diff --git a/cmd/asterism/main.go b/cmd/asterism/main.go
index 597391b..674ba8f 100644
--- a/cmd/asterism/main.go
+++ b/cmd/asterism/main.go
@@ -5,12 +5,10 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
-	"net/http"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/bluesky-social/indigo/atproto/identity"
 	"github.com/bluesky-social/indigo/xrpc"
-	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
 
 	"github.com/alyraffauf/asterism/internal/api"
 	"github.com/alyraffauf/asterism/internal/backfill"
@@ -44,12 +42,6 @@ func main() {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	logger := slog.Default()
 
-	conn, _, err := websocket.DefaultDialer.Dial(relayURL, http.Header{})
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	defer conn.Close()
-
 	linkStore, err := store.Open("asterism.db")
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -89,7 +81,8 @@ func main() {
 		Backfill:          bf,
 	}
 
-	if err := consumer.Run(ctx, conn, logger); err != nil {
+	if err := consumer.Run(ctx, relayURL, logger); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+
 }
diff --git a/internal/firehose/stream.go b/internal/firehose/stream.go
index 21efa9a..60f1a75 100644
--- a/internal/firehose/stream.go
+++ b/internal/firehose/stream.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package firehose
 import (
 	"context"
 	"log/slog"
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/bluesky-social/indigo/api/atproto"
 	"github.com/bluesky-social/indigo/events"
@@ -10,7 +12,36 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
 )
 
-func (c *Consumer) Run(ctx context.Context, conn *websocket.Conn, logger *slog.Logger) error {
+const (
+	minBackoff = 1 * time.Second
+	maxBackoff = 30 * time.Second
+)
+
+func (c *Consumer) Run(ctx context.Context, relayURL string, logger *slog.Logger) error {
+	backoff := minBackoff
+
+	for {
+		conn, _, err := websocket.DefaultDialer.DialContext(ctx, relayURL, http.Header{})
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Warn("dial failed", "err", err, "retry in", backoff)
+		} else {
+			backoff = minBackoff
+			c.stream(ctx, conn, logger)
+			conn.Close()
+		}
+
+		select {
+		case <-time.After(backoff):
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return ctx.Err()
+		}
+
+		backoff = min(backoff*2, maxBackoff)
+	}
+
+}
+
+func (c *Consumer) stream(ctx context.Context, conn *websocket.Conn, logger *slog.Logger) {
 	callbacks := &events.RepoStreamCallbacks{
 		RepoCommit: func(event *atproto.SyncSubscribeRepos_Commit) error {
 			return c.HandleCommit(ctx, event)
@@ -19,5 +50,7 @@ func (c *Consumer) Run(ctx context.Context, conn *websocket.Conn, logger *slog.L
 
 	scheduler := sequential.NewScheduler("asterism", callbacks.EventHandler)
 
-	return events.HandleRepoStream(ctx, conn, scheduler, logger)
+	if err := events.HandleRepoStream(ctx, conn, scheduler, logger); err != nil {
+		logger.Warn("stream ended", "err", err)
+	}
 }