diff --git a/boot.php b/boot.php
index 48c9b29444..feca503997 100644
--- a/boot.php
+++ b/boot.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ define('FRIENDICA_PLATFORM',     'Friendica');
 define('FRIENDICA_CODENAME',     'Asparagus');
 define('FRIENDICA_VERSION',      '3.6-dev');
 define('DFRN_PROTOCOL_VERSION',  '2.23');
-define('DB_UPDATE_VERSION',      1250);
+define('DB_UPDATE_VERSION',      1251);
 define('NEW_UPDATE_ROUTINE_VERSION', 1170);
 
 /**
diff --git a/database.sql b/database.sql
index 7193b59d17..3dadc23961 100644
--- a/database.sql
+++ b/database.sql
@@ -853,19 +853,18 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `push_subscriber` (
 --
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `queue` (
 	`id` int NOT NULL auto_increment COMMENT '',
-	`cid` int NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 COMMENT '',
-	`network` varchar(32) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT '',
-	`guid` varchar(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT '',
-	`created` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0001-01-01 00:00:00' COMMENT '',
-	`last` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0001-01-01 00:00:00' COMMENT '',
+	`cid` int NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 COMMENT 'Message receiver',
+	`network` varchar(32) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'Receiver\'s network',
+	`guid` varchar(255) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'Unique GUID of the message',
+	`created` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0001-01-01 00:00:00' COMMENT 'Date, when the message was created',
+	`last` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0001-01-01 00:00:00' COMMENT 'Date of last trial',
+	`next` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT '0001-01-01 00:00:00' COMMENT 'Next retrial date',
+	`retrial` tinyint NOT NULL DEFAULT 0 COMMENT 'Retrial counter',
 	`content` mediumtext COMMENT '',
 	`batch` boolean NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' COMMENT '',
 	 PRIMARY KEY(`id`),
-	 INDEX `cid` (`cid`),
-	 INDEX `created` (`created`),
 	 INDEX `last` (`last`),
-	 INDEX `network` (`network`),
-	 INDEX `batch` (`batch`)
+	 INDEX `next` (`next`)
 ) DEFAULT COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
 
 --
diff --git a/src/Database/DBStructure.php b/src/Database/DBStructure.php
index 60859e53c3..9ab866de9d 100644
--- a/src/Database/DBStructure.php
+++ b/src/Database/DBStructure.php
@@ -1553,17 +1553,16 @@ class DBStructure
 						"network" => ["type" => "varchar(32)", "not null" => "1", "default" => "", "comment" => "Receiver's network"],
 						"guid" => ["type" => "varchar(255)", "not null" => "1", "default" => "", "comment" => "Unique GUID of the message"],
 						"created" => ["type" => "datetime", "not null" => "1", "default" => NULL_DATE, "comment" => "Date, when the message was created"],
-						"last" => ["type" => "datetime", "not null" => "1", "default" => NULL_DATE, "comment" => ""],
+						"last" => ["type" => "datetime", "not null" => "1", "default" => NULL_DATE, "comment" => "Date of last trial"],
+						"next" => ["type" => "datetime", "not null" => "1", "default" => NULL_DATE, "comment" => "Next retrial date"],
+						"retrial" => ["type" => "tinyint", "not null" => "1", "default" => "0", "comment" => "Retrial counter"],
 						"content" => ["type" => "mediumtext", "comment" => ""],
 						"batch" => ["type" => "boolean", "not null" => "1", "default" => "0", "comment" => ""],
 						],
 				"indexes" => [
 						"PRIMARY" => ["id"],
-						"cid" => ["cid"],
-						"created" => ["created"],
 						"last" => ["last"],
-						"network" => ["network"],
-						"batch" => ["batch"],
+						"next" => ["next"],
 						]
 				];
 		$database["register"] = [
diff --git a/src/Model/Queue.php b/src/Model/Queue.php
index 2d7873a1e0..8b9e801c3f 100644
--- a/src/Model/Queue.php
+++ b/src/Model/Queue.php
@@ -19,7 +19,22 @@ class Queue
 	public static function updateTime($id)
 	{
 		logger('queue: requeue item ' . $id);
-		dba::update('queue', ['last' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow()], ['id' => $id]);
+		$queue = dba::selectFirst('queue', ['retrial'], ['id' => $id]);
+		if (!DBM::is_result($queue)) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		$retrial = $queue['retrial'];
+
+		if ($retrial > 14) {
+			self::removeItem($id);
+		}
+
+		// Calculate the delay until the next trial
+		$delay = (($retrial + 3) ** 4) + (rand(1, 30) * ($retrial + 1));
+		$next = DateTimeFormat::utc('now + ' . $delay . ' seconds');
+
+		dba::update('queue', ['last' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow(), 'retrial' => $retrial + 1, 'next' => $next], ['id' => $id]);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/Worker/Queue.php b/src/Worker/Queue.php
index d92be19fe3..29be22199f 100644
--- a/src/Worker/Queue.php
+++ b/src/Worker/Queue.php
@@ -32,30 +32,12 @@ class Queue
 		$no_dead_check = Config::get('system', 'queue_no_dead_check', false);
 
 		if (!$queue_id) {
-			logger('queue: start');
+			logger('filling queue jobs - start');
 
 			// Handling the pubsubhubbub requests
 			Worker::add(['priority' => PRIORITY_HIGH, 'dont_fork' => true], 'PubSubPublish');
 
-			$r = q(
-				"SELECT `queue`.*, `contact`.`name`, `contact`.`uid` FROM `queue`
-				INNER JOIN `contact` ON `queue`.`cid` = `contact`.`id`
-				WHERE `queue`.`created` < UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 3 DAY"
-			);
-
-			if (DBM::is_result($r)) {
-				foreach ($r as $rr) {
-					logger('Removing expired queue item for ' . $rr['name'] . ', uid=' . $rr['uid']);
-					logger('Expired queue data: ' . $rr['content'], LOGGER_DATA);
-				}
-				q("DELETE FROM `queue` WHERE `created` < UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 3 DAY");
-			}
-
-			/*
-			 * For the first 12 hours we'll try to deliver every 15 minutes
-			 * After that, we'll only attempt delivery once per hour.
-			 */
-			$r = q("SELECT `id` FROM `queue` WHERE ((`created` > UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 12 HOUR AND `last` < UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 15 MINUTE) OR (`last` < UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR)) ORDER BY `cid`, `created`");
+			$r = dba::inArray(dba::p("SELECT `id` FROM `queue` WHERE `next` < UTC_TIMESTAMP()"));
 
 			Addon::callHooks('queue_predeliver', $r);
 
@@ -65,6 +47,7 @@ class Queue
 					Worker::add(['priority' => PRIORITY_LOW, 'dont_fork' => true], "Queue", (int) $q_item['id']);
 				}
 			}
+			logger('filling queue jobs - end');
 			return;
 		}