diff --git a/desktop/flipper-ui/package.json b/desktop/flipper-ui/package.json
index 32961c9d698..448d079df81 100644
--- a/desktop/flipper-ui/package.json
+++ b/desktop/flipper-ui/package.json
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@
     "metro-runtime": "^0.70.2",
     "pretty-format": "^29.7.0",
     "react-refresh": "^0.14.0",
-    "redux-mock-store": "^1.0.1"
+    "redux-mock-store": "^1.0.1",
+    "ts-retry-promise": "^0.8.0"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {},
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/desktop/flipper-ui/src/Client.tsx b/desktop/flipper-ui/src/Client.tsx
index 366d1376333..d895829ca93 100644
--- a/desktop/flipper-ui/src/Client.tsx
+++ b/desktop/flipper-ui/src/Client.tsx
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {EventEmitter} from 'eventemitter3';
 import {createServerAddOnControls} from './utils/createServerAddOnControls';
 import isProduction from './utils/isProduction';
 import {freeze} from 'immer';
+import {retry} from 'ts-retry-promise';
 
 type Plugins = Set<string>;
 type PluginsArr = Array<string>;
@@ -236,10 +237,26 @@ export default class Client extends EventEmitter {
   // get the supported plugins
   async loadPlugins(phase: 'init' | 'refresh'): Promise<Set<string>> {
     try {
-      const response = await timeout(
-        30 * 1000,
-        this.rawCall<{plugins: Plugins}>('getPlugins', false),
-        'Fetch plugin timeout. Unresponsive client?',
+      const response = await retry(
+        () =>
+          //shortish timeout for each individual request
+          timeout(
+            5 * 1000,
+            this.rawCall<{plugins: Plugins}>('getPlugins', false),
+            'Fetch plugin timeout. Unresponsive client?',
+          ),
+        {
+          retries: 5,
+          delay: 1000,
+          backoff: 'LINEAR',
+          logger: (msg) =>
+            this.flipperServer.exec(
+              'log-connectivity-event',
+              'warning',
+              this.query,
+              `Attempt to fetch plugins failed for phase ${phase}, Error: ${msg}`,
+            ),
+        },
       );
       this.plugins = new Set(response.plugins ?? []);
       console.info(
diff --git a/desktop/yarn.lock b/desktop/yarn.lock
index e66c982b150..62f618e0a9a 100644
--- a/desktop/yarn.lock
+++ b/desktop/yarn.lock
@@ -12401,6 +12401,11 @@ ts-node@^10.9.1:
     v8-compile-cache-lib "^3.0.1"
     yn "3.1.1"
 
+ts-retry-promise@^0.8.0:
+  version "0.8.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ts-retry-promise/-/ts-retry-promise-0.8.0.tgz#0a0c57b510827d5630da4b0c47f36b55b83a49e3"
+  integrity sha512-elI/GkojPANBikPaMWQnk4T/bOJ6tq/hqXyQRmhfC9PAD6MoHmXIXK7KilJrlpx47VAKCGcmBrTeK5dHk6YAYg==
+
 tsconfig-paths@^3.15.0:
   version "3.15.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/tsconfig-paths/-/tsconfig-paths-3.15.0.tgz#5299ec605e55b1abb23ec939ef15edaf483070d4"