diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunction.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..484e236
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.function.Function;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
+
+/**
+ * Function that retries execution on failure.
+ *
+ * @param <U> input type
+ * @param <V> output type
+ */
+public class RetryingFunction<U, V> implements Function<U, V> {
+
+    private final Function<U, V> baseFunction;
+    private final Class<? extends Throwable> exceptionClass;
+    private final int maxRetries;
+    private final int maxDelayBetweenRetries;
+
+    public RetryingFunction(Function<U, V> baseFunction,
+            Class<? extends Throwable> exceptionClass,
+            int maxRetries,
+            int maxDelayBetweenRetries) {
+        this.baseFunction = baseFunction;
+        this.exceptionClass = exceptionClass;
+        this.maxRetries = maxRetries;
+        this.maxDelayBetweenRetries = maxDelayBetweenRetries;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public V apply(U input) {
+        int retryAttempts = 0;
+        while (true) {
+            try {
+                return baseFunction.apply(input);
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+                if (!exceptionClass.isAssignableFrom(t.getClass()) || retryAttempts == maxRetries) {
+                    Throwables.propagate(t);
+                }
+                Tools.randomDelay(maxDelayBetweenRetries);
+                retryAttempts++;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
index 301f411..b12d15c 100644
--- a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Tools.java
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 import java.util.stream.StreamSupport;
 
@@ -227,6 +229,41 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Returns a function that retries execution on failure.
+     * @param base base function
+     * @param exceptionClass type of exception for which to retry
+     * @param maxRetries max number of retries before giving up
+     * @param maxDelayBetweenRetries max delay between successive retries. The actual delay is randomly picked from
+     * the interval (0, maxDelayBetweenRetries]
+     * @return function
+     */
+    public static <U, V> Function<U, V> retryable(Function<U, V> base,
+            Class<? extends Throwable> exceptionClass,
+            int maxRetries,
+            int maxDelayBetweenRetries) {
+        return new RetryingFunction<>(base, exceptionClass, maxRetries, maxDelayBetweenRetries);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a Supplier that retries execution on failure.
+     * @param base base supplier
+     * @param exceptionClass type of exception for which to retry
+     * @param maxRetries max number of retries before giving up
+     * @param maxDelayBetweenRetries max delay between successive retries. The actual delay is randomly picked from
+     * the interval (0, maxDelayBetweenRetries]
+     * @return supplier
+     */
+    public static <V> Supplier<V> retryable(Supplier<V> base,
+            Class<? extends Throwable> exceptionClass,
+            int maxRetries,
+            int maxDelayBetweenRetries) {
+        return () -> new RetryingFunction<>(v -> base.get(),
+                exceptionClass,
+                maxRetries,
+                maxDelayBetweenRetries).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Suspends the current thread for a random number of millis between 0 and
      * the indicated limit.
      *
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunctionTest.java b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunctionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b08d2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/RetryingFunctionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for RetryingFunction.
+ *
+ */
+public class RetryingFunctionTest {
+
+    private int round;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() {
+        round = 1;
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void tearDown() {
+        round = 0;
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = RetryableException.class)
+    public void testNoRetries() {
+        new RetryingFunction<>(this::succeedAfterOneFailure, RetryableException.class, 0, 10).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSuccessAfterOneRetry() {
+        new RetryingFunction<>(this::succeedAfterOneFailure, RetryableException.class, 1, 10).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = RetryableException.class)
+    public void testFailureAfterOneRetry() {
+        new RetryingFunction<>(this::succeedAfterTwoFailures, RetryableException.class, 1, 10).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFailureAfterTwoRetries() {
+        new RetryingFunction<>(this::succeedAfterTwoFailures, RetryableException.class, 2, 10).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = NonRetryableException.class)
+    public void testFailureWithNonRetryableFailure() {
+        new RetryingFunction<>(this::failCompletely, RetryableException.class, 2, 10).apply(null);
+    }
+
+    private String succeedAfterOneFailure(String input) {
+        if (round++ <= 1) {
+            throw new RetryableException();
+        } else {
+            return "pass";
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String succeedAfterTwoFailures(String input) {
+        if (round++ <= 2) {
+            throw new RetryableException();
+        } else {
+            return "pass";
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String failCompletely(String input) {
+        if (round++ <= 1) {
+            throw new NonRetryableException();
+        } else {
+            return "pass";
+        }
+    }
+
+    private class RetryableException extends RuntimeException {
+    }
+
+    private class NonRetryableException extends RuntimeException {
+    }
+}