diff --git a/configfile.c b/configfile.c
index c07c853e..22545620 100644
--- a/configfile.c
+++ b/configfile.c
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ _parse_config(t_configuration_options *options, ItemList *error_list, ItemList *
 	 * ------------ */
 	options->bdr_local_monitoring_only = false;
 	options->bdr_active_node_recovery = false;
+	options->bdr_recovery_timeout = DEFAULT_BDR_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT;
 
 	/* service settings
 	 * ---------------- */
@@ -432,6 +433,8 @@ _parse_config(t_configuration_options *options, ItemList *error_list, ItemList *
 			options->bdr_local_monitoring_only = parse_bool(value, name, error_list);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "bdr_active_node_recovery") == 0)
 			options->bdr_active_node_recovery = parse_bool(value, name, error_list);
+		else if (strcmp(name, "bdr_recovery_timeout") == 0)
+			options->bdr_active_node_recovery = repmgr_atoi(value, name, error_list, 0);
 
 		/* service settings */
 		else if (strcmp(name, "pg_ctl_options") == 0)
diff --git a/configfile.h b/configfile.h
index 142c77ef..3399e1ff 100644
--- a/configfile.h
+++ b/configfile.h
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ typedef struct
 	/* BDR settings */
 	bool		bdr_local_monitoring_only;
 	bool		bdr_active_node_recovery;
+	bool		bdr_recovery_timeout;
 
 	/* service settings */
 	char		pg_ctl_options[MAXLEN];
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ typedef struct
 		DEFAULT_PRIMARY_NOTIFICATION_TIMEOUT,	\
 		DEFAULT_PRIMARY_FOLLOW_TIMEOUT,	\
 		/* BDR settings */ \
-		false, false, \
+		false, false, DEFAULT_BDR_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT, \
 		/* service settings */ \
 		"", "", "", "", "", "", \
 		/* event notification settings */ \
diff --git a/repmgr.conf.sample b/repmgr.conf.sample
index cdc4da99..dd32e068 100644
--- a/repmgr.conf.sample
+++ b/repmgr.conf.sample
@@ -236,4 +236,12 @@ ssh_options=''                          # Options to append to "ssh"
 # BDR monitoring options
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#bdr_active_node_recovery=false          # 
\ No newline at end of file
+#bdr_local_monitoring_only=false         # Only monitor the local node; no checks will be
+                                         # performed on the other node
+#bdr_recovery_timeout                    # If a BDR node was offline and has become available
+                                         # maximum length of time in seconds to wait for the
+                                         # node to reconnect to the cluster
+#bdr_active_node_recovery=false          # If a BDR node was offline and has recovered,
+                                         # provide connection details with the "bdr_recovery"
+                                         # event to enable automatic reconfiguration of the node
+                                         # to accept connections
diff --git a/repmgr.h b/repmgr.h
index a99671d0..f84c5fa3 100644
--- a/repmgr.h
+++ b/repmgr.h
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@
 #define DEFAULT_STATS_REPORTING_INTERVAL 2
 #define DEFAULT_ASYNC_QUERY_TIMEOUT      60
 #define DEFAULT_PRIMARY_NOTIFICATION_TIMEOUT 60
-#define DEFAULT_PRIMARY_FOLLOW_TIMEOUT 60
-
+#define DEFAULT_PRIMARY_FOLLOW_TIMEOUT   60
+#define DEFAULT_BDR_RECOVERY_TIMEOUT     30
 #define FAILOVER_NODES_MAX_CHECK 50
 
 
diff --git a/repmgrd-bdr.c b/repmgrd-bdr.c
index 22cc5233..930cbeed 100644
--- a/repmgrd-bdr.c
+++ b/repmgrd-bdr.c
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 	{
 		log_error(_("unable to retrieve record for local node (ID: %i), terminating"),
 				  local_node_info.node_id);
-		log_hint(_("check that 'repmgr bdr register' was executed for this node"));
+		log_hint(_("check that \"repmgr bdr register\" was executed for this node"));
 		PQfinish(local_conn);
 		exit(ERR_BAD_CONFIG);
 	}
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 
 							cell->node_info->conn = try_reconnect(cell->node_info);
 
