diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## v0.4.1 - 2014-06-05
+
+* Make retry settings configurable (#5)
+
 ## v0.4.0 - 2014-06-05
 
 * Remove `databaseReplicationFactor` field from `Database` type
diff --git a/examples/random-points.hs b/examples/random-points.hs
--- a/examples/random-points.hs
+++ b/examples/random-points.hs
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
 
 newConfig :: HC.Manager -> IO Config
 newConfig manager = do
-  pool <- newServerPool localServer [] -- no backup servers
+  pool <- newServerPool localServer []
   return Config
     { configCreds = rootCreds
     , configServerPool = pool
diff --git a/influxdb.cabal b/influxdb.cabal
--- a/influxdb.cabal
+++ b/influxdb.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: influxdb
-version: 0.4.0
+version: 0.4.1
 synopsis: Haskell client library for InfluxDB
 description: Haskell client library for InfluxDB
 homepage: https://github.com/maoe/influxdb-haskell
@@ -141,5 +141,5 @@
 
 source-repository this
   type: git
-  tag: v0.4.0
+  tag: v0.4.1
   location: https://github.com/maoe/influxdb-haskell.git
diff --git a/src/Database/InfluxDB/Http.hs b/src/Database/InfluxDB/Http.hs
--- a/src/Database/InfluxDB/Http.hs
+++ b/src/Database/InfluxDB/Http.hs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 import Control.Monad.Identity
 import Control.Monad.Writer
 import Data.DList (DList)
-import Data.IORef (IORef)
+import Data.IORef
 import Data.Proxy
 import Data.Text (Text)
 import Data.Vector (Vector)
@@ -655,8 +655,9 @@
   -> HC.Request
   -> (HC.Request -> IO a)
   -> IO a
-withPool pool request f =
-  recovering defaultRetrySettings handlers $ do
+withPool pool request f = do
+  retrySettings <- serverRetrySettings <$> readIORef pool
+  recovering retrySettings handlers $ do
     server <- activeServer pool
     f $ makeRequest server
   where
@@ -672,13 +673,6 @@
             return True
           _ -> return False
       ]
-
-defaultRetrySettings :: RetrySettings
-defaultRetrySettings = RetrySettings
-  { numRetries = limitedRetries 5
-  , backoff = True
-  , baseDelay = 50
-  }
 
 escapeText :: Text -> BS.ByteString
 escapeText = escapeString . T.unpack
diff --git a/src/Database/InfluxDB/Types.hs b/src/Database/InfluxDB/Types.hs
--- a/src/Database/InfluxDB/Types.hs
+++ b/src/Database/InfluxDB/Types.hs
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@
 
   -- * Server pool
   , ServerPool
+  , serverRetrySettings
   , newServerPool
+  , newServerPoolWithRetrySettings
   , activeServer
   , failover
   ) where
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@
 import Data.Vector (Vector)
 import qualified Data.Sequence as Seq
 
+import Control.Retry (RetrySettings(..), limitedRetries)
 import Data.Aeson ((.=), (.:))
 import Data.Aeson.TH
 import qualified Data.Aeson as A
@@ -173,6 +176,7 @@
   -- ^ Current active server
   , serverBackup :: !(Seq Server)
   -- ^ The rest of the servers in the pool.
+  , serverRetrySettings :: !RetrySettings
   }
 
 newtype Database = Database
@@ -201,11 +205,23 @@
 -- | Create a non-empty server pool. You must specify at least one server
 -- location to create a pool.
 newServerPool :: Server -> [Server] -> IO (IORef ServerPool)
-newServerPool active backups = newIORef ServerPool
-  { serverActive = active
-  , serverBackup = Seq.fromList backups
-  }
+newServerPool = newServerPoolWithRetrySettings defaultRetrySettings
+  where
+    defaultRetrySettings = RetrySettings
+      { numRetries = limitedRetries 5
+      , backoff = True
+      , baseDelay = 50
+      }
 
+newServerPoolWithRetrySettings
+    :: RetrySettings -> Server -> [Server] -> IO (IORef ServerPool)
+newServerPoolWithRetrySettings retrySettings active backups =
+  newIORef ServerPool
+    { serverActive = active
+    , serverBackup = Seq.fromList backups
+    , serverRetrySettings = retrySettings
+    }
+
 -- | Get a server from the pool.
 activeServer :: IORef ServerPool -> IO Server
 activeServer ref = do
@@ -219,9 +235,9 @@
 failover ref = atomicModifyIORef' ref $ \pool@ServerPool {..} ->
   case Seq.viewl serverBackup of
     EmptyL -> (pool, ())
-    active :< rest -> (pool', ())
+    active :< rest -> (newPool, ())
       where
-        pool' = ServerPool
+        newPool = pool
           { serverActive = active
           , serverBackup = rest |> serverActive
           }