diff --git a/bin/server.js b/bin/server.js
index 5c85cc02..386f7720 100644
--- a/bin/server.js
+++ b/bin/server.js
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ var mailConfig = config.get('mail')
 
 var packageJson = require('../package.json')
 var P = require('bluebird')
-var DB = require('../lib/db')()
 
 // NOTE: Mailer is also used by fxa-auth-server directly with an old logging interface
 // the legacy log module provides an interface to convert old logs to new mozlog logging.
@@ -18,6 +17,8 @@ var mailerLog = require('../log')('mailer')
 var legacyMailerLog = require('../legacy_log')(mailerLog)
 var Mailer = require('../mailer')(legacyMailerLog)
 
+var dbConnect = require('../lib/db_connect')()
+
 P.all(
   [
     require('../translator')(config.get('locales')),
@@ -30,18 +31,15 @@ P.all(
     log.info('config', mailConfig)
     log.info('templates', Object.keys(templates))
 
-    // fetch and process verification reminders
-
-    DB.connect(config.get(config.get('db').backend))
-      .then(
-        function (db) {
-          var verificationReminders = require('../lib/verification-reminders')(mailer, db)
-          verificationReminders.poll()
-        },
-        function (err) {
-          log.error('db', { err: err })
-        }
-      )
+    dbConnect()
+      .then(function (db) {
+        // fetch and process verification reminders
+        var verificationReminders = require('../lib/verification-reminders')(mailer, db)
+        verificationReminders.poll()
+      })
+      .catch(function (err) {
+        log.error('server', {err: err})
+      })
 
     var api = restify.createServer()
     api.use(restify.bodyParser())
diff --git a/config.js b/config.js
index c4608c31..f32447ab 100644
--- a/config.js
+++ b/config.js
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ var conf = convict({
     backend: {
       default: 'httpdb',
       env: 'DB_BACKEND'
+    },
+    connectionRetry: {
+      default: '10 seconds',
+      env: 'DB_CONNECTION_RETRY',
+      doc: 'Time in milliseconds to retry a database connection attempt',
+      format: 'duration'
+    },
+    connectionTimeout: {
+      default: '5 minutes',
+      env: 'DB_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT',
+      doc: 'Timeout in milliseconds after which the mailer will stop trying to connect to the database',
+      format: 'duration'
     }
   },
   httpdb: {
diff --git a/lib/db_connect.js b/lib/db_connect.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f88bf93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/db_connect.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
+
+var P = require('bluebird')
+var config = require('../config')
+var log = require('../log')('db')
+
+var DB = require('./db')()
+
+var dbConnectionTimeout = config.get('db').connectionTimeout
+var dbConnectionRetry = config.get('db').connectionRetry
+var dbBackend = config.get('db').backend
+
+/**
+ * This modules exports a function that polls and waits for the database connection to become available.
+ *
+ * @returns {dbConnect}
+ */
+module.exports = function () {
+  function dbConnect() {
+    function dbConnectPoll() {
+      return DB.connect(config.get(dbBackend))
+        .then(
+          function (db) {
+            return db
+          },
+          function (err) {
+            if (err && err.message && err.message.indexOf('ECONNREFUSED') > -1) {
+              log.warn('db', {message: 'Failed to connect to database, retrying...'})
+              return P.delay(dbConnectionRetry).then(dbConnectPoll)
+            } else {
+              log.error('db', {err: err})
+            }
+          }
+        )
+    }
+
+    return dbConnectPoll()
+      // 'cancellable' means the Promise chain will stop polling after the timeout below.
+      .cancellable()
+      .timeout(dbConnectionTimeout)
+      .catch(function (err) {
+        // report any errors to the db log and rethrow it to the consumer.
+        log.error('db', {err: err})
+        throw err
+      });
+  }
+
+  return dbConnect
+}
diff --git a/test/local/db_connect_tests.js b/test/local/db_connect_tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42f15019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/local/db_connect_tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
+
+var P = require('bluebird')
+var tap = require('tap')
+var test = tap.test
+var proxyquire = require('proxyquire')
+var dbConnect
+
+var mockLog = function () {
+  return {
+    error: function () {},
+    info: function () {},
+    warn: function () {}
+  }
+}
+
+var mockConfig = {
+  get: function (prop) {
+    if (prop === 'db') {
+      return {
+        connectionRetry: 10,
+        connectionTimeout: 100
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+test(
+  'keeps polling until time limit',
+  function (t) {
+    dbConnect = proxyquire('../../lib/db_connect', {
+      '../log': mockLog,
+      './db': function () {
+        return {
+          connect: function() {
+            return P.reject(new Error('ECONNREFUSED'))
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      '../config': mockConfig
+    })()
+
+    dbConnect()
+      .catch(function (err) {
+        t.equal(err.name, 'TimeoutError')
+        t.equal(err.message, 'operation timed out')
+        t.end()
+      })
+  }
+)
+
+test(
+  'connects to db after polling',
+  function (t) {
+    var dbConnectedMs = 30
+    var testStart = Date.now()
+
+    dbConnect = proxyquire('../../lib/db_connect', {
+      '../log': mockLog,
+      './db': function () {
+        return {
+          connect: function() {
+            if ((Date.now() - testStart) > dbConnectedMs) {
+              return P.resolve({
+                name: 'TestDB'
+              })
+            } else {
+              return P.reject(new Error('ECONNREFUSED'))
+            }
+
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      '../config': mockConfig
+    })()
+
+    dbConnect()
+      .then(function (db) {
+        t.equal(db.name, 'TestDB')
+        t.end()
+      })
+  }
+)