diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5ff69c7..3e7cf1f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -216,9 +216,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "async-graphql"
-version = "7.0.9"
+version = "7.0.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9d37c3e9ba322eb00e9e5e997d58f08e8b6de037325b9367ac59bca8e3cd46af"
+checksum = "a19415d9541f1758f39bdf0c732848beb7e2e39df9b32f90c6635882c3f9173a"
 dependencies = [
  "async-graphql-derive",
  "async-graphql-parser",
@@ -247,9 +247,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "async-graphql-derive"
-version = "7.0.9"
+version = "7.0.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f1141703c11c6ad4fa9b3b0e1e476dea01dbd18a44db00f949b804afaab2f344"
+checksum = "73a85254454f63ae1e5a475afff931465f11bf76d19fb5bb1b1d0d6a2f2b8db0"
 dependencies = [
  "Inflector",
  "async-graphql-parser",
@@ -264,9 +264,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "async-graphql-parser"
-version = "7.0.9"
+version = "7.0.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "2f66edcce4c38c18f7eb181fdf561c3d3aa2d644ce7358fc7a928c00a4ffef17"
+checksum = "2e94b202e404d18429c8482d61f64cb0a8639fd1e7c2caf2b258f035e0b7caff"
 dependencies = [
  "async-graphql-value",
  "pest",
@@ -276,9 +276,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "async-graphql-value"
-version = "7.0.9"
+version = "7.0.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3b0206011cad065420c27988f17dd7fe201a0e056b20c262209b7bffcd6fa176"
+checksum = "a43a7bbb0ddea47c6f51913eba6e17a093b34e000588a93bb80a978ad129f3e9"
 dependencies = [
  "bytes 1.7.2",
  "indexmap 2.5.0",
@@ -316,9 +316,9 @@ checksum = "8b75356056920673b02621b35afd0f7dda9306d03c79a30f5c56c44cf256e3de"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "async-trait"
-version = "0.1.82"
+version = "0.1.83"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a27b8a3a6e1a44fa4c8baf1f653e4172e81486d4941f2237e20dc2d0cf4ddff1"
+checksum = "721cae7de5c34fbb2acd27e21e6d2cf7b886dce0c27388d46c4e6c47ea4318dd"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -342,6 +342,17 @@ version = "1.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0c4b4d0bd25bd0b74681c0ad21497610ce1b7c91b1022cd21c80c6fbdd9476b0"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "backon"
+version = "1.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e4fa97bb310c33c811334143cf64c5bb2b7b3c06e453db6b095d7061eff8f113"
+dependencies = [
+ "fastrand",
+ "gloo-timers",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "backtrace"
 version = "0.3.74"
@@ -736,18 +747,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap"
-version = "4.5.17"
+version = "4.5.18"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3e5a21b8495e732f1b3c364c9949b201ca7bae518c502c80256c96ad79eaf6ac"
+checksum = "b0956a43b323ac1afaffc053ed5c4b7c1f1800bacd1683c353aabbb752515dd3"
 dependencies = [
  "clap_builder",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap_builder"
-version = "4.5.17"
+version = "4.5.18"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8cf2dd12af7a047ad9d6da2b6b249759a22a7abc0f474c1dae1777afa4b21a73"
+checksum = "4d72166dd41634086d5803a47eb71ae740e61d84709c36f3c34110173db3961b"
 dependencies = [
  "anstyle",
  "clap_lex",
@@ -1374,6 +1385,18 @@ version = "0.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d2fabcfbdc87f4758337ca535fb41a6d701b65693ce38287d856d1674551ec9b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "gloo-timers"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbb143cf96099802033e0d4f4963b19fd2e0b728bcf076cd9cf7f6634f092994"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-core",
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "half"
 version = "2.4.1"
@@ -1560,9 +1583,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hyper-util"
-version = "0.1.8"
+version = "0.1.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "da62f120a8a37763efb0cf8fdf264b884c7b8b9ac8660b900c8661030c00e6ba"
+checksum = "41296eb09f183ac68eec06e03cdbea2e759633d4067b2f6552fc2e009bcad08b"
 dependencies = [
  "bytes 1.7.2",
  "futures-channel",
@@ -1573,7 +1596,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "pin-project-lite",
  "socket2",
  "tokio",
