diff --git a/src/activitypub/inbox.js b/src/activitypub/inbox.js
index ec2f9d7fb0..cd13982b8c 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/inbox.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/inbox.js
@@ -617,6 +617,8 @@ inbox.reject = async (req) => {
 	const queueId = `${type}:${id}:${hostname}`;
 
 	// stop retrying rejected requests
-	clearTimeout(activitypub.retryQueue.get(queueId));
-	activitypub.retryQueue.delete(queueId);
+	await Promise.all([
+		db.sortedSetRemove('ap:retry:queue', queueId),
+		db.delete(`ap:retry:queue:${queueId}`),
+	]);
 };
diff --git a/src/activitypub/index.js b/src/activitypub/index.js
index f4dd3cb5d2..fac6a92ed8 100644
--- a/src/activitypub/index.js
+++ b/src/activitypub/index.js
@@ -14,9 +14,7 @@ const messaging = require('../messaging');
 const user = require('../user');
 const utils = require('../utils');
 const ttl = require('../cache/ttl');
-const lru = require('../cache/lru');
 const batch = require('../batch');
-const pubsub = require('../pubsub');
 const analytics = require('../analytics');
 
 const requestCache = ttl({
@@ -69,28 +67,30 @@ ActivityPub.feps = require('./feps');
 
 ActivityPub.startJobs = () => {
 	ActivityPub.helpers.log('[activitypub/jobs] Registering jobs.');
-	new CronJob('0 0 * * *', async () => {
+	async function tryCronJob(method) {
 		if (!meta.config.activitypubEnabled) {
 			return;
 		}
 		try {
-			await ActivityPub.notes.prune();
-			await db.sortedSetsRemoveRangeByScore(['activities:datetime'], '-inf', Date.now() - 604800000);
+			await method();
 		} catch (err) {
 			winston.error(err.stack);
 		}
+	}
+	new CronJob('0 0 * * *', async () => {
+		await tryCronJob(async () => {
+			await ActivityPub.notes.prune();
+			await db.sortedSetsRemoveRangeByScore(['activities:datetime'], '-inf', Date.now() - 604800000);
+		});
 	}, null, true, null, null, false); // change last argument to true for debugging
 
 	new CronJob('*/30 * * * *', async () => {
-		if (!meta.config.activitypubEnabled) {
-			return;
-		}
-		try {
-			await ActivityPub.actors.prune();
-		} catch (err) {
-			winston.error(err.stack);
-		}
+		await tryCronJob(ActivityPub.actors.prune);
 	}, null, true, null, null, false); // change last argument to true for debugging
+
+	new CronJob('0 * * * * *', async () => {
+		await tryCronJob(retryFailedMessages);
+	}, null, true, null, null, false);
 };
 
 ActivityPub.resolveId = async (uid, id) => {
@@ -348,29 +348,11 @@ ActivityPub.get = async (type, id, uri, options) => {
 	}
 };
 
-ActivityPub.retryQueue = lru({
-	name: 'activitypub-retry-queue',
-	max: 4000,
-	ttl: 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 60,
-	dispose: (value) => {
-		if (value) {
-			clearTimeout(value);
-		}
-	},
-});
-
-// handle clearing retry queue from another member of the cluster
-pubsub.on(`activitypub-retry-queue:lruCache:del`, (keys) => {
-	if (Array.isArray(keys)) {
-		keys.forEach(key => clearTimeout(ActivityPub.retryQueue.get(key)));
-	}
-});
-
-async function sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload, attempts = 1) {
-	const keyData = await ActivityPub.getPrivateKey(type, id);
-	const headers = await ActivityPub.sign(keyData, uri, payload);
-
+async function sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload) {
 	try {
+		const keyData = await ActivityPub.getPrivateKey(type, id);
+		const headers = await ActivityPub.sign(keyData, uri, payload);
+
 		const { response, body } = await request.post(uri, {
 			headers: {
 				...headers,
@@ -382,25 +364,15 @@ async function sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload, attempts = 1) {
 
