diff --git a/cumulus/client/bootnodes/src/discovery.rs b/cumulus/client/bootnodes/src/discovery.rs
index 456dfb8eb6a2a..73b6890ff9bc8 100644
--- a/cumulus/client/bootnodes/src/discovery.rs
+++ b/cumulus/client/bootnodes/src/discovery.rs
@@ -30,14 +30,18 @@
 //!     known addresses to the parachain networking.
 //!  5. If the content provider discovery had completed, all `FIND_NODE` queries finished, and all
 //!     requests over the `/paranode` protocol succeded or failed, but we have not found any
-//!     bootnode addresses, we repeat the discovery process up to `MAX_DISCOVERY_ATTEMPTS` times.
+//!     bootnode addresses, we repeat the discovery process after a cooldown period.
 
 use crate::{config::MAX_ADDRESSES, schema::Response};
 use codec::{CompactRef, Decode, Encode};
 use cumulus_primitives_core::{relay_chain::Hash as RelayHash, ParaId};
 use cumulus_relay_chain_interface::{RelayChainError, RelayChainInterface, RelayChainResult};
 use futures::{
-	channel::oneshot, future::BoxFuture, pin_mut, stream::FuturesUnordered, FutureExt, StreamExt,
+	channel::oneshot,
+	future::{BoxFuture, Fuse, FusedFuture},
+	pin_mut,
+	stream::FuturesUnordered,
+	FutureExt, StreamExt,
 };
 use log::{debug, error, info, trace, warn};
 use parachains_common::Hash as ParaHash;
@@ -49,13 +53,15 @@ use sc_network::{
 	KademliaKey, Multiaddr, PeerId, ProtocolName,
 };
 use sp_consensus_babe::{Epoch, Randomness};
-use std::{collections::HashSet, sync::Arc};
+use std::{collections::HashSet, pin::Pin, sync::Arc, time::Duration};
+use tokio::time::{sleep, Sleep};
 
 /// Log target for this file.
 const LOG_TARGET: &str = "bootnodes::discovery";
 
-/// Number of discovery attempts before giving up.
-const MAX_DISCOVERY_ATTEMPTS: u32 = 5;
+/// Delay before retrying discovery in case of failure. Needed to rate-limit the attempts,
+/// especially in small testnets where a discovery attempt can be almost instant.
+const RETRY_DELAY: Duration = Duration::from_secs(30);
 
 /// Parachain bootnode discovery parameters.
 pub struct BootnodeDiscoveryParams {
@@ -94,7 +100,7 @@ pub struct BootnodeDiscovery {
 	>,
 	direct_requests: HashSet<PeerId>,
 	find_node_queries: HashSet<PeerId>,
-	attempts_left: u32,
+	pending_start_discovery: Pin<Box<Fuse<Sleep>>>,
 	succeeded: bool,
 }
 
@@ -124,7 +130,8 @@ impl BootnodeDiscovery {
 			pending_responses: FuturesUnordered::default(),
 			direct_requests: HashSet::new(),
 			find_node_queries: HashSet::new(),
-			attempts_left: MAX_DISCOVERY_ATTEMPTS,
+			// Trigger the discovery immediately on startup.
+			pending_start_discovery: Box::pin(sleep(Duration::ZERO).fuse()),
 			succeeded: false,
 		}
 	}
@@ -171,38 +178,35 @@ impl BootnodeDiscovery {
 		Ok(())
 	}
 
-	/// Start bootnode discovery if needed. Returns `false` if the discovery event loop should be
+	/// Schedule bootnode discovery if needed. Returns `false` if the discovery event loop should be
 	/// terminated.
-	async fn maybe_start_discovery(&mut self) -> RelayChainResult<bool> {
-		// Start discovery if it is not currently in progress.
-		if self.key_being_discovered.is_none() &&
-			self.pending_responses.is_empty() &&
-			self.find_node_queries.is_empty()
-		{
-			// No need to start discovey again if the previous attempt succeeded.
+	fn maybe_retry_discovery(&mut self) -> bool {
+		let discovery_in_progress = self.key_being_discovered.is_some() ||
+			!self.pending_responses.is_empty() ||
+			!self.find_node_queries.is_empty();
+		let discovery_scheduled = !self.pending_start_discovery.is_terminated();
+
+		if discovery_in_progress || discovery_scheduled {
+			// Discovery is already in progress or scheduled, just continue the event loop.
+			true
+		} else {
 			if self.succeeded {
+				// No need to start discovery again if the previous attempt succeeded.
 				info!(
 					target: LOG_TARGET,
 					"Parachain bootnode discovery on the relay chain DHT succeeded",
 				);
-				Ok(false)
-			} else if self.attempts_left > 0 {
-				// No discovery in progress and we have attempts left, start discovery.
-				self.attempts_left -= 1;
-				self.start_discovery().await?;
-				Ok(true)
+
+				false
 			} else {
-				warn!(
+				debug!(
 					target: LOG_TARGET,
-					"Failed to discover parachain bootnodes on the relay chain DHT after {} attempts, \
-					 giving up",
-					MAX_DISCOVERY_ATTEMPTS,
+					"Retrying parachain bootnode discovery on the relay chain DHT in {RETRY_DELAY:?}",
 				);
-				Ok(false)
+				self.pending_start_discovery = Box::pin(sleep(RETRY_DELAY).fuse());
+
+				true
 			}
-		} else {
-			// Discovery is already in progress, just continue the event loop.
-			Ok(true)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -444,11 +448,14 @@ impl BootnodeDiscovery {
 		self.latest_relay_chain_hash = Some(header.hash());
 
 		loop {
-			if !self.maybe_start_discovery().await? {
+			if !self.maybe_retry_discovery() {
 				return Ok(());
 			}
 
 			tokio::select! {
+				_ = &mut self.pending_start_discovery => {
+					self.start_discovery().await?;
+				},
 				header = import_notification_stream.select_next_some() => {
 					self.latest_relay_chain_hash = Some(header.hash());
 				},
diff --git a/cumulus/zombienet/zombienet-sdk/tests/bootnodes/mod.rs b/cumulus/zombienet/zombienet-sdk/tests/bootnodes/mod.rs
index 7ee1ae45038a6..2d6f38c91a71f 100644
--- a/cumulus/zombienet/zombienet-sdk/tests/bootnodes/mod.rs
+++ b/cumulus/zombienet/zombienet-sdk/tests/bootnodes/mod.rs
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ async fn dht_bootnodes_test() -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
 		.wait_metric_with_timeout("substrate_sync_peers", |count| count == 1.0, 300u64)
 		.await?;
 
-	let log_line_options = LogLineCountOptions::new(|n| n == 1, Duration::from_secs(30), false);
+	// In case of initial failure (alpha was first to start) the discovery is retried in 30 seconds,
+	// so timeout in double that time.
+	let log_line_options = LogLineCountOptions::new(|n| n == 1, Duration::from_secs(60), false);
 
 	// Make sure the DHT bootnode discovery was successful.
 	let result = alpha