diff --git a/connectd/connectd.c b/connectd/connectd.c
index dbf03d039..ae514cc28 100644
--- a/connectd/connectd.c
+++ b/connectd/connectd.c
@@ -56,13 +56,6 @@
 #define HSM_FD 3
 #define GOSSIPCTL_FD 4
 
-/*~ In C convention, constants are UPPERCASE macros.  Not everything needs to
- * be a constant, but it soothes the programmer's conscience to encapsulate
- * arbitrary decisions like these in one place. */
-#define MAX_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS 10
-#define INITIAL_WAIT_SECONDS	1
-#define MAX_WAIT_SECONDS	300
-
 /* Peers we're trying to reach: we iterate through addrs until we succeed
  * or fail. */
 struct connecting {
@@ -88,9 +81,6 @@ struct connecting {
 
 	/* Accumulated errors */
 	char *errors;
-
-	/* How many seconds did we wait this time? */
-	u32 seconds_waited;
 };
 
 /*~ C programs should generally be written bottom-to-top, with the root
@@ -623,15 +613,13 @@ struct io_plan *connection_out(struct io_conn *conn, struct connecting *connect)
  */
 static void connect_failed(struct daemon *daemon,
 			   const struct node_id *id,
-			   u32 seconds_waited,
 			   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint,
 			   errcode_t errcode,
 			   const char *errfmt, ...)
-	PRINTF_FMT(6,7);
+	PRINTF_FMT(5,6);
 
 static void connect_failed(struct daemon *daemon,
 			   const struct node_id *id,
-			   u32 seconds_waited,
 			   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint,
 			   errcode_t errcode,
 			   const char *errfmt, ...)
@@ -639,27 +627,18 @@ static void connect_failed(struct daemon *daemon,
 	u8 *msg;
 	va_list ap;
 	char *errmsg;
-	u32 wait_seconds;
 
 	va_start(ap, errfmt);
 	errmsg = tal_vfmt(tmpctx, errfmt, ap);
 	va_end(ap);
 
-	/* Wait twice as long to reconnect, between min and max. */
-	wait_seconds = seconds_waited * 2;
-	if (wait_seconds > MAX_WAIT_SECONDS)
-		wait_seconds = MAX_WAIT_SECONDS;
-	if (wait_seconds < INITIAL_WAIT_SECONDS)
-		wait_seconds = INITIAL_WAIT_SECONDS;
-
 	status_peer_debug(id, "Failed connected out: %s", errmsg);
 
 	/* lightningd may have a connect command waiting to know what
 	 * happened.  We leave it to lightningd to decide if it wants to try
-	 * again, with the wait_seconds as a hint of how long before
-	 * asking. */
+	 * again. */
 	msg = towire_connectd_connect_failed(NULL, id, errcode, errmsg,
-					       wait_seconds, addrhint);
+					     addrhint);
 	daemon_conn_send(daemon->master, take(msg));
 }
 
@@ -801,7 +780,6 @@ static void try_connect_one_addr(struct connecting *connect)
 	/* Out of addresses? */
 	if (connect->addrnum == tal_count(connect->addrs)) {
 		connect_failed(connect->daemon, &connect->id,
-			       connect->seconds_waited,
 			       connect->addrhint, CONNECT_ALL_ADDRESSES_FAILED,
 			       "All addresses failed: %s",
 			       connect->errors);
@@ -1748,7 +1726,6 @@ static void add_gossip_addrs(struct wireaddr_internal **addrs,
  * caller so it's marginal. */
 static void try_connect_peer(struct daemon *daemon,
 			     const struct node_id *id,
-			     u32 seconds_waited,
 			     struct wireaddr *gossip_addrs,
 			     struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint STEALS)
 {
@@ -1805,7 +1782,7 @@ static void try_connect_peer(struct daemon *daemon,
 	/* Still no address?  Fail immediately.  Lightningd can still choose
 	* to retry; an address may get gossiped or appear on the DNS seed. */
 	if (tal_count(addrs) == 0) {
-		connect_failed(daemon, id, seconds_waited, addrhint,
+		connect_failed(daemon, id, addrhint,
 			       CONNECT_NO_KNOWN_ADDRESS,
 			       "Unable to connect, no address known for peer");
 		return;
@@ -1822,7 +1799,6 @@ static void try_connect_peer(struct daemon *daemon,
 	 * errors which occur.  We miss it in a few places; would be nice to
 	 * fix! */
 	connect->connstate = "Connection establishment";
-	connect->seconds_waited = seconds_waited;
 	connect->addrhint = tal_steal(connect, addrhint);
 	connect->errors = tal_strdup(connect, "");
 	connect->conn = NULL;
@@ -1837,16 +1813,14 @@ static void try_connect_peer(struct daemon *daemon,
 static void connect_to_peer(struct daemon *daemon, const u8 *msg)
 {
 	struct node_id id;
-	u32 seconds_waited;
 	struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint;
 	struct wireaddr *addrs;
 