- "tower",
  "tower-service",
  "tracing",
 ]
@@ -1823,9 +1845,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
-version = "0.2.158"
+version = "0.2.159"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d8adc4bb1803a324070e64a98ae98f38934d91957a99cfb3a43dcbc01bc56439"
+checksum = "561d97a539a36e26a9a5fad1ea11a3039a67714694aaa379433e580854bc3dc5"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libm"
@@ -2380,26 +2402,6 @@ version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5be167a7af36ee22fe3115051bc51f6e6c7054c9348e28deb4f49bd6f705a315"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "pin-project"
-version = "1.1.5"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b6bf43b791c5b9e34c3d182969b4abb522f9343702850a2e57f460d00d09b4b3"
-dependencies = [
- "pin-project-internal",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "pin-project-internal"
-version = "1.1.5"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "2f38a4412a78282e09a2cf38d195ea5420d15ba0602cb375210efbc877243965"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project-lite"
 version = "0.2.14"
@@ -2414,9 +2416,9 @@ checksum = "8b870d8c151b6f2fb93e84a13146138f05d02ed11c7e7c54f8826aaaf7c9f184"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "pkg-config"
-version = "0.3.30"
+version = "0.3.31"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "d231b230927b5e4ad203db57bbcbee2802f6bce620b1e4a9024a07d94e2907ec"
+checksum = "953ec861398dccce10c670dfeaf3ec4911ca479e9c02154b3a215178c5f566f2"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "plotters"
@@ -2448,9 +2450,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "portable-atomic"
-version = "1.7.0"
+version = "1.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "da544ee218f0d287a911e9c99a39a8c9bc8fcad3cb8db5959940044ecfc67265"
+checksum = "d30538d42559de6b034bc76fd6dd4c38961b1ee5c6c56e3808c50128fdbc22ce"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "powerfmt"
@@ -2756,9 +2758,9 @@ checksum = "568fde39e6aec674be99c9dd38b4c79040faf31038bd5a41ab1908db00c2319b"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "redox_syscall"
-version = "0.5.4"
+version = "0.5.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0884ad60e090bf1345b93da0a5de8923c93884cd03f40dfcfddd3b4bee661853"
+checksum = "62871f2d65009c0256aed1b9cfeeb8ac272833c404e13d53d400cd0dad7a2ac0"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags 2.6.0",
 ]
@@ -3340,9 +3342,9 @@ checksum = "0fda2ff0d084019ba4d7c6f371c95d8fd75ce3524c3cb8fb653a3023f6323e64"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "simdutf8"
-version = "0.1.4"
+version = "0.1.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f27f6278552951f1f2b8cf9da965d10969b2efdea95a6ec47987ab46edfe263a"
+checksum = "e3a9fe34e3e7a50316060351f37187a3f546bce95496156754b601a5fa71b76e"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "simple_asn1"
@@ -3784,18 +3786,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "thiserror"
-version = "1.0.63"
+version = "1.0.64"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c0342370b38b6a11b6cc11d6a805569958d54cfa061a29969c3b5ce2ea405724"
+checksum = "d50af8abc119fb8bb6dbabcfa89656f46f84aa0ac7688088608076ad2b459a84"
 dependencies = [
  "thiserror-impl",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "thiserror-impl"
-version = "1.0.63"
+version = "1.0.64"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a4558b58466b9ad7ca0f102865eccc95938dca1a74a856f2b57b6629050da261"
+checksum = "08904e7672f5eb876eaaf87e0ce17857500934f4981c4a0ab2b4aa98baac7fc3"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -3964,36 +3966,15 @@ checksum = "0dd7358ecb8fc2f8d014bf86f6f638ce72ba252a2c3a2572f2a795f1d23efb41"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "toml_edit"
-version = "0.22.21"
+version = "0.22.22"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3b072cee73c449a636ffd6f32bd8de3a9f7119139aff882f44943ce2986dc5cf"
+checksum = "4ae48d6208a266e853d946088ed816055e556cc6028c5e8e2b84d9fa5dd7c7f5"
 dependencies = [
  "indexmap 2.5.0",
  "toml_datetime",
  "winnow",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "tower"
-version = "0.4.13"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b8fa9be0de6cf49e536ce1851f987bd21a43b771b09473c3549a6c853db37c1c"
