diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index a3f6accb..7c4e4ca0 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ parse_config(const char *config_file, t_configuration_options *options)
 	/* if nothing has been provided defaults to 60 */
 	options->master_response_timeout = 60;
 
+	/* it defaults to 6 retries with a time between retries of 10s */
+	options->reconnect_attempts = 6;
+	options->reconnect_intvl = 10;
+
 	/*
 	 * Since some commands don't require a config file at all, not
 	 * having one isn't necessarily a problem.
@@ -103,6 +107,10 @@ parse_config(const char *config_file, t_configuration_options *options)
 			strncpy(options->follow_command, value, MAXLEN);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "master_response_timeout") == 0)
 			options->master_response_timeout = atoi(value);
+		else if (strcmp(name, "reconnect_attempts") == 0)
+			options->reconnect_attempts = atoi(value);
+		else if (strcmp(name, "reconnect_interval") == 0)
+			options->reconnect_intvl = atoi(value);
 		else
 			log_warning(_("%s/%s: Unknown name/value pair!\n"), name, value);
 	}
@@ -128,6 +136,18 @@ parse_config(const char *config_file, t_configuration_options *options)
 		log_err(_("Master response timeout must be greater than zero. Check the configuration file.\n"));
 		exit(ERR_BAD_CONFIG);
 	}
+
+	if (options->reconnect_attempts < 0)
+	{
+		log_err(_("Reconnect attempts must be zero or greater. Check the configuration file.\n"));
+		exit(ERR_BAD_CONFIG);
+	}
+
+	if (options->reconnect_intvl <= 0)
+	{
+		log_err(_("Reconnect intervals must be zero or greater. Check the configuration file.\n"));
+		exit(ERR_BAD_CONFIG);
+	}
 }
 
 
@@ -232,6 +252,18 @@ reload_configuration(char *config_file, t_configuration_options *orig_options)
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	if (new_options.reconnect_attempts < 0)
+	{
+		log_warning(_("\nNew value for reconnect_attempts is not valid. Should be greater or equal than zero.\n"));
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (new_options.reconnect_intvl < 0)
+	{
+		log_warning(_("\nNew value for reconnect_interval is not valid. Should be greater or equal than zero.\n"));
+		return false;
+	}
+
 	/* Test conninfo string */
 	conn = establishDBConnection(new_options.conninfo, false);
 	if (!conn || (PQstatus(conn) != CONNECTION_OK))
@@ -252,6 +284,8 @@ reload_configuration(char *config_file, t_configuration_options *orig_options)
 	strcpy(orig_options->follow_command, new_options.follow_command);
 	strcpy(orig_options->rsync_options, new_options.rsync_options);
 	orig_options->master_response_timeout = new_options.master_response_timeout;
+	orig_options->reconnect_attempts = new_options.reconnect_attempts;
+	orig_options->reconnect_intvl = new_options.reconnect_intvl;
 	/*
 	 * XXX These ones can change with a simple SIGHUP?
 
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 45435cc7..4e4cdaf3 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ typedef struct
 	char logfacility[MAXLEN];
 	char rsync_options[QUERY_STR_LEN];
 	int  master_response_timeout;
+	int  reconnect_attempts;
+	int  reconnect_intvl;
 } t_configuration_options;
 
 void parse_config(const char *config_file, t_configuration_options *options);
diff --git a/repmgr.conf.sample b/repmgr.conf.sample
index 73d8ed40..9e8ad42b 100644
--- a/repmgr.conf.sample
+++ b/repmgr.conf.sample
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ rsync_options=--archive --checksum --compress --progress --rsh=ssh
 # How many seconds we wait for master response before declaring master failure
 master_response_timeout=60
 
+# How many time we try to reconnect to master before starting failover procedure
+reconnect_attempts=6
+reconnect_interval=10
+
 # Autofailover options
 failover=automatic
 priority=-1
diff --git a/repmgr.h b/repmgr.h
index e0970445..dcab7d46 100644
--- a/repmgr.h
+++ b/repmgr.h
@@ -69,9 +69,5 @@ typedef struct
 } t_runtime_options;
 
 #define SLEEP_MONITOR		2
-#define SLEEP_RETRY			3
-#define NUM_RETRY			40
-
-
 
 #endif
diff --git a/repmgrd.c b/repmgrd.c
index e07ec0df..aae9b169 100644
--- a/repmgrd.c
+++ b/repmgrd.c
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ WitnessMonitor(void)
 	 * Check if the master is still available, if after 5 minutes of retries
 	 * we cannot reconnect, return false.
 	 */
-	CheckPrimaryConnection(); // this take up to NUM_RETRY * SLEEP_RETRY seconds
+	CheckPrimaryConnection(); // this take up to local_options.reconnect_attempts * local_options.reconnect_intvl seconds
 
 	if (PQstatus(primaryConn) != CONNECTION_OK)
 	{
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ StandbyMonitor(void)
 	 * Check if the master is still available, if after 5 minutes of retries
 	 * we cannot reconnect, try to get a new master.
 	 */
-	CheckPrimaryConnection(); // this take up to NUM_RETRY * SLEEP_RETRY seconds
+	CheckPrimaryConnection(); // this take up to local_options.reconnect_attempts * local_options.reconnect_intvl seconds
 
 	if (PQstatus(primaryConn) != CONNECTION_OK)
 	{
@@ -762,17 +762,19 @@ CheckPrimaryConnection(void)
 
 	/*
 	 * Check if the master is still available
-	 * if after NUM_RETRY * SLEEP_RETRY seconds of retries
+	 * if after local_options.reconnect_attempts * local_options.reconnect_intvl seconds of retries
 	 * we cannot reconnect
 	 * return false
 	 */
-	for (connection_retries = 0; connection_retries < NUM_RETRY; connection_retries++)
+	for (connection_retries = 0; connection_retries < local_options.reconnect_attempts; connection_retries++)
 	{
 		if (!is_pgup(primaryConn, local_options.master_response_timeout))
 		{
-			log_warning(_("%s: Connection to master has been lost, trying to recover... %i seconds before failover decision\n"), progname, (SLEEP_RETRY*(NUM_RETRY-connection_retries)));
-			/* wait SLEEP_RETRY seconds between retries */
-			sleep(SLEEP_RETRY);
+			log_warning(_("%s: Connection to master has been lost, trying to recover... %i seconds before failover decision\n"), 
+								progname, 
+								(local_options.reconnect_intvl * (local_options.reconnect_attempts - connection_retries)));
+			/* wait local_options.reconnect_intvl seconds between retries */
+			sleep(local_options.reconnect_intvl);
 		}
 		else
 		{