diff --git a/pkg/kgo/broker.go b/pkg/kgo/broker.go
index c340a1c6..92bd784a 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/broker.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/broker.go
@@ -877,33 +877,59 @@ func (cxn *brokerCxn) doSasl(authenticate bool) error {
 	}
 
 	if lifetimeMillis > 0 {
-		// Lifetime: we could have written our request instantaenously,
-		// the broker calculating our session lifetime, and then the
-		// broker / network hung for a bit when writing. We
-		// pessimistically assume this worst case and take off the
-		// final request e2e latency x1.1 from the lifetime.
+		// Lifetime is problematic. We need to be a bit pessimistic.
 		//
-		// If the latency is <2.5s, we also pessimistically assume that
-		// things may take 2.5s in the future.
+		// We want a lowerbound: we use 2s (arbitrary), but if 1.1x our
+		// e2e sasl latency is more than 2s, we use the latency.
 		//
-		// We may make our lifetime <0; brokers should use longer
-		// lifetimes, but some do not in all cases. If our lifetime is
-		// <100ms, we sleep for 100ms just to ensure we do not
-		// spin-loop reauthenticating *too* much.
-		latency := int64(float64(time.Since(prereq).Milliseconds()) * 1.1)
-		if latency < 2500 {
-			latency = 2500
+		// We do not want to reauthenticate too close to the lifetime
+		// especially for larger lifetimes due to clock issues (#205).
+		// We take 95% to 98% of the lifetime.
+		minPessimismMillis := float64(2 * time.Second.Milliseconds())
+		latencyMillis := 1.1 * float64(time.Since(prereq).Milliseconds())
+		if latencyMillis > minPessimismMillis {
+			minPessimismMillis = latencyMillis
 		}
+		maxPessimismMillis := float64(lifetimeMillis) * (0.05 - 0.03*cxn.b.cl.rng()) // 95 to 98% of lifetime (pessimism 2% to 5%)
 
-		useLifetime := lifetimeMillis - latency
+		// Our minimum lifetime is always 2s (or latency, if larger).
+		//
+		// If rng is 0, we begin using max lifetime at 40s:
+		//
+		//     maxLifetime = 40s - (40s * 0.05) = 38s
+		//     minLifetime = 40s - 2s = 38s
+		//
+		// If rng is 1, we begin using max lifetime at 25s:
+		//
+		//     maxLifetime = 25s - (25s * 0.08) = 23s
+		//     minLifetime = 25s - 2s = 23s
+		//
+		// Every second after, we add between 0.05s or 0.08s to our
+		// backoff:
+		//
+		//     rng@0: maxLifetime = 41s - (41s * 0.05) = 38.95
+		//     rng@1: maxLifetime = 26s - (26s * 0.08) = 23.92
+		//
+		// At 12hr, we reauth ~24 to 28min before the lifetime.
+		usePessimismMillis := maxPessimismMillis
+		if minPessimismMillis > maxPessimismMillis {
+			usePessimismMillis = minPessimismMillis
+		}
+		useLifetimeMillis := lifetimeMillis - int64(usePessimismMillis)
+
+		// If our lifetime is <0 (broker said our lifetime is less than
+		// our client picked min), we sleep for 100ms and retry.
+		// Brokers should give us longer lifetimes, but that may not
+		// always happen (see #136). We sleep to avoid spin loop
+		// reauthenticating.
 		now := time.Now()
-		cxn.expiry = now.Add(time.Duration(useLifetime) * time.Millisecond)
+		cxn.expiry = now.Add(time.Duration(useLifetimeMillis) * time.Millisecond)
 		cxn.cl.cfg.logger.Log(LogLevelDebug, "sasl has a limited lifetime", "broker", logID(cxn.b.meta.NodeID), "reauthenticate_in", cxn.expiry.Sub(now))
-		if useLifetime < 0 {
-			cxn.cl.cfg.logger.Log(LogLevelInfo, "sasl lifetime minus 2.5s lower bound latency results in immediate reauthentication, sleeping 100ms to avoid spin-loop",
+		if useLifetimeMillis < 0 {
+			cxn.cl.cfg.logger.Log(LogLevelInfo, "sasl lifetime minus lower bound latency results in immediate reauthentication, sleeping 100ms to avoid spin-loop",
 				"broker", logID(cxn.b.meta.NodeID),
 				"session_lifetime", time.Duration(lifetimeMillis)*time.Millisecond,
-				"latency_lower_bound", time.Duration(latency)*time.Millisecond,
+				"latency_lower_bound", time.Duration(latencyMillis)*time.Millisecond,
 			)
 			time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kgo/client.go b/pkg/kgo/client.go
index 624ac61a..90159a3b 100644
--- a/pkg/kgo/client.go
+++ b/pkg/kgo/client.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ type Client struct {
 	ctx       context.Context
 	ctxCancel func()
 
-	rng *rand.Rand
+	rng func() float64
 
 	brokersMu    sync.RWMutex
 	brokers      []*broker // ordered by broker ID
@@ -201,7 +201,16 @@ func NewClient(opts ...Opt) (*Client, error) {
 		cfg:       cfg,
 		ctx:       ctx,
 		ctxCancel: cancel,
-		rng:       rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())),
+
+		rng: func() func() float64 {
+			var mu sync.Mutex
+			rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano()))
+			return func() float64 {
+				mu.Lock()
+				defer mu.Unlock()
+				return rng.Float64()
+			}
+		}(),
 
 		controllerID: unknownControllerID,