diff --git a/src/BigQuery/BigQueryClient.php b/src/BigQuery/BigQueryClient.php
index cfa25d9e09a6..598f0f1f66fd 100644
--- a/src/BigQuery/BigQueryClient.php
+++ b/src/BigQuery/BigQueryClient.php
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@
 
 use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\Connection\ConnectionInterface;
 use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\Connection\Rest;
+use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\Job;
 use Google\Cloud\Core\ArrayTrait;
-use Google\Cloud\Core\Iterator\ItemIterator;
-use Google\Cloud\Core\Iterator\PageIterator;
 use Google\Cloud\Core\ClientTrait;
+use Google\Cloud\Core\ExponentialBackoff;
 use Google\Cloud\Core\Int64;
+use Google\Cloud\Core\Iterator\ItemIterator;
+use Google\Cloud\Core\Iterator\PageIterator;
 use Psr\Cache\CacheItemPoolInterface;
 use Psr\Http\Message\StreamInterface;
 
@@ -138,14 +140,6 @@ public function __construct(array $config = [])
      * ```
      * $queryResults = $bigQuery->runQuery('SELECT commit FROM [bigquery-public-data:github_repos.commits] LIMIT 100');
      *
-     * $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete();
-     *
-     * while (!$isComplete) {
-     *     sleep(1); // let's wait for a moment...
-     *     $queryResults->reload(); // trigger a network request
-     *     $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete(); // check the query's status
-     * }
-     *
      * foreach ($queryResults->rows() as $row) {
      *     echo $row['commit'];
      * }
@@ -162,14 +156,6 @@ public function __construct(array $config = [])
      *     ]
      * ]);
      *
-     * $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete();
-     *
-     * while (!$isComplete) {
-     *     sleep(1); // let's wait for a moment...
-     *     $queryResults->reload(); // trigger a network request
-     *     $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete(); // check the query's status
-     * }
-     *
      * foreach ($queryResults->rows() as $row) {
      *     echo $row['commit'];
      * }
@@ -182,14 +168,6 @@ public function __construct(array $config = [])
      *     'parameters' => ['A commit message.']
      * ]);
      *
-     * $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete();
-     *
-     * while (!$isComplete) {
-     *     sleep(1); // let's wait for a moment...
-     *     $queryResults->reload(); // trigger a network request
-     *     $isComplete = $queryResults->isComplete(); // check the query's status
-     * }
-     *
      * foreach ($queryResults->rows() as $row) {
      *     echo $row['commit'];
      * }
@@ -211,6 +189,8 @@ public function __construct(array $config = [])
      *           qualified in the format 'datasetId.tableId'.
      *     @type int $timeoutMs How long to wait for the query to complete, in
      *           milliseconds. **Defaults to** `10000` milliseconds (10 seconds).
+     *     @type int $maxRetries The number of times to retry, checking if the
+     *           query has completed. **Defaults to** `100`.
      *     @type bool $useQueryCache Whether to look for the result in the query
      *           cache.
      *     @type bool $useLegacySql Specifies whether to use BigQuery's legacy
@@ -223,20 +203,29 @@ public function __construct(array $config = [])
      *           named parameters will be used (`@name`).
      * }
      * @return QueryResults
+     * @throws \RuntimeException if the maximum number of retries while waiting
+     *         for query completion has been exceeded.
      */
     public function runQuery($query, array $options = [])
     {
+        $options += [
+            'maxRetries' => 100
+        ];
+
         if (isset($options['parameters'])) {
             $options += $this->formatQueryParameters($options['parameters']);
             unset($options['parameters']);
         }
 
+        $queryOptions = $options;
+        unset($queryOptions['timeoutMs'], $queryOptions['maxRetries']);
+
         $response = $this->connection->query([
             'projectId' => $this->projectId,
             'query' => $query
-        ] + $options);
+        ] + $queryOptions);
 
-        return new QueryResults(
+        $results = new QueryResults(
             $this->connection,
             $response['jobReference']['jobId'],
             $this->projectId,
@@ -244,6 +233,21 @@ public function runQuery($query, array $options = [])
             $options,
             $this->mapper
         );
+
+        if (!$results->isComplete()) {
+            $retryFn = function (QueryResults $results, array $options) {
+                $results->reload($options);
+
+                if (!$results->isComplete()) {
+                    throw new \RuntimeException('Job did not complete within the allowed number of retries.');
+                }
+            };
+
+            $retry = new ExponentialBackoff($options['maxRetries']);
+            $retry->execute($retryFn, [$results, $options]);
+        }
+
+        return $results;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/snippets/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php b/tests/snippets/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
index b6527511ef23..0f9693fab76e 100644
--- a/tests/snippets/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
+++ b/tests/snippets/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ public function testRunQuery()
     {
         $snippet = $this->snippetFromMethod(BigQueryClient::class, 'runQuery');
         $snippet->addLocal('bigQuery', $this->client);
-        $snippet->replace('sleep(1);', '');
         $this->connection->query(Argument::any())
             ->shouldBeCalled()
             ->willReturn([
@@ -102,7 +101,6 @@ public function testRunQueryWithNamedParameters()
     {
         $snippet = $this->snippetFromMethod(BigQueryClient::class, 'runQuery', 1);
         $snippet->addLocal('bigQuery', $this->client);
-        $snippet->replace('sleep(1);', '');
         $this->connection
             ->query(Argument::withEntry('queryParameters', [
                 [
@@ -145,7 +143,6 @@ public function testRunQueryWithPositionalParameters()
     {
         $snippet = $this->snippetFromMethod(BigQueryClient::class, 'runQuery', 2);
         $snippet->addLocal('bigQuery', $this->client);
-        $snippet->replace('sleep(1);', '');
         $this->connection
             ->query(Argument::withEntry('queryParameters', [
                 [
diff --git a/tests/unit/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php b/tests/unit/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
index 190691fffd9a..6fddc4bb132f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/BigQuery/BigQueryClientTest.php
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\QueryResults;
 use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\Time;
 use Google\Cloud\BigQuery\Timestamp;
+use Google\Cloud\Core\Iterator\ItemIterator;
 use Prophecy\Argument;
 
 /**
@@ -54,9 +55,40 @@ public function testRunsQuery($query, $options, $expected)
             ->willReturn([
                 'jobReference' => [
                     'jobId' => $this->jobId
-                ]
+                ],
+                'jobComplete' => true
+            ])
+            ->shouldBeCalledTimes(1);
+        $this->client->setConnection($this->connection->reveal());
+        $queryResults = $this->client->runQuery($query, $options);
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(QueryResults::class, $queryResults);
+        $this->assertEquals($this->jobId, $queryResults->identity()['jobId']);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider queryDataProvider
+     */
+    public function testRunsQueryWithRetry($query, $options, $expected)
+    {
+        $this->connection->query($expected)
+            ->willReturn([
+                'jobReference' => [
+                    'jobId' => $this->jobId
+                ],
+                'jobComplete' => false
+            ])
+            ->shouldBeCalledTimes(1);
+
+        $this->connection->getQueryResults(Argument::any())
+            ->willReturn([
+                'jobReference' => [
+                    'jobId' => $this->jobId
+                ],
+                'jobComplete' => true
             ])
             ->shouldBeCalledTimes(1);
+
         $this->client->setConnection($this->connection->reveal());
         $queryResults = $this->client->runQuery($query, $options);