diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 420c675..c789cc9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 module github.com/costela/wesher
 
 require (
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff v2.2.1+incompatible
 	github.com/hashicorp/errwrap v1.0.0
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-multierror v1.0.0
 	github.com/hashicorp/go-sockaddr v1.0.0
 	github.com/hashicorp/memberlist v0.1.3
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.7
-	github.com/mdlayher/genetlink v0.0.0-20190617154021-985b2115c31a
+	github.com/mdlayher/genetlink v0.0.0-20190617154021-985b2115c31a // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.8.1
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.3.0
 	github.com/stevenroose/gonfig v0.1.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 489dc74..ea40b7f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1 h1:WXkYYl6Yr3qBf1K79EBnL4mak0OimBfB0XUf9Vl28OQ
 github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1/go.mod h1:xHWCNGjB5oqiDr8zfno3MHue2Ht5sIBksp03qcyfWMU=
 github.com/armon/go-metrics v0.0.0-20180917152333-f0300d1749da h1:8GUt8eRujhVEGZFFEjBj46YV4rDjvGrNxb0KMWYkL2I=
 github.com/armon/go-metrics v0.0.0-20180917152333-f0300d1749da/go.mod h1:Q73ZrmVTwzkszR9V5SSuryQ31EELlFMUz1kKyl939pY=
+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/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
@@ -41,7 +43,6 @@ github.com/mdlayher/netlink v0.0.0-20190409211403-11939a169225/go.mod h1:eQB3mZE
 github.com/mdlayher/netlink v0.0.0-20190513144208-ba284d510044/go.mod h1:gOrA34zDL0K3RsACQe54bDYLF/CeFspQ9m5DOycycQ8=
 github.com/mdlayher/netlink v0.0.0-20190614145538-d8264f87dbe3 h1:3IPcWjiboJFnnvHeXxT4pYw33BiPJn/DC5BKhcGEbGk=
 github.com/mdlayher/netlink v0.0.0-20190614145538-d8264f87dbe3/go.mod h1:ISujvOTprADlNr00kvJIu0d23q57wk2NSV/PT/TEk4E=
-github.com/mdlayher/netlink v0.0.0-20190617153422-f82a9b10b2bc h1:deLjDmcgzsCAO+7m2aeuyhQCqvn1LuCCSMLWUARnad8=
 github.com/microsoft/go-winio v0.4.12 h1:3vDRRsUnj2dKE7QKoedntu9hbuD8gzaVd2E2UZioqx4=
 github.com/microsoft/go-winio v0.4.12/go.mod h1:kcIxxtKZE55DEncT/EOvFiygPobhUWpSDqDb47poQOU=
 github.com/miekg/dns v1.0.14 h1:9jZdLNd/P4+SfEJ0TNyxYpsK8N4GtfylBLqtbYN1sbA=
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 31c6168..492fba3 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 
@@ -39,7 +42,13 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	nodec, errc := cluster.members() // avoid deadlocks by starting before join
-	if err := cluster.join(config.Join); err != nil {
+	if err := backoff.RetryNotify(
+		func() error { return cluster.join(config.Join) },
+		backoff.NewExponentialBackOff(),
+		func(err error, dur time.Duration) {
+			logrus.Errorf("could not join cluster, retrying in %s: %s", dur, err)
+		},
+	); err != nil {
 		logrus.Fatalf("could not join cluster: %s", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e.sh b/tests/e2e.sh
index 0f3d1ce..d8be1c1 100755
--- a/tests/e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e.sh
@@ -64,6 +64,21 @@ test_node_restart() {
     stop_test_container test1-orig
 }
 
+test_cluster_simultaneous_start() {
+    run_test_container test1-orig test1 --join test2-orig,test3-orig
+    run_test_container test2-orig test2 --join test1-orig,test3-orig
+    run_test_container test3-orig test3 --join test1-orig,test2-orig
+
+    sleep 3
+
+    docker exec test1-orig ping -c1 -W1 test2 || (docker logs test1-orig; docker logs test2-orig; false)
+    docker exec test1-orig ping -c1 -W1 test3 || (docker logs test1-orig; docker logs test3-orig; false)
+
+    stop_test_container test3-orig
+    stop_test_container test2-orig
+    stop_test_container test1-orig
+}
+
 for test_func in $(declare -F | grep -Eo '\<test_.*$'); do
     echo "--- Running $test_func:"
     $test_func