-							/* Node has recovered - log and continue */
+							/* node has recovered - log and continue */
 							if (cell->node_info->node_status == NODE_STATUS_UP)
 							{
 								int		node_unreachable_elapsed = calculate_elapsed(node_unreachable_start);
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ monitor_bdr(void)
 
 /*
  * do_bdr_failover()
- *0
+ *
  * Here we attempt to perform a BDR "failover".
  *
  * As there's no equivalent of a physical replication failover,
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 	t_node_info failed_node  = T_NODE_INFO_INITIALIZER;
 	RecordStatus record_status;
 
+	/* if one of the two nodes is down, cluster will be in a degraded state */
 	monitored_node->monitoring_state = MS_DEGRADED;
 	INSTR_TIME_SET_CURRENT(degraded_monitoring_start);
 
@@ -305,8 +306,7 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 		if (cell->node_info->node_id == monitored_node->node_id)
 			continue;
 
-		/* XXX skip inactive node? */
-		// reuse local conn if local node is up
+		/* TODO: reuse local conn if local node is up */
 		next_node_conn = establish_db_connection(cell->node_info->conninfo, false);
 
 		if (PQstatus(next_node_conn) == CONNECTION_OK)
@@ -353,22 +353,28 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 	if (am_bdr_failover_handler(next_node_conn, local_node_info.node_id) == false)
 	{
 		PQfinish(next_node_conn);
-		log_debug("other node's repmgrd is handling failover");
+		log_notice(_("other node's repmgrd is handling failover"));
 		return;
 	}
 
+
+	/* check here that the node hasn't come back up */
+	if (is_server_available(monitored_node->conninfo) == true)
+	{
+		log_notice(_("node %i has reappeared, aborting failover"),
+				   monitored_node->node_id);
+		monitored_node->monitoring_state = MS_NORMAL;
+		PQfinish(next_node_conn);
+	}
+
 	log_debug("this node is the failover handler");
 
-	// check here that the node hasn't come back up...
-
-	log_info(_("connecting to target node %s"), target_node.node_name);
-
 	initPQExpBuffer(&event_details);
 
 	event_info.conninfo_str = target_node.conninfo;
 	event_info.node_name = target_node.node_name;
 
-	/* update our own record on the other node */
+	/* update node record on the active node */
 	update_node_record_set_active(next_node_conn, monitored_node->node_id, false);
 
 	appendPQExpBuffer(&event_details,
@@ -401,6 +407,8 @@ do_bdr_failover(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 
 	unset_bdr_failover_handler(next_node_conn);
 
+	PQfinish(next_node_conn);
+
 	return;
 }
 
@@ -413,6 +421,7 @@ do_bdr_recovery(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 	t_event_info event_info = T_EVENT_INFO_INITIALIZER;
 	int i;
 	bool node_recovered = false;
+	int		node_recovery_elapsed;
 
 	recovered_node_conn = establish_db_connection(monitored_node->conninfo, false);
 
@@ -429,8 +438,7 @@ do_bdr_recovery(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	// bdr_recovery_timeout
-	for (i = 0; i < 30; i++)
+	for (i = 0; i < config_file_options.bdr_recovery_timeout; i++)
 	{
 		RecordStatus record_status = get_bdr_node_record_by_name(
 			recovered_node_conn,
@@ -439,6 +447,7 @@ do_bdr_recovery(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 
 		if (record_status == RECORD_FOUND && bdr_record.node_status == 'r')
 		{
+			// check pg_stat_replication
 			node_recovered = true;
 			break;
 		}
@@ -459,13 +468,15 @@ do_bdr_recovery(NodeInfoList *nodes, t_node_info *monitored_node)
 	// don't end up monitoring a parted node; if not attached,
 	// generate a failed bdr_recovery event
 
-
-	// note elapsed
 	initPQExpBuffer(&event_details);
+
+	node_recovery_elapsed = calculate_elapsed(degraded_monitoring_start);
+
 	appendPQExpBuffer(&event_details,
-					  _("node '%s' (ID: %i) has recovered"),
+					  _("node '%s' (ID: %i) has recovered after %i seconds"),
 					  monitored_node->node_name,
-					  monitored_node->node_id);
+					  monitored_node->node_id,
+					  node_recovery_elapsed);
 
 	monitored_node->monitoring_state = MS_NORMAL;