diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2ea26c6..2707a8c 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/xataio/pgstream
 go 1.22.2
 
 require (
-	github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.2
 	github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8 v8.13.1
 	github.com/golang-migrate/migrate/v4 v4.17.1
 	github.com/jackc/pglogrepl v0.0.0-20240307033717-828fbfe908e9
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 7dfc6b2..8725254 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ github.com/MarvinJWendt/testza v0.5.2/go.mod h1:xu53QFE5sCdjtMCKk8YMQ2MnymimEctc
 github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.6.1 h1:9/kr64B9VUZrLm5YYwbGtUJnMgqWVOdUAXu6Migciow=
 github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.6.1/go.mod h1:LRdKpFKfdobln8UmuiYcKPot9D2v6svN5+sAH+4kjUM=
 github.com/atomicgo/cursor v0.0.1/go.mod h1:cBON2QmmrysudxNBFthvMtN32r3jxVRIvzkUiF/RuIk=
-github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible h1:tNowT99t7UNflLxfYYSlKYsBpXdEet03Pg2g16Swow4=
-github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible/go.mod h1:90ReRw6GdpyfrHakVjL/QHaoyV4aDUVVkXQJJJ3NXXM=
+github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.2 h1:6Yo7N8UP2K6LWZnW94DLVSSrbobcWdVzAYOisuDPIFo=
+github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.2/go.mod h1:scbssz8iZGpm3xbr14ovlUdkxfGXNInqkPWOWmG2CLw=
 github.com/containerd/console v1.0.3 h1:lIr7SlA5PxZyMV30bDW0MGbiOPXwc63yRuCP0ARubLw=
 github.com/containerd/console v1.0.3/go.mod h1:7LqA/THxQ86k76b8c/EMSiaJ3h1eZkMkXar0TQ1gf3U=
 github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0/go.mod h1:Y58oyj3AT4RCenI/lSvhwexgC+NSVTIJ3seZv2GcEnc=
diff --git a/internal/backoff/backoff.go b/internal/backoff/backoff.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7766b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/backoff/backoff.go
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package backoff
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
+)
+
+type Backoff interface {
+	RetryNotify(Operation, Notify) error
+}
+
+type (
+	Operation func() error
+	Notify    func(error, time.Duration)
+)
+
+type Config struct {
+	InitialInterval time.Duration
+	MaxInterval     time.Duration
+	MaxRetries      uint
+}
+
+// ExponentialBackoff is a wrapper around the cenkalti exponential backoff
+type ExponentialBackoff struct {
+	backoff.BackOff
+}
+
+var ErrPermanent = errors.New("permanent error, do not retry")
+
+type Provider func(ctx context.Context) Backoff
+
+func NewExponentialBackoff(ctx context.Context, cfg *Config) *ExponentialBackoff {
+	exp := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+	exp.InitialInterval = cfg.InitialInterval
+	exp.MaxElapsedTime = cfg.MaxInterval
+
+	var bo backoff.BackOff = exp
+	if cfg.MaxRetries > 0 {
+		bo = backoff.WithMaxRetries(bo, uint64(cfg.MaxRetries))
+	}
+	bo = backoff.WithContext(bo, ctx)
+
+	return &ExponentialBackoff{
+		BackOff: bo,
+	}
+}
+
+func (ebo *ExponentialBackoff) RetryNotify(op Operation, notify Notify) error {
+	boOp := func() error {
+		err := op()
+		if errors.Is(err, ErrPermanent) {
+			return backoff.Permanent(err)
+		}
+		return err
+	}
+	return backoff.RetryNotify(boOp, ebo, backoff.Notify(notify))
+}
diff --git a/internal/backoff/mocks/mock_backoff.go b/internal/backoff/mocks/mock_backoff.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ca044f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/backoff/mocks/mock_backoff.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package mocks
+
+import "github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/backoff"
+
+type Backoff struct {
+	RetryNotifyFn func(backoff.Operation, backoff.Notify) error
+}
+
+func (m *Backoff) RetryNotify(op backoff.Operation, not backoff.Notify) error {
+	return m.RetryNotifyFn(op, not)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader.go b/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader.go
index e9cf855..0154600 100644
--- a/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader.go
+++ b/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"runtime/debug"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff"
+	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/backoff"
 	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/kafka"
 	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/pkg/wal"
 
