diff --git a/pkg/ovs/ovn-nb-suite_test.go b/pkg/ovs/ovn-nb-suite_test.go
index e8f1442e2b3..b44322ef9f3 100644
--- a/pkg/ovs/ovn-nb-suite_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ovs/ovn-nb-suite_test.go
@@ -780,8 +780,13 @@ func newNbClient(addr string, timeout int) (client.Client, error) {
 		WithValues("database", dbModel.Name())
 	stdr.SetVerbosity(1)
 
+	bo := &backoff.ExponentialBackOff{
+		InitialInterval: time.Second,
+		Multiplier:      2,
+		MaxInterval:     time.Minute,
+	}
 	options := []client.Option{
-		client.WithReconnect(time.Duration(timeout)*time.Second, &backoff.ZeroBackOff{}),
+		client.WithReconnect(time.Duration(timeout)*time.Second, bo),
 		client.WithLeaderOnly(false),
 		client.WithLogger(&logger),
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/ovsdb/client/client.go b/pkg/ovsdb/client/client.go
index bd493ab1e94..b01a47074d5 100644
--- a/pkg/ovsdb/client/client.go
+++ b/pkg/ovsdb/client/client.go
@@ -52,12 +52,17 @@ func NewOvsDbClient(
 	logger := klog.NewKlogr().WithName("libovsdb").WithValues("db", db)
 	connectTimeout := time.Duration(ovsDbConTimeout) * time.Second
 	inactivityTimeout := time.Duration(ovsDbInactivityTimeout) * time.Second
+	bo := &backoff.ExponentialBackOff{
+		InitialInterval: time.Second,
+		Multiplier:      2,
+		MaxInterval:     time.Minute,
+	}
 	options := []client.Option{
 		// Reading and parsing the DB after reconnect at scale can (unsurprisingly)
 		// take longer than a normal ovsdb operation. Give it a bit more time so
 		// we don't time out and enter a reconnect loop. In addition it also enables
 		// inactivity check on the ovsdb connection.
-		client.WithInactivityCheck(inactivityTimeout, connectTimeout, &backoff.ZeroBackOff{}),
+		client.WithInactivityCheck(inactivityTimeout, connectTimeout, bo),
 
 		client.WithLeaderOnly(true),
 		client.WithLogger(&logger),