diff --git a/doc/source/configuration.rst b/doc/source/configuration.rst
index 1f4eea811..82a5b0016 100644
--- a/doc/source/configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/source/configuration.rst
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ provider, the Nodepool image types are also defined (see
         - az1
       boot-timeout: 120
       launch-timeout: 900
+      launch-retries: 3
       image-name-format: 'template-{image_name}-{timestamp}'
       hostname-format: '{label.name}-{provider.name}-{node.id}'
       ipv6-preferred: False
@@ -413,6 +414,13 @@ provider, the Nodepool image types are also defined (see
 
     In seconds. Default 3600.
 
+  ``launch-retries``
+
+    The number of times to retry launching a server before considering the job
+    failed.
+
+    Default 3.
+
   ``keypair``
     Default None
 
diff --git a/nodepool/cmd/config_validator.py b/nodepool/cmd/config_validator.py
index 65afd65cc..f49ffe3d2 100644
--- a/nodepool/cmd/config_validator.py
+++ b/nodepool/cmd/config_validator.py
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ class ConfigValidator:
             'boot-timeout': int,
             'api-timeout': int,
             'launch-timeout': int,
+            'launch-retries': int,
             'rate': float,
             'images': [images],
             'hostname-format': str,
diff --git a/nodepool/config.py b/nodepool/config.py
index 7a49152ba..0f76c551b 100644
--- a/nodepool/config.py
+++ b/nodepool/config.py
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ def loadConfig(config_path):
         p.api_timeout = provider.get('api-timeout')
         p.boot_timeout = provider.get('boot-timeout', 60)
         p.launch_timeout = provider.get('launch-timeout', 3600)
+        p.launch_retries = provider.get('launch-retries', 3)
         p.networks = []
         for network in provider.get('networks', []):
             n = Network()
diff --git a/nodepool/nodepool.py b/nodepool/nodepool.py
index c26ba1094..c55f130ad 100644
--- a/nodepool/nodepool.py
+++ b/nodepool/nodepool.py
@@ -900,7 +900,8 @@ class NodeRequestHandler(object):
         self.zk.storeNodeRequest(self.request)
 
         self.launch_manager = NodeLaunchManager(
-            self.zk, self.provider, self.labels, self.manager, retries=3)
+            self.zk, self.provider, self.labels, self.manager,
+            retries=self.provider.launch_retries)
         ready_nodes = self.zk.getReadyNodesOfTypes(self.request.node_types)
 
         for ntype in self.request.node_types:
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/fixtures/config_validate/good.yaml b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/config_validate/good.yaml
index 087bdfa9e..0da775bdf 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/fixtures/config_validate/good.yaml
+++ b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/config_validate/good.yaml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ providers:
     boot-timeout: 120
     max-servers: 184
     max-concurrency: 10
+    launch-retries: 3
     rate: 0.001
     images:
       - name: trusty
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/fixtures/node_launch_retry.yaml b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/node_launch_retry.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eee985ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/node_launch_retry.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+elements-dir: .
+images-dir: '{images_dir}'
+
+cron:
+  check: '*/15 * * * *'
+  cleanup: '*/1 * * * *'
+
+zookeeper-servers:
+  - host: {zookeeper_host}
+    port: {zookeeper_port}
+    chroot: {zookeeper_chroot}
+
+labels:
+  - name: fake-label
+    image: fake-image
+    min-ready: 0
+    providers:
+      - name: fake-provider
+
+providers:
+  - name: fake-provider
+    region-name: fake-region
+    keypair: 'if-present-use-this-keypair'
+    username: 'fake'
+    password: 'fake'
+    auth-url: 'fake'
+    project-id: 'fake'
+    max-servers: 96
+    pool: 'fake'
+    launch-retries: 2
+    networks:
+      - net-id: 'some-uuid'
+    rate: 0.0001
+    images:
+      - name: fake-image
+        min-ram: 8192
+        name-filter: 'Fake'
+        meta:
+          key: value
+          key2: value
+
+targets:
+  - name: fake-target
+
+diskimages:
+  - name: fake-image
+    elements:
+      - fedora
+      - vm
+    release: 21
+    env-vars:
+      TMPDIR: /opt/dib_tmp
+      DIB_IMAGE_CACHE: /opt/dib_cache
+      DIB_CLOUD_IMAGES: http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/test/21-Beta/Cloud/Images/x86_64/
+      BASE_IMAGE_FILE: Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141029-21_Beta.x86_64.qcow2
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/test_nodepool.py b/nodepool/tests/test_nodepool.py
index f2e88e36c..74732890a 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/test_nodepool.py
+++ b/nodepool/tests/test_nodepool.py
@@ -271,6 +271,27 @@ class TestNodepool(tests.DBTestCase):
         self.assertEqual('fake-provider', new_nodes[0].provider)
         self.assertNotEqual(nodes[0], new_nodes[0])
 
+    @mock.patch('nodepool.provider_manager.FakeProviderManager.createServer')
+    def test_node_launch_retries(self, mock_create_server):
+        mock_create_server.side_effect = Exception('Boom!')
+
+        configfile = self.setup_config('node_launch_retry.yaml')
+        pool = self.useNodepool(configfile, watermark_sleep=1)
+        self._useBuilder(configfile)
+        pool.start()
+        self.waitForImage('fake-provider', 'fake-image')
+
+        req = zk.NodeRequest()
+        req.state = zk.REQUESTED
+        req.node_types.append('fake-label')
+        self.zk.storeNodeRequest(req)
+
+        req = self.waitForNodeRequest(req)
+        self.assertEqual(req.state, zk.FAILED)
+
+        # retries in config is set to 2, so 2 attempts to create a server
+        self.assertEqual(2, mock_create_server.call_count)
+
     @skip("Disabled for early v3 development")
     def test_node_delete_failure(self):
         def fail_delete(self, name):