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	backoffMaxElapsedTime = 2 * time.Minute
-
 	// if we go over this limit the log will likely be truncated and it will not
 	// be very readable
 	logMaxBytes = 10000
@@ -31,7 +29,12 @@ type Reader struct {
 	// processRecord is called for a new record.
 	processRecord payloadProcessor
 
-	backoffMaxElapsedTime time.Duration
+	backoffProvider backoff.Provider
+}
+
+type ReaderConfig struct {
+	Kafka         kafka.ReaderConfig
+	CommitBackoff backoff.Config
 }
 
 type kafkaReader interface {
@@ -42,18 +45,20 @@ type kafkaReader interface {
 
 type payloadProcessor func(context.Context, []byte, wal.CommitPosition) error
 
-func NewReader(config kafka.ReaderConfig,
+func NewReader(config ReaderConfig,
 	processRecord payloadProcessor,
 ) (*Reader, error) {
-	reader, err := kafka.NewReader(config)
+	reader, err := kafka.NewReader(config.Kafka)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	return &Reader{
-		reader:                reader,
-		processRecord:         processRecord,
-		backoffMaxElapsedTime: backoffMaxElapsedTime,
+		reader:        reader,
+		processRecord: processRecord,
+		backoffProvider: func(ctx context.Context) backoff.Backoff {
+			return backoff.NewExponentialBackoff(ctx, &config.CommitBackoff)
+		},
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -124,14 +129,11 @@ func (r *Reader) checkpoint(ctx context.Context, positions []wal.CommitPosition)
 }
 
 func (r *Reader) commitMessagesWithRetry(ctx context.Context, msgs []*kafka.Message) error {
-	backoffCfg := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
-	backoffCfg.MaxElapsedTime = r.backoffMaxElapsedTime
-
-	return backoff.RetryNotify(
+	bo := r.backoffProvider(ctx)
+	return bo.RetryNotify(
 		func() error {
 			return r.reader.CommitMessages(ctx, msgs...)
 		},
-		backoffCfg,
 		func(err error, d time.Duration) {
 			log.Ctx(ctx).Warn().Err(err).Msgf("failed to commit messages. Retrying in %v", d)
 		})
diff --git a/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader_test.go b/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader_test.go
index cea0c55..d227fc9 100644
--- a/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader_test.go
+++ b/pkg/wal/listener/kafka/wal_kafka_reader_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/backoff"
+	backoffmocks "github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/backoff/mocks"
 	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/kafka"
 	kafkamocks "github.com/xataio/pgstream/internal/kafka/mocks"
 	"github.com/xataio/pgstream/pkg/wal"
@@ -164,8 +166,9 @@ func TestReader_checkpoint(t *testing.T) {
 	errTest := errors.New("oh noes")
 
 	tests := []struct {
-		name   string
-		reader *kafkamocks.Reader
+		name            string
+		reader          *kafkamocks.Reader
+		backoffProvider backoff.Provider
 
 		wantErr error
 	}{
@@ -177,6 +180,13 @@ func TestReader_checkpoint(t *testing.T) {
 					return nil
 				},
 			},
+			backoffProvider: func(ctx context.Context) backoff.Backoff {
+				return &backoffmocks.Backoff{
+					RetryNotifyFn: func(o backoff.Operation, n backoff.Notify) error {
+						return o()
+					},
+				}
+			},
 
 			wantErr: nil,
 		},
@@ -187,6 +197,17 @@ func TestReader_checkpoint(t *testing.T) {
 					return errTest
 				},
 			},
+			backoffProvider: func(ctx context.Context) backoff.Backoff {
+				return &backoffmocks.Backoff{
+					RetryNotifyFn: func(o backoff.Operation, n backoff.Notify) error {
+						err := o()
+						if err != nil {
+							n(err, 50*time.Millisecond)
+						}
+						return err
+					},
+				}
+			},
 
 			wantErr: errTest,
 		},
@@ -198,8 +219,8 @@ func TestReader_checkpoint(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Parallel()
 
 			r := Reader{
-				reader:                tc.reader,
-				backoffMaxElapsedTime: 5 * time.Millisecond,
+				reader:          tc.reader,
+				backoffProvider: tc.backoffProvider,
 			}
 
 			err := r.checkpoint(context.Background(), testPositions)