 	if (!fromwire_connectd_connect_to_peer(tmpctx, msg,
-					       &id, &seconds_waited,
-					       &addrs, &addrhint))
+					       &id, &addrs, &addrhint))
 		master_badmsg(WIRE_CONNECTD_CONNECT_TO_PEER, msg);
 
-	try_connect_peer(daemon, &id, seconds_waited, addrs, addrhint);
+	try_connect_peer(daemon, &id, addrs, addrhint);
 }
 
 /* lightningd tells us a peer should be disconnected. */
diff --git a/connectd/connectd_wire.csv b/connectd/connectd_wire.csv
index 6536be9ea..1dc10bb92 100644
--- a/connectd/connectd_wire.csv
+++ b/connectd/connectd_wire.csv
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ msgdata,connectd_activate_reply,failmsg,?wirestring,
 # Master -> connectd: connect to a peer.
 msgtype,connectd_connect_to_peer,2001
 msgdata,connectd_connect_to_peer,id,node_id,
-msgdata,connectd_connect_to_peer,seconds_waited,u32,
 msgdata,connectd_connect_to_peer,len,u32,
 msgdata,connectd_connect_to_peer,addrs,wireaddr,len
 msgdata,connectd_connect_to_peer,addrhint,?wireaddr_internal,
@@ -57,7 +56,6 @@ msgtype,connectd_connect_failed,2020
 msgdata,connectd_connect_failed,id,node_id,
 msgdata,connectd_connect_failed,failcode,errcode_t,
 msgdata,connectd_connect_failed,failreason,wirestring,
-msgdata,connectd_connect_failed,seconds_to_delay,u32,
 msgdata,connectd_connect_failed,addrhint,?wireaddr_internal,
 
 # Connectd -> master: we got a peer.
diff --git a/lightningd/channel.c b/lightningd/channel.c
index 2f7955191..caede53b9 100644
--- a/lightningd/channel.c
+++ b/lightningd/channel.c
@@ -929,9 +929,7 @@ void channel_set_billboard(struct channel *channel, bool perm, const char *str)
 	}
 }
 
-static void channel_err(struct channel *channel,
-			const char *why,
-			bool delay_reconnect)
+static void channel_err(struct channel *channel, const char *why)
 {
 	log_info(channel->log, "Peer transient failure in %s: %s",
 		 channel_state_name(channel), why);
@@ -944,8 +942,6 @@ static void channel_err(struct channel *channel,
 		return;
 	}
 #endif
-	channel->peer->delay_reconnect = delay_reconnect;
-
 	channel_set_owner(channel, NULL);
 }
 
@@ -954,7 +950,7 @@ void channel_fail_transient_delayreconnect(struct channel *channel, const char *
 	va_list ap;
 
 	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	channel_err(channel, tal_vfmt(tmpctx, fmt, ap), true);
+	channel_err(channel, tal_vfmt(tmpctx, fmt, ap));
 	va_end(ap);
 }
 
@@ -963,7 +959,7 @@ void channel_fail_transient(struct channel *channel, const char *fmt, ...)
 	va_list ap;
 
 	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	channel_err(channel, tal_vfmt(tmpctx, fmt, ap), false);
+	channel_err(channel, tal_vfmt(tmpctx, fmt, ap));
 	va_end(ap);
 }
 
diff --git a/lightningd/connect_control.c b/lightningd/connect_control.c
index 36ec83bdc..a52117e90 100644
--- a/lightningd/connect_control.c
+++ b/lightningd/connect_control.c
@@ -247,7 +247,6 @@ AUTODATA(json_command, &connect_command);
 struct delayed_reconnect {
 	struct lightningd *ld;
 	struct node_id id;
-	u32 seconds_delayed;
 	struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint;
 };
 
