diff --git a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/models.py b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
index 9813c83b9f..a2f0267970 100644
--- a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
+++ b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/models.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def get_bugs_and_related_bugs(self, signatures):
 
 
 class BugAssociation(models.Model):
-    """Specifies assocations between bug ids in Bugzilla and signatures"""
+    """Specifies associations between bug ids in Bugzilla and signatures"""
 
     bug_id = models.IntegerField(null=False, help_text="Bugzilla bug id")
     signature = models.TextField(
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ class ParameterTypeError(Exception):
 
 
 def _clean_path(path):
-    """Santize a URL path
+    """Sanitize a URL path
 
     :arg path: the path to sanitize
 
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ class ProcessedCrash(SocorroMiddleware):
     HELP_TEXT = """
     API for retrieving crash data generated by processing.
 
-    Requires protected data acess to view protected parts of the processed crash.
+    Requires protected data access to view protected parts of the processed crash.
 
     Params:
 
@@ -1027,6 +1027,9 @@ def get(self, bugs, **kwargs):
                 # 503 = Service Unavailable
                 # 504 = Gateway Time-out
                 status_forcelist=(500, 502, 503, 504),
+                # This changes backoff to (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3.2) which
+                # gives Bugzilla a better chance of responding helpfully
+                backoff_factor=0.2,
             )
             response = session.get(url, headers=headers)
             if response.status_code != 200:
diff --git a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/tests/test_views.py b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/tests/test_views.py
index fee2a1927f..7cb802bc6d 100644
--- a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/tests/test_views.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import requests_mock
 import pyquery
 from markus.testing import MetricsMock
+from requests.exceptions import RetryError
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME
@@ -358,6 +359,22 @@ def mocked_get(url, **options):
         cache_key = "buginfo:987"
         assert cache.get(cache_key) == struct["bugs"][0]
 
+    def test_buginfo_retry_error(self, client):
+        with requests_mock.Mocker(real_http=False) as mock_requests:
+            mock_requests.get(
+                (
+                    "http://bugzilla.example.com/rest/bug?"
+                    + "id=1901998&include_fields=summary,status,id,resolution"
+                ),
+                exc=RetryError,
+            )
+
+            url = reverse("crashstats:buginfo")
+            response = client.get(url, {"bug_ids": "1901998"})
+            assert response.status_code == 500
+            json_response = json.loads(response.content)
+            assert json_response == {"error": "Max retries exceeded with Bugzilla."}
+
 
 class Test_quick_search:
     def test_quick_search(self, client):
diff --git a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/views.py b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/views.py
index 3ce9c719be..4696020669 100644
--- a/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/views.py
+++ b/webapp/crashstats/crashstats/views.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from urllib.parse import quote
 
 import glom
+from requests.exceptions import RetryError
 
 from django import http
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -332,8 +333,10 @@ def buginfo(request, signatures=None):
     bug_ids = form.cleaned_data["bug_ids"]
 
     bzapi = models.BugzillaBugInfo()
-    result = bzapi.get(bug_ids)
-    return result
+    try:
+        return bzapi.get(bug_ids)
+    except RetryError:
+        return {"error": "Max retries exceeded with Bugzilla."}, 500
 
 
 @pass_default_context