diff --git a/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h b/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h
index a7354ab1e..c74cf21c7 100644
--- a/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h
+++ b/include/libwebsockets/lws-retry.h
@@ -22,28 +22,18 @@
  * IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
-/*
- * Specifies backoff ranges using a pair of uint32_t in ms for the min, max.
- *
- * The actual backoff timing is picked randomly within the range.
- */
-
-typedef struct lws_retry_range {
-	uint32_t		min_ms;
-	uint32_t		max_ms;
-} lws_retry_range_t;
-
 typedef struct lws_retry_bo {
-	const lws_retry_range_t	*retry_ms_table;        /* backoff range pair */
-	uint16_t		retry_ms_table_count;      /* ranges in table */
+	const uint32_t		*retry_ms_table;	  /* base delay in ms */
+	uint16_t		retry_ms_table_count;     /* entries in table */
 	uint16_t		conceal_count;	    /* max retries to conceal */
+	uint8_t			jitter_percent; /* % additional random jitter */
 } lws_retry_bo_t;
 
 /**
  * lws_retry_get_delay_ms() - get next delay from backoff table
  *
  * \param lws_context: the lws context (used for getting random)
- * \param retry: the retry backoff table we are using
+ * \param retry: the retry backoff table we are using, or NULL for default
  * \param ctry: pointer to the try counter
  * \param conceal: pointer to flag set to nonzero if the try should be concealed
  *			in terms of creating an error
@@ -53,9 +43,12 @@ typedef struct lws_retry_bo {
  * set if the number of tries is less than the backoff table conceal_count, or
  * is zero if it exceeded it.  This lets you conceal a certain number of retries
  * before alerting the caller there is a problem.
+ *
+ * If \p retry is NULL, a default of 3s + (0..300ms jitter) is used.  If it's
+ * non-NULL but jitter_percent is 0, the default of 30% jitter is retained.
  */
 
 LWS_VISIBLE LWS_EXTERN unsigned int
 lws_retry_get_delay_ms(struct lws_context *context, const lws_retry_bo_t *retry,
-		        uint16_t *ctry, char *conceal);
+		       uint16_t *ctry, char *conceal);
 
diff --git a/lib/core-net/network.c b/lib/core-net/network.c
index 09aa048db..91f098828 100644
--- a/lib/core-net/network.c
+++ b/lib/core-net/network.c
@@ -383,14 +383,12 @@ lws_socket_bind(struct lws_vhost *vhost, lws_sockfd_type sockfd, int port,
 	return port;
 }
 
-static const lws_retry_range_t default_bo = { 3000, 7000 };
-
 unsigned int
 lws_retry_get_delay_ms(struct lws_context *context,
-		       const lws_retry_bo_t *retry, uint16_t *ctry, char *conceal)
+		       const lws_retry_bo_t *retry, uint16_t *ctry,
+		       char *conceal)
 {
-	const lws_retry_range_t *r = &default_bo;
-	unsigned int ms;
+	uint64_t ms = 3000, pc = 30; /* sane-ish defaults if no retry table */
 	uint16_t ra;
 
 	if (conceal)
@@ -398,15 +396,20 @@ lws_retry_get_delay_ms(struct lws_context *context,
 
 	if (retry) {
 		if (*ctry < retry->retry_ms_table_count)
-			r = &retry->retry_ms_table[*ctry];
+			ms = retry->retry_ms_table[*ctry];
 		else
-			r = &retry->retry_ms_table[
+			ms = retry->retry_ms_table[
 				retry->retry_ms_table_count - 1];
+
+		/* if no percent given, use the default 30% */
+		if (retry->jitter_percent)
+			pc = retry->jitter_percent;
 	}
 
-	ms = r->min_ms;
 	if (lws_get_random(context, &ra, sizeof(ra)) == sizeof(ra))
-		ms += ((r->max_ms - ms) * ra) / 65535;
+		ms += ((ms * pc * ra) >> 16) / 100;
+	else
+		assert(0);
 
 	if (*ctry < 0xffff)
 		(*ctry)++;