@@ -265,7 +264,6 @@ static void gossipd_got_addrs(struct subd *subd,
 
 	connectmsg = towire_connectd_connect_to_peer(NULL,
 						     &d->id,
-						     d->seconds_delayed,
 						     addrs,
 						     d->addrhint);
 	subd_send_msg(d->ld->connectd, take(connectmsg));
@@ -280,7 +278,6 @@ static void do_connect(struct delayed_reconnect *d)
 	subd_req(d, d->ld->gossip, take(msg), -1, 0, gossipd_got_addrs, d);
 }
 
-/* peer may be NULL here */
 static void try_connect(const tal_t *ctx,
 			struct lightningd *ld,
 			const struct node_id *id,
@@ -293,7 +290,6 @@ static void try_connect(const tal_t *ctx,
 	d = tal(ctx, struct delayed_reconnect);
 	d->ld = ld;
 	d->id = *id;
-	d->seconds_delayed = seconds_delay;
 	d->addrhint = tal_dup_or_null(d, struct wireaddr_internal, addrhint);
 
 	if (!seconds_delay) {
@@ -316,6 +312,7 @@ static void try_connect(const tal_t *ctx,
 						      "in %u seconds",
 						      seconds_delay));
 		}
+		peer->last_connect_attempt = time_now();
 	}
 
 	/* We fuzz the timer by up to 1 second, to avoid getting into
@@ -326,18 +323,34 @@ static void try_connect(const tal_t *ctx,
 			     do_connect, d));
 }
 
+/*~ In C convention, constants are UPPERCASE macros.  Not everything needs to
+ * be a constant, but it soothes the programmer's conscience to encapsulate
+ * arbitrary decisions like these in one place. */
+#define INITIAL_WAIT_SECONDS	1
+#define MAX_WAIT_SECONDS	300
+
 void try_reconnect(const tal_t *ctx,
 		   struct peer *peer,
-		   u32 seconds_delay,
 		   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint)
 {
 	if (!peer->ld->reconnect)
 		return;
 
+	/* Did we last attempt to connect recently?  Enter backoff mode. */
+	if (time_less(time_between(time_now(), peer->last_connect_attempt),
+		      time_from_sec(MAX_WAIT_SECONDS * 2))) {
+		u32 max = DEV_FAST_RECONNECT(peer->ld->dev_fast_reconnect,
+					     3, MAX_WAIT_SECONDS);
+		peer->reconnect_delay *= 2;
+		if (peer->reconnect_delay > max)
+			peer->reconnect_delay = max;
+	} else
+		peer->reconnect_delay = INITIAL_WAIT_SECONDS;
+
 	try_connect(ctx,
 		    peer->ld,
 		    &peer->id,
-		    seconds_delay,
+		    peer->reconnect_delay,
 		    addrhint);
 }
 
@@ -346,7 +359,6 @@ static void connect_failed(struct lightningd *ld,
 			   const struct node_id *id,
 			   errcode_t errcode,
 			   const char *errmsg,
-			   const u32 *seconds_to_delay,
 			   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint)
 {
 	struct peer *peer;
@@ -361,17 +373,10 @@ static void connect_failed(struct lightningd *ld,
 	/* If we have an active channel, then reconnect. */
 	peer = peer_by_id(ld, id);
 	if (peer && peer_any_active_channel(peer, NULL)) {
-		u32 delay;
-		if (seconds_to_delay)
-			delay = *seconds_to_delay;
-		else if (peer->delay_reconnect)
-			delay = DEV_FAST_RECONNECT(ld->dev_fast_reconnect, 3, 60);
-		else
-			delay = 1;
-		log_peer_debug(ld->log, id, "Reconnecting in %u seconds", delay);
-		try_reconnect(peer, peer, delay, addrhint);
+		try_reconnect(peer, peer, addrhint);
 	} else
-		log_peer_debug(ld->log, id, "Not reconnecting: %s", peer ? "no active channel" : "no channels");
+		log_peer_debug(ld->log, id, "Not reconnecting: %s",
+			       peer ? "no active channel" : "no channels");
 }
 
