diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.test.ts
index a9c58b1302f56..b66f4bc418640 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.test.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import apm from 'elastic-apm-node';
 import { executionContextServiceMock } from '@kbn/core/server/mocks';
 import { usageCountersServiceMock } from '@kbn/usage-collection-plugin/server/usage_counters/usage_counters_service.mock';
 import {
+  calculateDelay,
   TASK_MANAGER_RUN_TRANSACTION_TYPE,
   TASK_MANAGER_TRANSACTION_TYPE,
   TASK_MANAGER_TRANSACTION_TYPE_MARK_AS_RUNNING,
@@ -300,9 +301,8 @@ describe('TaskManagerRunner', () => {
       expect(instance.attempts).toEqual(initialAttempts + 1);
       expect(instance.status).toBe('running');
       expect(instance.startedAt!.getTime()).toEqual(Date.now());
-      expect(instance.retryAt!.getTime()).toEqual(
-        minutesFromNow((initialAttempts + 1) * 5).getTime() + timeoutMinutes * 60 * 1000
-      );
+      const expectedRunAt = Date.now() + calculateDelay(initialAttempts + 1);
+      expect(instance.retryAt!.getTime()).toEqual(expectedRunAt + timeoutMinutes * 60 * 1000);
       expect(instance.enabled).not.toBeDefined();
     });
 
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ describe('TaskManagerRunner', () => {
       sinon.assert.calledWith(getRetryStub, initialAttempts + 1);
       const instance = store.update.mock.calls[0][0];
 
-      const attemptDelay = (initialAttempts + 1) * 5 * 60 * 1000;
+      const attemptDelay = calculateDelay(initialAttempts + 1);
       const timeoutDelay = timeoutMinutes * 60 * 1000;
       expect(instance.retryAt!.getTime()).toEqual(
         new Date(Date.now() + attemptDelay + timeoutDelay).getTime()
@@ -817,7 +817,8 @@ describe('TaskManagerRunner', () => {
       const instance = store.update.mock.calls[0][0];
 
       expect(instance.id).toEqual(id);
-      expect(instance.runAt.getTime()).toEqual(minutesFromNow(initialAttempts * 5).getTime());
+      const expectedRunAt = new Date(Date.now() + calculateDelay(initialAttempts));
+      expect(instance.runAt.getTime()).toEqual(expectedRunAt.getTime());
       expect(instance.params).toEqual({ a: 'b' });
       expect(instance.state).toEqual({ hey: 'there' });
       expect(instance.enabled).not.toBeDefined();
@@ -1169,7 +1170,7 @@ describe('TaskManagerRunner', () => {
       sinon.assert.calledWith(getRetryStub, initialAttempts, error);
       const instance = store.update.mock.calls[0][0];
 
-      const expectedRunAt = new Date(Date.now() + initialAttempts * 5 * 60 * 1000);
+      const expectedRunAt = new Date(Date.now() + calculateDelay(initialAttempts));
       expect(instance.runAt.getTime()).toEqual(expectedRunAt.getTime());
       expect(instance.enabled).not.toBeDefined();
     });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.ts b/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.ts
index a5865abc46bbe..d2038621d6dbe 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/task_manager/server/task_running/task_runner.ts
@@ -53,8 +53,6 @@ import {
 import { TaskTypeDictionary } from '../task_type_dictionary';
 import { isUnrecoverableError } from './errors';
 import type { EventLoopDelayConfig } from '../config';
-
-const defaultBackoffPerFailure = 5 * 60 * 1000;
 export const EMPTY_RUN_RESULT: SuccessfulRunResult = { state: {} };
 
 export const TASK_MANAGER_RUN_TRANSACTION_TYPE = 'task-run';
@@ -654,7 +652,7 @@ export class TaskManagerRunner implements TaskRunner {
     if (retry instanceof Date) {
       result = retry;
     } else if (retry === true) {
-      result = new Date(Date.now() + attempts * defaultBackoffPerFailure);
+      result = new Date(Date.now() + calculateDelay(attempts));
     }
 
     // Add a duration to the result
@@ -717,3 +715,13 @@ export function asRan(task: InstanceOf<TaskRunningStage.RAN, RanTask>): RanTask
     task,
   };
 }
+
+export function calculateDelay(attempts: number) {
+  if (attempts === 1) {
+    return 30 * 1000; // 30s
+  } else {
+    // get multiples of 5 min
+    const defaultBackoffPerFailure = 5 * 60 * 1000;
+    return defaultBackoffPerFailure * Math.pow(2, attempts - 2);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/x-pack/test/plugin_api_integration/test_suites/task_manager/task_management.ts b/x-pack/test/plugin_api_integration/test_suites/task_manager/task_management.ts
index c4b5a2831183c..dadc32bca7214 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/plugin_api_integration/test_suites/task_manager/task_management.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/plugin_api_integration/test_suites/task_manager/task_management.ts
@@ -338,9 +338,9 @@ export default function ({ getService }: FtrProviderContext) {
 
       await retry.try(async () => {
         const scheduledTask = await currentTask(task.id);
-        expect(scheduledTask.attempts).to.be.greaterThan(0);
+        expect(scheduledTask.attempts).to.be.greaterThan(1);
         expect(Date.parse(scheduledTask.runAt)).to.be.greaterThan(
-          Date.parse(task.runAt) + 5 * 60 * 1000
+          Date.parse(task.runAt) + 30 * 1000
         );
       });
     });