diff --git a/lib/services/db.js b/lib/services/db.js
index b4e493b6..a5da6568 100644
--- a/lib/services/db.js
+++ b/lib/services/db.js
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ function DB(options) {
     this.levelupStore = options.store;
   }
 
+  this.retryInterval = 60000;
+
   this.subscriptions = {
     transaction: [],
     block: []
@@ -217,11 +219,24 @@ DB.prototype.loadTip = function(callback) {
 
     var hash = tipData.toString('hex');
 
-    self.getBlock(hash, function(err, tip) {
+    var times = 0;
+    async.retry({times: 3, interval: self.retryInterval}, function(done) {
+      self.getBlock(hash, function(err, tip) {
+        if(err) {
+          times++;
+          log.warn('Bitcoind does not have our tip (' + hash + '). Bitcoind may have crashed and needs to catch up.');
+          if(times < 3) {
+            log.warn('Retrying in ' + (self.retryInterval / 1000) + ' seconds.');
+          }
+          return done(err);
+        }
+
+        done(null, tip);
+      });
+    }, function(err, tip) {
       if(err) {
-        log.warn('Database is in an inconsistent state, a reindex is needed. Could not get current tip:',
-          hash
-        );
+        log.warn('Giving up after 3 tries. Please report this bug to https://github.com/bitpay/bitcore-node/issues');
+        log.warn('Please reindex your database.');
         return callback(err);
       }
 
diff --git a/test/services/db.unit.js b/test/services/db.unit.js
index 1a3bf7d2..a5032845 100644
--- a/test/services/db.unit.js
+++ b/test/services/db.unit.js
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ describe('DB Service', function() {
       });
     });
 
-    it('give error from getBlock', function(done) {
+    it('should try 3 times before giving error from getBlock', function(done) {
       var node = {
         network: Networks.testnet,
         datadir: 'testdir',
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ describe('DB Service', function() {
         }
       };
       var db = new DB({node: node});
+      db.retryInterval = 10;
       var tipHash = '00000000b873e79784647a6c82962c70d228557d24a747ea4d1b8bbe878e1206';
       db.store = {
         get: sinon.stub().callsArgWith(2, null, new Buffer(tipHash, 'hex'))
@@ -326,6 +327,7 @@ describe('DB Service', function() {
       db.getBlock = sinon.stub().callsArgWith(1, new Error('test'));
       db.loadTip(function(err) {
         should.exist(err);
+        db.getBlock.callCount.should.equal(3);
         err.message.should.equal('test');
         done();
       });