 void connect_failed_disconnect(struct lightningd *ld,
@@ -379,7 +384,7 @@ void connect_failed_disconnect(struct lightningd *ld,
 			       const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint)
 {
 	connect_failed(ld, id, CONNECT_DISCONNECTED_DURING,
-		       "disconnected during connection", NULL, addrhint);
+		       "disconnected during connection", addrhint);
 }
 
 static void handle_connect_failed(struct lightningd *ld, const u8 *msg)
@@ -387,15 +392,14 @@ static void handle_connect_failed(struct lightningd *ld, const u8 *msg)
 	struct node_id id;
 	errcode_t errcode;
 	char *errmsg;
-	u32 seconds_to_delay;
 	struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint;
 
 	if (!fromwire_connectd_connect_failed(tmpctx, msg, &id, &errcode, &errmsg,
-						&seconds_to_delay, &addrhint))
+					      &addrhint))
 		fatal("Connect gave bad CONNECTD_CONNECT_FAILED message %s",
 		      tal_hex(msg, msg));
 
-	connect_failed(ld, &id, errcode, errmsg, &seconds_to_delay, addrhint);
+	connect_failed(ld, &id, errcode, errmsg, addrhint);
 }
 
 void connect_succeeded(struct lightningd *ld, const struct peer *peer,
diff --git a/lightningd/connect_control.h b/lightningd/connect_control.h
index 5eaa3c98d..6b64b72d0 100644
--- a/lightningd/connect_control.h
+++ b/lightningd/connect_control.h
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ void connectd_activate(struct lightningd *ld);
 
 void try_reconnect(const tal_t *ctx,
 		   struct peer *peer,
-		   u32 seconds_delay,
 		   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint);
 void connect_succeeded(struct lightningd *ld, const struct peer *peer,
 		       bool incoming,
diff --git a/lightningd/dual_open_control.c b/lightningd/dual_open_control.c
index 71133b8fb..05faaa19d 100644
--- a/lightningd/dual_open_control.c
+++ b/lightningd/dual_open_control.c
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ wallet_commit_channel(struct lightningd *ld,
 	 * reconnect because no channels are active.  But the subd
 	 * just made it active! */
 	if (!any_active && channel->peer->connected == PEER_DISCONNECTED) {
-		try_reconnect(channel->peer, channel->peer, 1,
+		try_reconnect(channel->peer, channel->peer,
 			      &channel->peer->addr);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lightningd/opening_control.c b/lightningd/opening_control.c
index effdd07d9..3ba43fac1 100644
--- a/lightningd/opening_control.c
+++ b/lightningd/opening_control.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ wallet_commit_channel(struct lightningd *ld,
 	 * reconnect because no channels are active.  But the subd
 	 * just made it active! */
 	if (!any_active && channel->peer->connected == PEER_DISCONNECTED) {
-		try_reconnect(channel->peer, channel->peer, 1,
+		try_reconnect(channel->peer, channel->peer,
 			      &channel->peer->addr);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lightningd/options.c b/lightningd/options.c
index be6c159c4..54f5213b1 100644
--- a/lightningd/options.c
+++ b/lightningd/options.c
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ static void dev_register_opts(struct lightningd *ld)
 			   "Disable automatic reconnect-attempts by this node, but accept incoming");
 	opt_register_noarg("--dev-fast-reconnect", opt_set_bool,
 			   &ld->dev_fast_reconnect,
-			   "Make default reconnect delay 3 (not 60) seconds");
+			   "Make max default reconnect delay 3 (not 300) seconds");
 
 	opt_register_noarg("--dev-fail-on-subdaemon-fail", opt_set_bool,
 			   &ld->dev_subdaemon_fail, opt_hidden);
diff --git a/lightningd/peer_control.c b/lightningd/peer_control.c
index bdfb45628..edf124035 100644
--- a/lightningd/peer_control.c
+++ b/lightningd/peer_control.c
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ struct peer *new_peer(struct lightningd *ld, u64 dbid,
 	list_head_init(&peer->channels);
 	peer->direction = node_id_idx(&peer->ld->id, &peer->id);
 	peer->connected = PEER_DISCONNECTED;
-	peer->delay_reconnect = false;
+	peer->last_connect_attempt.ts.tv_sec
+		= peer->last_connect_attempt.ts.tv_nsec = 0;
 #if DEVELOPER
 	peer->ignore_htlcs = false;
 #endif
@@ -1330,7 +1331,6 @@ void peer_connected(struct lightningd *ld, const u8 *msg)
 	/* We mark peer in "connecting" state until hooks have passed. */
 	assert(peer->connected == PEER_DISCONNECTED);
 	peer->connected = PEER_CONNECTING;
-	peer->delay_reconnect = false;
 