 		if (String(response.statusCode).startsWith('2')) {
 			ActivityPub.helpers.log(`[activitypub/send] Successfully sent ${payload.type} to ${uri}`);
-		} else {
-			if (typeof body === 'object') {
-				throw new Error(JSON.stringify(body));
-			}
-			throw new Error(String(body));
+			return true;
 		}
+		if (typeof body === 'object') {
+			throw new Error(JSON.stringify(body));
+		}
+		throw new Error(String(body));
 	} catch (e) {
 		ActivityPub.helpers.log(`[activitypub/send] Could not send ${payload.type} to ${uri}; error: ${e.message}`);
-		// add to retry queue
-		if (attempts < 12) { // stop attempting after ~2 months
-			const timeout = (4 ** attempts) * 1000; // exponential backoff
-			const queueId = `${payload.type}:${payload.id}:${new URL(uri).hostname}`;
-			const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload, attempts + 1), timeout);
-			ActivityPub.retryQueue.set(queueId, timeoutId);
-
-			ActivityPub.helpers.log(`[activitypub/send] Added ${payload.type} to ${uri} to retry queue for ${timeout}ms`);
-		} else {
-			winston.warn(`[activitypub/send] Max attempts reached for ${payload.type} to ${uri}; giving up on sending`);
-		}
+		return false;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -429,17 +401,75 @@ ActivityPub.send = async (type, id, targets, payload) => {
 		...payload,
 	};
 
-	// Runs in background... potentially a better queue is required... later.
-	batch.processArray(
-		inboxes,
-		async inboxBatch => Promise.all(inboxBatch.map(async uri => sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload))),
-		{
-			batch: 50,
-			interval: 100,
-		},
-	);
+	const oneMinute = 1000 * 60;
+	batch.processArray(inboxes, async (inboxBatch) => {
+		const retryQueueAdd = [];
+		const retryQueuedSet = [];
+
+		await Promise.all(inboxBatch.map(async (uri) => {
+			const ok = await sendMessage(uri, id, type, payload);
+			if (!ok) {
+				const queueId = `${type}:${id}:${new URL(uri).hostname}`;
+				const nextTryOn = Date.now() + oneMinute;
+				retryQueueAdd.push(['ap:retry:queue', nextTryOn, queueId]);
+				retryQueuedSet.push([`ap:retry:queue:${queueId}`, {
+					queueId,
+					uri,
+					id,
+					type,
+					attempts: 1,
+					timestamp: nextTryOn,
+					payload: JSON.stringify(payload),
+				}]);
+			}
+		}));
+
+		if (retryQueueAdd.length) {
+			await Promise.all([
+				db.sortedSetAddBulk(retryQueueAdd),
+				db.setObjectBulk(retryQueuedSet),
+			]);
+		}
+	}, {
+		batch: 50,
+		interval: 100,
+	}).catch(err => winston.error(err.stack));
 };
 
+async function retryFailedMessages() {
+	const queueIds = await db.getSortedSetRangeByScore('ap:retry:queue', 0, 50, '-inf', Date.now());
+	const queuedData = (await db.getObjects(queueIds.map(id => `ap:retry:queue:${id}`))).filter(Boolean);
+
+	const retryQueueAdd = [];
+	const retryQueuedSet = [];
+	const queueIdsToRemove = [];
+
+	const oneMinute = 1000 * 60;
+	await Promise.all(queuedData.map(async (data) => {
+		const { queueId, uri, id, type, attempts, payload } = data;
+		const payloadObj = JSON.parse(payload);
+
+		const ok = await sendMessage(uri, id, type, payloadObj);
+
+		if (ok || attempts > 10) {
+			queueIdsToRemove.push(queueId);
+		} else {
+			const nextAttempt = (parseInt(attempts, 10) || 0) + 1;
+			const timeout = (2 ** nextAttempt) * oneMinute; // exponential backoff
+			const nextTryOn = Date.now() + timeout;
+			retryQueueAdd.push(['ap:retry:queue', nextTryOn, queueId]);
+			retryQueuedSet.push([`ap:retry:queue:${queueId}`, {
+				attempts: nextAttempt,
+				timestamp: nextTryOn,
+			}]);
+		}
+	}));
+	await Promise.all([
+		db.sortedSetRemove('ap:retry:queue', queueIdsToRemove),
+		db.deleteAll(queueIdsToRemove.map(id => `ap:retry:queue:${id}`)),
+	]);
+}
+
 ActivityPub.record = async ({ id, type, actor }) => {
 	const now = Date.now();
 	const { hostname } = new URL(actor);