diff --git a/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c b/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
index 3ff66163f9144d609ee72eb71b94354128d2b3da..e4dbf4996e2dc1b22905ffae4c48ea36a0f8e2dc 100644
--- a/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
+++ b/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
@@ -1188,7 +1188,7 @@ slurm_fd slurm_open_controller_conn(slurm_addr *addr)
 	if (slurm_api_set_default_config() < 0)
 		return SLURM_FAILURE;
 
-	for (retry=0; retry<2; retry++) {
+	for (retry=0; retry<4; retry++) {
 		if (retry)
 			sleep(1);