diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/retry_action.rb b/lib/puppet/util/retry_action.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd54ade65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/retry_action.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+module Puppet::Util::RetryAction
+  class RetryException < Exception; end
+  class RetryException::NoBlockGiven < RetryException; end
+  class RetryException::NoRetriesGiven < RetryException;end
+  class RetryException::RetriesExceeded < RetryException; end
+
+  # Execute the supplied block retrying with exponential backoff.
+  #
+  # @param [Hash] options the retry options
+  # @option options [FixNum] :retries Maximum number of times to retry.
+  # @option options [Array<Exception>] :retry_exceptions ([StandardError]) Optional array of exceptions that are allowed to be retried.
+  # @yield The block to be executed.
+  def self.retry_action(options = {})
+    # Retry actions for a specified amount of time. This method will allow the final
+    # retry to complete even if that extends beyond the timeout period.
+    if !block_given?
+      raise RetryException::NoBlockGiven
+    end
+
+    retries = options[:retries]
+    if retries.nil?
+      raise RetryException::NoRetriesGiven
+    end
+
+    retry_exceptions = options[:retry_exceptions] || [StandardError]
+    failures = 0
+    begin
+      yield
+    rescue *retry_exceptions => e
+      if failures >= retries
+        raise RetryException::RetriesExceeded, "#{retries} exceeded", e.backtrace
+      end
+
+      Puppet.info("Caught exception #{e.class}:#{e} retrying")
+
+      failures += 1
+
+      # Increase the amount of time that we sleep after every
+      # failed retry attempt.
+      sleep (((2 ** failures) -1) * 0.1)
+
+      retry
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/unit/util/retry_action_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/retry_action_spec.rb
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..287bf55e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/util/retry_action_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env ruby
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'puppet/util/retry_action'
+
+describe Puppet::Util::RetryAction do
+  let (:exceptions) { [ Puppet::Error, NameError ] }
+
+  it "doesn't retry SystemExit" do
+    expect do
+      Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 0 ) do
+        raise SystemExit
+      end
+    end.to exit_with(0)
+  end
+
+  it "doesn't retry NoMemoryError" do
+    expect do
+      Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 0 ) do
+        raise NoMemoryError, "OOM"
+      end
+    end.to raise_error(NoMemoryError, /OOM/)
+  end
+
+  it 'should retry on any exception if no acceptable exceptions given' do
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 1) -1) * 0.1) )
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 2) -1) * 0.1) )
+
+    expect do
+      Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2 ) do
+        raise ArgumentError, 'Fake Failure'
+      end
+    end.to raise_exception(Puppet::Util::RetryAction::RetryException::RetriesExceeded)
+  end
+
+  it 'should retry on acceptable exceptions' do
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 1) -1) * 0.1) )
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 2) -1) * 0.1) )
+
+    expect do
+      Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
+        raise Puppet::Error, 'Fake Failure'
+      end
+    end.to raise_exception(Puppet::Util::RetryAction::RetryException::RetriesExceeded)
+  end
+
+  it 'should not retry on unacceptable exceptions' do
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).never
+
+    expect do
+      Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
+        raise ArgumentError
+      end
+    end.to raise_exception(ArgumentError)
+  end
+
+  it 'should succeed if nothing is raised' do
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).never
+
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2) do
+      true
+    end
+  end
+
+  it 'should succeed if an expected exception is raised retried and succeeds' do
+    should_retry = nil
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).once
+
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
+      if should_retry
+        true
+      else
+        should_retry = true
+        raise Puppet::Error, 'Fake error'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  it "doesn't mutate caller's arguments" do
+    options = { :retries => 1 }.freeze
+
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action(options) do
+    end
+  end
+end