block-read-stream.js
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ const errors = require('./error-types')
 const CHUNK_SIZE = 64 * 1024
 const MIN_CHUNK_SIZE = 512
 
+/**
+ * @summary I/O retry base timeout, in milliseconds
+ * @constant
+ * @type {Number}
+ */
+const RETRY_BASE_TIMEOUT = 100
+
 /**
  * @summary BlockReadStream
  * @class
@@ -91,7 +98,9 @@ class BlockReadStream extends stream.Readable {
 
         if (isTransient && (this.retries < this.maxRetries)) {
           this.retries += 1
-          this._read()
+          setTimeout(() => {
+            this._read()
+          }, RETRY_BASE_TIMEOUT * this.retries)
           return
         } else if (isTransient) {
           error.code = 'EUNPLUGGED'
diff --git a/lib/writer/block-write-stream.js b/lib/writer/block-write-stream.js
index 263c5e96..c241183e 100644
--- a/lib/writer/block-write-stream.js
+++ b/lib/writer/block-write-stream.js
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ const errors = require('./error-types')
 const CHUNK_SIZE = 64 * 1024
 const UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS = 500
 
+/**
+ * @summary I/O retry base timeout, in milliseconds
+ * @constant
+ * @type {Number}
+ */
+const RETRY_BASE_TIMEOUT = 100
+
 /**
  * @summary BlockWriteStream
  * @class
@@ -154,7 +161,9 @@ class BlockWriteStream extends stream.Writable {
 
       if (isTransient && (this.retries < this.maxRetries)) {
         this.retries += 1
-        this._write(chunk, encoding, next)
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this._write(chunk, encoding, next)
+        }, RETRY_BASE_TIMEOUT * this.retries)
         return
       } else if (isTransient) {
         error.code = 'EUNPLUGGED'