-dependencies = [
- "futures-core",
- "futures-util",
- "pin-project",
- "pin-project-lite",
- "tokio",
- "tower-layer",
- "tower-service",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "tower-layer"
-version = "0.3.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "121c2a6cda46980bb0fcd1647ffaf6cd3fc79a013de288782836f6df9c48780e"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "tower-service"
 version = "0.3.3"
@@ -4141,9 +4122,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-width"
-version = "0.1.13"
+version = "0.1.14"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0336d538f7abc86d282a4189614dfaa90810dfc2c6f6427eaf88e16311dd225d"
+checksum = "7dd6e30e90baa6f72411720665d41d89b9a3d039dc45b8faea1ddd07f617f6af"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-xid"
@@ -4361,6 +4342,7 @@ name = "wikidata-to-surrealdb"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
+ "backon",
  "bzip2",
  "criterion",
  "futures 0.3.30",
@@ -4530,9 +4512,9 @@ checksum = "589f6da84c646204747d1270a2a5661ea66ed1cced2631d546fdfb155959f9ec"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "winnow"
-version = "0.6.18"
+version = "0.6.19"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "68a9bda4691f099d435ad181000724da8e5899daa10713c2d432552b9ccd3a6f"
+checksum = "c52ac009d615e79296318c1bcce2d422aaca15ad08515e344feeda07df67a587"
 dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b020128..b8508d5 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ bzip2 = { version = "0.4", features = ["tokio"] }
 lazy_static = "1.5"
 indicatif = "0.17"
 rand = "0.8"
+backon = { version = "1.2", features = ["tokio-sleep"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 rstest = "0.22"
diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
index 6b16ef9..786d7e0 100644
--- a/flake.lock
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
     "advisory-db": {
       "flake": false,
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1726496182,
-        "narHash": "sha256-V5193OeAuy0smfeOF2omeJXk+kq+tlEzcpk2MrUpai0=",
+        "lastModified": 1727103737,
+        "narHash": "sha256-otyUwbqaXYkeBxPy3Gf0ACB0rHl23OzAlfpsVvY1hbc=",
         "owner": "rustsec",
         "repo": "advisory-db",
-        "rev": "3cae2352cf82b5815b98aa309e0f4df6aa737cec",
+        "rev": "45780a4d66ad647bd3c148509fb081943efdacfd",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@
     },
     "crane": {
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1725409566,
-        "narHash": "sha256-PrtLmqhM6UtJP7v7IGyzjBFhbG4eOAHT6LPYOFmYfbk=",
+        "lastModified": 1727060013,
+        "narHash": "sha256-/fC5YlJy4IoAW9GhkJiwyzk0K/gQd9Qi4rRcoweyG9E=",
         "owner": "ipetkov",
         "repo": "crane",
-        "rev": "7e4586bad4e3f8f97a9271def747cf58c4b68f3c",
+        "rev": "6b40cc876c929bfe1e3a24bf538ce3b5622646ba",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@
         "rust-analyzer-src": []
       },
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1726727555,
-        "narHash": "sha256-WAYoFXry7bU3UXCFklX6tBOfBdZUHi+MeIk1JxUKNEo=",
+        "lastModified": 1727159616,
+        "narHash": "sha256-1VjZ+khJwZphRJZy2HvbMSCgi3OV7mu8RjVzqCxVi2k=",
         "owner": "nix-community",
         "repo": "fenix",
-        "rev": "3b974166133158907839fe20147e11696fade644",
+        "rev": "4306d494985e00719573bbdeb863c27c6d83dc9c",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
@@ -72,11 +72,11 @@
     },
     "nixpkgs": {
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1726583932,
-        "narHash": "sha256-zACxiQx8knB3F8+Ze+1BpiYrI+CbhxyWpcSID9kVhkQ=",
+        "lastModified": 1727089097,
+        "narHash": "sha256-ZMHMThPsthhUREwDebXw7GX45bJnBCVbfnH1g5iuSPc=",
         "owner": "NixOS",
         "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "rev": "658e7223191d2598641d50ee4e898126768fe847",
+        "rev": "568bfef547c14ca438c56a0bece08b8bb2b71a9c",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
diff --git a/src/utils.rs b/src/utils.rs
index b16ceac..6132f02 100644
--- a/src/utils.rs
+++ b/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use anyhow::{Error, Result};
+use backon::Retryable;
