diff --git a/client.go b/client.go
index adbdd92..53957ff 100644
--- a/client.go
+++ b/client.go
@@ -470,12 +470,14 @@ func baseRetryPolicy(resp *http.Response, err error) (bool, error) {
 // (HTTP Code 429) is found in the resp parameter. Hence it will return the number of
 // seconds the server states it may be ready to process more requests from this client.
 func DefaultBackoff(min, max time.Duration, attemptNum int, resp *http.Response) time.Duration {
-	if resp != nil {
-		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
-			if s, ok := resp.Header["Retry-After"]; ok {
-				if sleep, err := strconv.ParseInt(s[0], 10, 64); err == nil {
-					return time.Second * time.Duration(sleep)
-				}
+	if resp != nil && resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
+		if s, ok := resp.Header["Retry-After"]; ok {
+			if sleep, err := strconv.ParseInt(s[0], 10, 64); err == nil {
+				return time.Second * time.Duration(sleep)
+			}
+
+			if after, err := time.Parse(time.RFC1123, s[0]); err == nil {
+				return after.Sub(time.Now())
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/client_test.go b/client_test.go
index 082b407..50ff8c3 100644
--- a/client_test.go
+++ b/client_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"math"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
@@ -524,38 +525,59 @@ func TestClient_CheckRetry(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestClient_DefaultBackoff(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, code := range []int{http.StatusTooManyRequests, http.StatusServiceUnavailable} {
-		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("http_%d", code), func(t *testing.T) {
-			ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-				w.Header().Set("Retry-After", "2")
-				http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("test_%d_body", code), code)
-			}))
-			defer ts.Close()
-
-			client := NewClient()
-
-			var retryAfter time.Duration
-			retryable := false
-
-			client.CheckRetry = func(_ context.Context, resp *http.Response, err error) (bool, error) {
-				retryable, _ = DefaultRetryPolicy(context.Background(), resp, err)
-				retryAfter = DefaultBackoff(client.RetryWaitMin, client.RetryWaitMax, 1, resp)
-				return false, nil
-			}
+	type tcase struct {
+		name 	string
+		header	string
+	}
 
-			_, err := client.Get(ts.URL)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("expected no errors since retryable")
-			}
+	cases := []tcase{
+		{
+			name:   "RFC1123_datetime",
+			header: time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second).Format(time.RFC1123),
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "numeric_duration",
+			header: "2",
+		},
+	}
 
-			if !retryable {
-				t.Fatal("Since the error is recoverable, the default policy shall return true")
-			}
+	var header string
 
-			if retryAfter != 2*time.Second {
-				t.Fatalf("The header Retry-After specified 2 seconds, and shall not be %d seconds", retryAfter/time.Second)
-			}
-		})
+	for _, code := range []int{http.StatusTooManyRequests, http.StatusServiceUnavailable} {
+		for _, tt := range cases {
+			t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("http_%d", code), func(t *testing.T) {
+				ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+					w.Header().Set("Retry-After", header)
+					http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("test_%d_body", code), code)
+				}))
+				defer ts.Close()
+
+				client := NewClient()
+
+				var retryAfter time.Duration
+				retryable := false
+				client.CheckRetry = func(_ context.Context, resp *http.Response, err error) (bool, error) {
+					retryable, _ = DefaultRetryPolicy(context.Background(), resp, err)
+					retryAfter = DefaultBackoff(client.RetryWaitMin, client.RetryWaitMax, 1, resp)
+					return false, nil
+				}
+
+				header = tt.header
+
+				_, err := client.Get(ts.URL)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("expected no errors since retryable")
+				}
+
+				if !retryable {
+					t.Fatal("Since the error is recoverable, the default policy shall return true")
+				}
+
+				if math.Ceil(retryAfter.Seconds()) != 2 {
+					t.Fatalf("The header Retry-After specified 2 seconds, and shall not be %.0f seconds", math.Ceil(retryAfter.Seconds()))
+				}
+			})
+		}
 	}
 }