diff --git a/src/scheduler.cc b/src/scheduler.cc
index f07e48f8e..9071b5808 100644
--- a/src/scheduler.cc
+++ b/src/scheduler.cc
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ std::pair<WorkerId, ObjStoreId> SchedulerService::register_worker(const std::str
   RAY_LOG(RAY_INFO, "registering worker " << worker_address << " connected to object store " << objstore_address);
   ObjStoreId objstoreid = std::numeric_limits<size_t>::max();
   // TODO: HACK: num_attempts is a hack
-  for (int num_attempts = 0; num_attempts < 5; ++num_attempts) {
+  for (int num_attempts = 0; num_attempts < 30; ++num_attempts) {
     auto objstores = GET(objstores_);
     for (size_t i = 0; i < objstores->size(); ++i) {
       if ((*objstores)[i].address == objstore_address) {
diff --git a/src/worker.cc b/src/worker.cc
index 29081303e..9da8a7c3e 100644
--- a/src/worker.cc
+++ b/src/worker.cc
@@ -88,13 +88,24 @@ bool Worker::kill_workers(ClientContext &context) {
 }
 
 void Worker::register_worker(const std::string& worker_address, const std::string& objstore_address, bool is_driver) {
+  unsigned int retry_wait_milliseconds = 20;
   RegisterWorkerRequest request;
   request.set_worker_address(worker_address);
   request.set_objstore_address(objstore_address);
   request.set_is_driver(is_driver);
   RegisterWorkerReply reply;
-  ClientContext context;
-  Status status = scheduler_stub_->RegisterWorker(&context, request, &reply);
+  grpc::StatusCode status_code = grpc::UNAVAILABLE;
+  // TODO: HACK: retrying is a hack
+  for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
+    ClientContext context;
+    status_code = scheduler_stub_->RegisterWorker(&context, request, &reply).error_code();
+    if (status_code != grpc::UNAVAILABLE) {
+      break;
+    }
+    // Note that each pass through the loop may take substantially longer than
+    // retry_wait_milliseconds because grpc may do its own retrying.
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(retry_wait_milliseconds));
+  }
   workerid_ = reply.workerid();
   objstoreid_ = reply.objstoreid();
   segmentpool_ = std::make_shared<MemorySegmentPool>(objstoreid_, false);