diff --git a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
index 9fa098f25b9..c75ede74ce2 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import collections
 import itertools
 import operator
+import time
 import uuid
 
 from oslo_config import cfg
@@ -255,13 +256,24 @@ class OVSBridge(BaseOVS):
 
     def run_ofctl(self, cmd, args, process_input=None):
         full_args = ["ovs-ofctl", cmd, self.br_name] + args
-        try:
-            return utils.execute(full_args, run_as_root=True,
-                                 process_input=process_input)
-        except Exception as e:
-            LOG.error(_LE("Unable to execute %(cmd)s. Exception: "
-                          "%(exception)s"),
-                      {'cmd': full_args, 'exception': e})
+        # TODO(kevinbenton): This error handling is really brittle and only
+        # detects one specific type of failure. The callers of this need to
+        # be refactored to expect errors so we can re-raise and they can
+        # take appropriate action based on the type of error.
+        for i in range(1, 11):
+            try:
+                return utils.execute(full_args, run_as_root=True,
+                                     process_input=process_input)
+            except Exception as e:
+                if "failed to connect to socket" in str(e):
+                    LOG.debug("Failed to connect to OVS. Retrying "
+                              "in 1 second. Attempt: %s/10", i)
+                    time.sleep(1)
+                    continue
+                LOG.error(_LE("Unable to execute %(cmd)s. Exception: "
+                              "%(exception)s"),
+                          {'cmd': full_args, 'exception': e})
+                break
 
     def count_flows(self):
         flow_list = self.run_ofctl("dump-flows", []).split("\n")[1:]
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
index ec4189d0379..3d0c6139c5f 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/common/test_ovs_lib.py
@@ -342,6 +342,21 @@ class OVS_Lib_Test(base.BaseTestCase):
                           self.br.mod_flow,
                           **params)
 
+    def test_run_ofctl_retry_on_socket_error(self):
+        err = RuntimeError('failed to connect to socket')
+        self.execute.side_effect = [err] * 5
+        with mock.patch('time.sleep') as sleep:
+            self.br.run_ofctl('add-flows', [])
+        self.assertEqual(5, sleep.call_count)
+        self.assertEqual(6, self.execute.call_count)
+        # a regular exception fails right away
+        self.execute.side_effect = RuntimeError('garbage')
+        self.execute.reset_mock()
+        with mock.patch('time.sleep') as sleep:
+            self.br.run_ofctl('add-flows', [])
+        self.assertEqual(0, sleep.call_count)
+        self.assertEqual(1, self.execute.call_count)
+
     def test_add_tunnel_port(self):
         pname = "tap99"
         local_ip = "1.1.1.1"