diff --git a/src/rdb.c b/src/rdb.c
index 7a0b24e7..7a3bc763 100644
--- a/src/rdb.c
+++ b/src/rdb.c
@@ -722,6 +722,7 @@ int rdbSaveBackground(char *filename) {
     if (server.rdb_child_pid != -1) return REDIS_ERR;
 
     server.dirty_before_bgsave = server.dirty;
+    server.lastbgsave_try = time(NULL);
 
     start = ustime();
     if ((childpid = fork()) == 0) {
diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index a7f95cea..0b6f3065 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -995,8 +995,16 @@ int serverCron(struct aeEventLoop *eventLoop, long long id, void *clientData) {
          for (j = 0; j < server.saveparamslen; j++) {
             struct saveparam *sp = server.saveparams+j;
 
+            /* Save if we reached the given amount of changes,
+             * the given amount of seconds, and if the latest bgsave was
+             * successful or if, in case of an error, at least
+             * REDIS_BGSAVE_RETRY_DELAY seconds already elapsed. */
             if (server.dirty >= sp->changes &&
-                server.unixtime-server.lastsave > sp->seconds) {
+                server.unixtime-server.lastsave > sp->seconds &&
+                (server.unixtime-server.lastbgsave_try >
+                 REDIS_BGSAVE_RETRY_DELAY ||
+                 server.lastbgsave_status == REDIS_OK))
+            {
                 redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"%d changes in %d seconds. Saving...",
                     sp->changes, sp->seconds);
                 rdbSaveBackground(server.rdb_filename);
@@ -1375,7 +1383,8 @@ void initServer() {
     server.aof_child_pid = -1;
     aofRewriteBufferReset();
     server.aof_buf = sdsempty();
-    server.lastsave = time(NULL);
+    server.lastsave = time(NULL); /* At startup we consider the DB saved. */
+    server.lastbgsave_try = 0;    /* At startup we never tried to BGSAVE. */
     server.rdb_save_time_last = -1;
     server.rdb_save_time_start = -1;
     server.dirty = 0;
diff --git a/src/redis.h b/src/redis.h
index 580473b5..d3371ed8 100644
--- a/src/redis.h
+++ b/src/redis.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@
 #define REDIS_REPL_PING_SLAVE_PERIOD 10
 #define REDIS_RUN_ID_SIZE 40
 #define REDIS_OPS_SEC_SAMPLES 16
+#define REDIS_BGSAVE_RETRY_DELAY 5 /* Wait a few secs before trying again. */
 
 /* Protocol and I/O related defines */
 #define REDIS_MAX_QUERYBUF_LEN  (1024*1024*1024) /* 1GB max query buffer. */
@@ -593,6 +594,7 @@ struct redisServer {
     int rdb_compression;            /* Use compression in RDB? */
     int rdb_checksum;               /* Use RDB checksum? */
     time_t lastsave;                /* Unix time of last successful save */
+    time_t lastbgsave_try;          /* Unix time of last attempted bgsave */
     time_t rdb_save_time_last;      /* Time used by last RDB save run. */
     time_t rdb_save_time_start;     /* Current RDB save start time. */
     int lastbgsave_status;          /* REDIS_OK or REDIS_ERR */