--- a/pkg/imports/queue.go	Tue Apr 07 16:34:35 2020 +0200
+++ b/pkg/imports/queue.go	Tue Apr 14 11:36:13 2020 +0200
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@
 	reviewJobWait    = time.Minute
 )
 
+const (
+	hardMaxTries = 200
+	minWaitRetry = 5 * time.Second
+)
+
 var ErrRetrying = errors.New("retrying")
 
 type importQueue struct {
@@ -512,12 +517,25 @@
 
 	var tl sql.NullInt64
 	if triesLeft != nil {
-		tl = sql.NullInt64{Int64: int64(*triesLeft), Valid: true}
+		var many int64
+		if *triesLeft > hardMaxTries || *triesLeft < 0 {
+			many = hardMaxTries
+		} else {
+			many = int64(*triesLeft)
+		}
+		tl = sql.NullInt64{Int64: many, Valid: true}
 	}
 
 	var wr pgtype.Interval
 	if waitRetry != nil {
-		if err := wr.Set(*waitRetry); err != nil {
+		var howLong time.Duration
+		if minWaitRetry > *waitRetry {
+			howLong = minWaitRetry
+		} else {
+			howLong = *waitRetry
+		}
+
+		if err := wr.Set(howLong); err != nil {
 			return 0, nil, err
 		}
 	} else {
@@ -810,9 +828,24 @@
 		}
 		_, err = tx.ExecContext(ctx, updateStateSQL, "running", ji.id)
 		if err == nil {
-			err = tx.Commit()
+			if err = tx.Commit(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
-		return err
+		// Clip repetition back to allowd values.
+		if ji.waitRetry.Status == pgtype.Present {
+			var d time.Duration
+			ji.waitRetry.AssignTo(&d)
+			if d < minWaitRetry {
+				ji.waitRetry.Set(minWaitRetry)
+			}
+		}
+		if ji.triesLeft.Valid {
+			if ji.triesLeft.Int64 < 0 || ji.triesLeft.Int64 > hardMaxTries {
+				ji.triesLeft.Int64 = hardMaxTries
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
 	})
 	switch {
 	case err == sql.ErrNoRows: