diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index 7e3ecf268695..d87c2d9fa617 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/k3s-io/k3s/pkg/clientaccess"
 	"github.com/k3s-io/k3s/pkg/cluster/managed"
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/k3s-io/kine/pkg/endpoint"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	utilsnet "k8s.io/utils/net"
 )
 
@@ -107,11 +109,14 @@ func (c *Cluster) Start(ctx context.Context) (<-chan struct{}, error) {
 					}
 
 					if !c.config.EtcdDisableSnapshots {
-						if err := c.managedDB.ReconcileSnapshotData(ctx); err != nil {
-							logrus.Errorf("Failed to record snapshots for cluster: %v", err)
-						}
+						wait.PollImmediateUntilWithContext(ctx, time.Second, func(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
+							err := c.managedDB.ReconcileSnapshotData(ctx)
+							if err != nil {
+								logrus.Errorf("Failed to record snapshots for cluster: %v", err)
+							}
+							return err == nil, nil
+						})
 					}
-
 					return
 				default:
 					runtime.Gosched()
diff --git a/pkg/etcd/snapshot_controller.go b/pkg/etcd/snapshot_controller.go
index 295f0117e43e..d4b22755e03f 100644
--- a/pkg/etcd/snapshot_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/etcd/snapshot_controller.go
@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@ const (
 var (
 	snapshotConfigMapName = version.Program + "-etcd-snapshots"
 	errNotReconciled      = errors.New("no nodes have reconciled ETCDSnapshotFile resources")
+	reconcileBackoff      = wait.Backoff{
+		Steps:    9,
+		Duration: 10 * time.Millisecond,
+		Factor:   3.0,
+		Jitter:   0.1,
+		Cap:      30 * time.Second,
+	}
 )
 
 type etcdSnapshotHandler struct {
@@ -62,7 +69,7 @@ func (e *etcdSnapshotHandler) sync(key string, esf *apisv1.ETCDSnapshotFile) (*a
 		err := e.reconcile()
 		if err == errNotReconciled {
 			logrus.Debugf("Failed to reconcile snapshot ConfigMap: %v, requeuing", err)
-			e.snapshots.Enqueue(key)
+			e.snapshots.EnqueueAfter(key, reconcileBackoff.Step())
 			return nil, nil
 		}
 		return nil, err