 use core::panic;
 use futures::future::join_all;
 use indicatif::ProgressBar;
@@ -7,9 +8,9 @@ use rand::{distributions::Alphanumeric, Rng};
 use serde_json::{from_str, Value};
 use std::{env, io::BufRead};
 use surrealdb::{Connection, Surreal};
-use tokio::time::{sleep, Duration};
 use wikidata::Entity;
 
+pub mod init_backoff;
 pub mod init_db;
 pub mod init_progress_bar;
 pub mod init_reader;
@@ -65,64 +66,50 @@ impl CreateVersion {
     }
 
     fn spawn_chunk(
-        &self,
+        self,
         dbo: Option<Surreal<impl Connection>>,
         chunk: Vec<String>,
         pb: Option<ProgressBar>,
         batch_size: usize,
     ) -> tokio::task::JoinHandle<()> {
-        let create_version = *self;
-
         tokio::spawn(async move {
-            let mut retries = 0;
-
-            loop {
-                match dbo {
-                    Some(ref db) => {
-                        if create_version.create(db, &chunk, &pb, batch_size).await {
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
-                    None => {
-                        let db = match init_db::create_db_remote().await {
-                            Ok(db) => db,
-                            Err(_) => continue,
-                        };
-                        if create_version.create(&db, &chunk, &pb, batch_size).await {
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
+            match dbo {
+                Some(db) => self.create_retry(&db, &chunk, &pb, batch_size).await,
+                None => {
+                    let db = init_db::create_db_remote
+                        .retry(*init_backoff::exponential)
+                        .await
+                        .expect("Failed to create remote db");
+                    self.create_retry(&db, &chunk, &pb, batch_size).await
                 }
-
-                // Exponential backoff with cap at 60 seconds
-                if retries == 30 {
-                    panic!("Failed to create entities, too many retries");
-                }
-                sleep(Duration::from_millis(250) * 2_u32.pow(retries.min(8))).await;
-                retries += 1;
             }
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("Failed to create entities, too many retries: {}", err));
         })
     }
 
+    /// Retry create with exponential backoff
+    async fn create_retry(
+        self,
+        db: &Surreal<impl Connection>,
+        chunk: &[String],
+        pb: &Option<ProgressBar>,
+        batch_size: usize,
+    ) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        (|| async { self.create(db, chunk, pb, batch_size).await })
+            .retry(*init_backoff::exponential)
+            .await
+    }
+
     async fn create(
         self,
         db: &Surreal<impl Connection>,
         chunk: &[String],
         pb: &Option<ProgressBar>,
         batch_size: usize,
-    ) -> bool {
+    ) -> Result<(), Error> {
         match self {
-            CreateVersion::Bulk => self.create_bulk(db, chunk, pb, batch_size).await.is_ok(),
-            CreateVersion::BulkFilter => self
-                .create_bulk_filter(db, chunk, pb, batch_size)
-                .await
-                .is_ok(),
-            // CreateVersion::BulkFilter => {
-            //     if let Err(err) = self.create_bulk_filter(db, chunk, pb, batch_size).await {
-            //         panic!("Failed to create entities: {}", err);
-            //     }
-            //     true
-            // }
+            CreateVersion::Bulk => self.create_bulk(db, chunk, pb, batch_size).await,
+            CreateVersion::BulkFilter => self.create_bulk_filter(db, chunk, pb, batch_size).await,
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/init_backoff.rs b/src/utils/init_backoff.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e26766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/init_backoff.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+use backon::ExponentialBuilder;
+use lazy_static::lazy_static;
+use tokio::time::Duration;
+
+lazy_static! {
+    pub static ref exponential: ExponentialBuilder = ExponentialBuilder::default()
+        .with_max_times(30)
+        .with_max_delay(Duration::from_secs(60));
+}