diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 13719b9bf..f2183db64 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/Azure/azure-storage-blob-go v0.15.0
 	github.com/Shopify/sarama v1.38.1
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go v1.44.219
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.2.0
 	github.com/beorn7/perks v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/bwmarrin/snowflake v0.3.0
 	github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.2.0 // indirect
@@ -176,6 +177,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/aws/smithy-go v1.13.5 // indirect
 	github.com/benbjohnson/clock v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/boltdb/bolt v1.3.1 // indirect
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.2.0
 	github.com/cznic/mathutil v0.0.0-20181122101859-297441e03548 // indirect
 	github.com/d4l3k/messagediff v1.2.1 // indirect
 	github.com/dgryski/go-farm v0.0.0-20190423205320-6a90982ecee2 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5431363f9..deccae7ba 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -691,10 +691,12 @@ github.com/bwmarrin/snowflake v0.3.0 h1:xm67bEhkKh6ij1790JB83OujPR5CzNe8QuQqAgIS
 github.com/bwmarrin/snowflake v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NdZxfVWX+oR6y2K0o6qAYv6gIOP9rjG0/E9WsDpxqwE=
 github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.1.2/go.mod h1:YcPU1XXisHhLzuxH9coDNf2FbKpjGlbCg3n9yuLkIJQ=
 github.com/casbin/casbin/v2 v2.37.0/go.mod h1:vByNa/Fchek0KZUgG5wEsl7iFsiviAYKRtgrQfcJqHg=
+github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible h1:tNowT99t7UNflLxfYYSlKYsBpXdEet03Pg2g16Swow4=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible/go.mod h1:90ReRw6GdpyfrHakVjL/QHaoyV4aDUVVkXQJJJ3NXXM=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.1/go.mod h1:scbssz8iZGpm3xbr14ovlUdkxfGXNInqkPWOWmG2CLw=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.2/go.mod h1:scbssz8iZGpm3xbr14ovlUdkxfGXNInqkPWOWmG2CLw=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.1.3/go.mod h1:scbssz8iZGpm3xbr14ovlUdkxfGXNInqkPWOWmG2CLw=
+github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.2.0 h1:HN5dHm3WBOgndBH6E8V0q2jIYIR3s9yglV8k/+MN3u4=
 github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.2.0/go.mod h1:Y3VNntkOUPxTVeUxJ/G5vcM//AlwfmyYozVcomhLiZE=
 github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.2.1/go.mod h1:f6KPmirojxKA12rnyqOA5BBL4O983OfeGPqjHWSTneU=
 github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-proto v0.3.0/go.mod h1:f6KPmirojxKA12rnyqOA5BBL4O983OfeGPqjHWSTneU=
diff --git a/weed/topology/topology.go b/weed/topology/topology.go
index c7b492267..825c02961 100644
--- a/weed/topology/topology.go
+++ b/weed/topology/topology.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb"
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/types"
 
+	backoff "github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
+
 	hashicorpRaft "github.com/hashicorp/raft"
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/raft"
 
@@ -96,19 +98,10 @@ func (t *Topology) IsLeader() bool {
 }
 
 func (t *Topology) Leader() (l pb.ServerAddress, err error) {
-	for count := 0; count < 3; count++ {
-		l, err = t.MaybeLeader()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-		if l != "" {
-			break
-		}
-
-		time.Sleep(time.Duration(5+count) * time.Second)
-	}
-
-	return
+	exponentialBackoff := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+	exponentialBackoff.InitialInterval = 100 * time.Millisecond
+	exponentialBackoff.MaxElapsedTime = 20 * time.Second
+	return backoff.RetryWithData(t.MaybeLeader, exponentialBackoff)
 }
 
 func (t *Topology) MaybeLeader() (l pb.ServerAddress, err error) {