diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a50ceb784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+module Puppet::Util::RetryAction
+  class RetryException < Exception; end
+  class RetryException::NoBlockGiven < RetryException; end
+  class RetryException::NoRetriesGiven < RetryException;end
+  class RetryException::RetriesExceeded < RetryException; end
+
+  def self.retry_action( parameters = { :retry_exceptions => nil, :retries => nil } )
+    # 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.
+    unless block_given?
+      raise RetryException::NoBlockGiven
+    end
+
+    raise RetryException::NoRetriesGiven if parameters[:retries].nil?
+    parameters[:retry_exceptions] ||= Hash.new
+
+    failures = 0
+
+    begin
+      yield
+    rescue Exception => e
+      # If we were giving exceptions to catch,
+      # catch the excptions we care about and retry.
+      # All others fail hard
+
+      raise RetryException::RetriesExceeded, "#{parameters[:retries]} exceeded", e.backtrace if parameters[:retries] == 0
+
+      if (not parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.empty?) and parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.include?(e.class)
+        Puppet.info("Caught exception #{e.class}:#{e}")
+        Puppet.info(parameters[:retry_exceptions][e.class])
+      elsif (not parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.empty?)
+        # If the exceptions is not in the list of retry_exceptions re-raise.
+        raise e
+      end
+
+      failures += 1
+      parameters[:retries] -= 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/retryaction_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28c5fed84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env ruby
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'puppet/util/retryaction'
+
+describe Puppet::Util::RetryAction do
+  let (:exceptions) {{ Puppet::Error => 'Puppet Error Exception' }}
+
+  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
+end