diff --git a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/concurrent/Concurrent.java b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/concurrent/Concurrent.java
index 7481eeba..3f3d69d9 100644
--- a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/concurrent/Concurrent.java
+++ b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/concurrent/Concurrent.java
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ public static Closure takeMVar(StgContext context, MVar mvar) {
                     cap.blockedLoop();
                     val = mvar.tryTake();
                 } while (val == null);
+                cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
             } finally {
                 tso.whyBlocked = NotBlocked;
                 tso.blockInfo  = null;
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ public static Closure readMVar(StgContext context, MVar mvar) {
                     cap.blockedLoop();
                     val = mvar.tryRead();
                 } while (val == null);
+                cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
             } finally {
                 tso.whyBlocked = NotBlocked;
                 tso.blockInfo  = null;
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ public static void putMVar(StgContext context, MVar mvar, Closure val) {
                     cap.blockedLoop();
                     success = mvar.tryPut(val);
                 } while (!success);
+                cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
             } finally {
                 tso.blockInfo  = null;
                 tso.whyBlocked = NotBlocked;
@@ -180,7 +183,7 @@ public static void yield(StgContext context) {
         TSO tso        = context.currentTSO;
         tso.whyBlocked = BlockedOnYield;
         tso.blockInfo  = null;
-        cap.blockedLoop();
+        cap.blockedLoop(Runtime.getMaxTSOBlockTimeNanos());
     }
 
     /* In Eta, all the threads are bound, so this always returns true. */
@@ -288,6 +291,7 @@ public static Closure threadWaitFuture(StgContext context, Future future) {
             }
             cap.blockedLoop();
         } while (!future.isDone());
+        cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
         Object exception = null;
         Object result    = null;
         if (tso.blockInfo != null) {
@@ -357,7 +361,7 @@ public static void threadWaitIO(StgContext context, Channel channel, int ops) {
             tso.whyBlocked = blocked;
             tso.blockInfo  = selectKey;
             do {
-                cap.blockedLoop();
+                cap.blockedLoop(Runtime.getMaxTSOBlockTimeNanos());
             } while (selectKey.isValid());
         } catch (ClosedChannelException e) {
             throw new RuntimeException("threadWaitIO: ClosedChannelException", e);
diff --git a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/exception/Exception.java b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/exception/Exception.java
index d85a8160..100bcee9 100644
--- a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/exception/Exception.java
+++ b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/exception/Exception.java
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ public static void killThread(StgContext context, TSO target, Closure exception)
                 do {
                     cap.blockedLoop();
                 } while (msg.isValid());
+                cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stg/Capability.java b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stg/Capability.java
index 06d93994..755a6506 100644
--- a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stg/Capability.java
+++ b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stg/Capability.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.LockSupport;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom;
 
 import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
 
@@ -101,6 +102,8 @@ public static void setNumCapabilities(int n) {
     public Deque<TSO> runQueue  = new LinkedList<TSO>();
     public int  lastWorkSize;
     public long lastBlockCheck;
+    public int  lastBlockCounter = 0;
+    private ThreadLocalRandom tlr = ThreadLocalRandom.current();
     public Deque<Message> inbox = new ConcurrentLinkedDeque<Message>();
 
     /* MemoryManager related stuff */
@@ -163,8 +166,9 @@ public final Closure schedule(TSO tso) throws java.lang.Exception {
                         }
 
                         do {
-                            blockedLoop(Runtime.getMinWorkerCapabilityIdleTimeNanos());
+                            blockedLoop();
                         } while (blockedCapabilities.contains(this));
+                        lastBlockCounter = 0;
                         continue;
                     }
                 }
@@ -595,7 +599,8 @@ public final void detectSTMDeadlock(WhyBlocked whyBlocked, Object blockInfo) {
 
     /* Blocked Loop */
     public final void blockedLoop() {
-        blockedLoop(Runtime.getMaxTSOBlockTimeNanos());
+      lastBlockCounter = lastBlockCounter % 10 + 1; /* should be plenty */
+      blockedLoop(Runtime.getMaxTSOBlockTimeNanos() * tlr.nextInt(0, 1 << lastBlockCounter));
     }
 
     public final void blockedLoop(long nanos) {
diff --git a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stm/STM.java b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stm/STM.java
index d96216fd..764e8891 100644
--- a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stm/STM.java
+++ b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/stm/STM.java
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ public static Closure atomically(StgContext context, Closure code) {
                                 cap.blockedLoop();
                                 valid = trec.reWait(tso);
                             } while (valid);
+                            cap.lastBlockCounter = 0;
                         }
                         /* If the transaction is invalid, retry. */
                         trec     = TransactionRecord.start(null);
diff --git a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/thunk/Thunk.java b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/thunk/Thunk.java
index 8ae412d6..c3cab284 100644
--- a/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/thunk/Thunk.java
+++ b/rts/src/main/java/eta/runtime/thunk/Thunk.java
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ public final void handleBlackHole(StgContext context) {
                 tso.whyBlocked = BlockedOnBlackHole;
                 tso.blockInfo  = this;
             }
-            cap.blockedLoop();
+            cap.blockedLoop(Runtime.getMaxTSOBlockTimeNanos());
         }
     }