 	/* Update peer address and direction */
 	peer->addr = hook_payload->addr;
@@ -2025,9 +2025,14 @@ static void setup_peer(struct peer *peer, u32 delay)
 	}
 
 	/* Make sure connectd knows to try reconnecting. */
-	if (connect)
-		try_reconnect(peer, peer, delay, &peer->addr);
-
+	if (connect) {
+		/* To delay, make it seem like we just connected. */
+		if (delay > 0) {
+			peer->reconnect_delay = delay;
+			peer->last_connect_attempt = time_now();
+		}
+		try_reconnect(peer, peer, &peer->addr);
+	}
 }
 
 void setup_peers(struct lightningd *ld)
diff --git a/lightningd/peer_control.h b/lightningd/peer_control.h
index 4609ca54b..5bdcef569 100644
--- a/lightningd/peer_control.h
+++ b/lightningd/peer_control.h
@@ -30,8 +30,10 @@ struct peer {
 	/* Connection counter from connectd. */
 	u64 connectd_counter;
 
-	/* Did we fail badly last time?  Don't reconnect too fast. */
-	bool delay_reconnect;
+	/* Last reconnect: if it's recent, we delay by reconnect_delay,
+	 * doubling each time. */
+	struct timeabs last_connect_attempt;
+	u32 reconnect_delay;
 
 	/* Our channels */
 	struct list_head channels;
diff --git a/lightningd/test/run-invoice-select-inchan.c b/lightningd/test/run-invoice-select-inchan.c
index 699564d66..915a2c55c 100644
--- a/lightningd/test/run-invoice-select-inchan.c
+++ b/lightningd/test/run-invoice-select-inchan.c
@@ -764,7 +764,6 @@ u8 *towire_warningfmt(const tal_t *ctx UNNEEDED,
 /* Generated stub for try_reconnect */
 void try_reconnect(const tal_t *ctx UNNEEDED,
 		   struct peer *peer UNNEEDED,
-		   u32 seconds_delay UNNEEDED,
 		   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint UNNEEDED)
 { fprintf(stderr, "try_reconnect called!\n"); abort(); }
 /* Generated stub for version */
diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
index 7c4548aea..a570a0497 100644
--- a/tests/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -3242,11 +3242,12 @@ def test_feerate_spam(node_factory, chainparams):
         l1.daemon.wait_for_log('peer_out WIRE_UPDATE_FEE', timeout=5)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.developer("need dev-feerate")
+@pytest.mark.developer("need dev-feerate, dev-fast-reconnect")
 def test_feerate_stress(node_factory, executor):
     # Third node makes HTLC traffic less predictable.
     l1, l2, l3 = node_factory.line_graph(3, opts={'commit-time': 100,
-                                                  'may_reconnect': True})
+                                                  'may_reconnect': True,
+                                                  'dev-fast-reconnect': None})
 
     l1.pay(l2, 10**9 // 2)
     scid12 = l1.get_channel_scid(l2)
diff --git a/wallet/test/run-wallet.c b/wallet/test/run-wallet.c
index 8dd612b80..0715963d6 100644
--- a/wallet/test/run-wallet.c
+++ b/wallet/test/run-wallet.c
@@ -839,7 +839,6 @@ u8 *towire_warningfmt(const tal_t *ctx UNNEEDED,
 /* Generated stub for try_reconnect */
 void try_reconnect(const tal_t *ctx UNNEEDED,
 		   struct peer *peer UNNEEDED,
-		   u32 seconds_delay UNNEEDED,
 		   const struct wireaddr_internal *addrhint UNNEEDED)
 { fprintf(stderr, "try_reconnect called!\n"); abort(); }
 /* Generated stub for watch_txid */