diff --git a/backend/src/index.ts b/backend/src/index.ts
index 2e78e893..71eda5a8 100644
--- a/backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ import { RecoverablePluginError } from "./RecoverablePluginError";
 import { SimpleError } from "./SimpleError";
 import { ZeppelinGlobalConfig, ZeppelinGuildConfig } from "./types";
 import { startUptimeCounter } from "./uptime";
-import { errorMessage, isDiscordAPIError, isDiscordHTTPError, successMessage } from "./utils";
+import { errorMessage, isDiscordAPIError, isDiscordHTTPError, SECONDS, successMessage } from "./utils";
 import { loadYamlSafely } from "./utils/loadYamlSafely";
+import { DecayingCounter } from "./utils/DecayingCounter";
 
 if (!process.env.KEY) {
   // tslint:disable-next-line:no-console
@@ -178,6 +179,9 @@ connect().then(async () => {
   });
   client.setMaxListeners(200);
 
+  const safe429DecayInterval = 5 * SECONDS;
+  const safe429MaxCount = 5;
+  const safe429Counter = new DecayingCounter(safe429DecayInterval);
   client.on(Constants.Events.DEBUG, errorText => {
     if (!errorText.indexOf("429")) {
       return;
@@ -185,6 +189,13 @@ connect().then(async () => {
 
     // tslint:disable-next-line:no-console
     console.warn(errorText);
+
+    const value = safe429Counter.add(1);
+    if (value > safe429MaxCount) {
+      // tslint:disable-next-line:no-console
+      console.error(`Too many 429s (over ${safe429MaxCount} in ${safe429MaxCount * safe429DecayInterval}ms), exiting`);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
   });
 
   client.on("error", err => {
diff --git a/backend/src/utils/DecayingCounter.ts b/backend/src/utils/DecayingCounter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..baa59ae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/utils/DecayingCounter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/**
+ * This is not related to Zeppelin's counters feature
+ */
+export class DecayingCounter {
+  protected value = 0;
+
+  constructor(protected decayInterval: number) {
+    setInterval(() => {
+      this.value = Math.max(0, this.value - 1);
+    }, decayInterval);
+  }
+
+  add(count = 1): number {
+    this.value += count;
+    return this.value;
+  }
+
+  get(): number {
+    return this.value;
+  }
+}