diff --git a/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py b/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
index 69b7b5245..b66d9f9b3 100644
--- a/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
+++ b/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 from google.auth import environment_vars
 from google.auth import exceptions
 from google.auth import metrics
+from google.auth import transport
 from google.auth._exponential_backoff import ExponentialBackoff
 
 _LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -204,7 +205,17 @@ def get(
     for attempt in backoff:
         try:
             response = request(url=url, method="GET", headers=headers_to_use)
-            break
+            if response.status in transport.DEFAULT_RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES:
+                _LOGGER.warning(
+                    "Compute Engine Metadata server unavailable on "
+                    "attempt %s of %s. Response status: %s",
+                    attempt,
+                    retry_count,
+                    response.status,
+                )
+                continue
+            else:
+                break
 
         except exceptions.TransportError as e:
             _LOGGER.warning(
diff --git a/system_tests/secrets.tar.enc b/system_tests/secrets.tar.enc
index aab772bbb..a38b5d5bc 100644
Binary files a/system_tests/secrets.tar.enc and b/system_tests/secrets.tar.enc differ
diff --git a/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py b/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
index 391422b04..f49886d71 100644
--- a/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
+++ b/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
@@ -431,6 +431,74 @@ def test_get_universe_domain_not_found():
     assert universe_domain == "googleapis.com"
 
 
+def test_get_universe_domain_retryable_error_failure():
+    # Test that if the universe domain endpoint returns a retryable error
+    # we should retry.
+    #
+    # In this case, the error persists, and we still fail after retrying.
+    request = make_request("too many requests", status=http_client.TOO_MANY_REQUESTS)
+
+    with pytest.raises(exceptions.TransportError) as excinfo:
+        _metadata.get_universe_domain(request)
+
+    assert excinfo.match(r"Compute Engine Metadata server unavailable")
+
+    request.assert_called_with(
+        method="GET",
+        url=_metadata._METADATA_ROOT + "universe/universe_domain",
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS,
+    )
+    assert request.call_count == 5
+
+
+def test_get_universe_domain_retryable_error_success():
+    # Test that if the universe domain endpoint returns a retryable error
+    # we should retry.
+    #
+    # In this case, the error is temporary, and we succeed after retrying.
+    request_error = make_request(
+        "too many requests", status=http_client.TOO_MANY_REQUESTS
+    )
+    request_ok = make_request(
+        "fake_universe_domain", headers={"content-type": "text/plain"}
+    )
+
+    class _RequestErrorOnce:
+        """This class forwards the request parameters to `request_error` once.
+
+        All subsequent calls are forwarded to `request_ok`.
+        """
+
+        def __init__(self, request_error, request_ok):
+            self._request_error = request_error
+            self._request_ok = request_ok
+            self._call_index = 0
+
+        def request(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            if self._call_index == 0:
+                self._call_index += 1
+                return self._request_error(*args, **kwargs)
+
+            return self._request_ok(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    request = _RequestErrorOnce(request_error, request_ok).request
+
+    universe_domain = _metadata.get_universe_domain(request)
+
+    request_error.assert_called_once_with(
+        method="GET",
+        url=_metadata._METADATA_ROOT + "universe/universe_domain",
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS,
+    )
+    request_ok.assert_called_once_with(
+        method="GET",
+        url=_metadata._METADATA_ROOT + "universe/universe_domain",
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS,
+    )
+
+    assert universe_domain == "fake_universe_domain"
+
+
 def test_get_universe_domain_other_error():
     # Test that if the universe domain endpoint returns an error other than 404
     # we should throw the error