diff --git a/pkg/controller/clusterissuers/controller.go b/pkg/controller/clusterissuers/controller.go
index 878469a40..482ab0f33 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/clusterissuers/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/clusterissuers/controller.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ type Controller struct {
 func New(ctx *controllerpkg.Context) *Controller {
 	ctrl := &Controller{Context: *ctx}
 	ctrl.syncHandler = ctrl.processNextWorkItem
-	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), "clusterissuers")
+	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(time.Second*5, time.Minute*1), "clusterissuers")
 
 	clusterIssuerInformer := ctrl.SharedInformerFactory.Certmanager().V1alpha1().ClusterIssuers()
 	clusterIssuerInformer.Informer().AddEventHandler(&controllerpkg.QueuingEventHandler{Queue: ctrl.queue})
diff --git a/pkg/controller/ingress-shim/controller.go b/pkg/controller/ingress-shim/controller.go
index 48bc9a55b..1f74ca900 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/ingress-shim/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/ingress-shim/controller.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func New(
 ) *Controller {
 	ctrl := &Controller{Client: client, CMClient: cmClient, Recorder: recorder, defaults: defaults}
 	ctrl.syncHandler = ctrl.processNextWorkItem
-	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), "ingresses")
+	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(time.Second*5, time.Minute*1), "ingresses")
 
 	ingressInformer.Informer().AddEventHandler(&controllerpkg.QueuingEventHandler{Queue: ctrl.queue})
 	ctrl.ingressLister = ingressInformer.Lister()
diff --git a/pkg/controller/issuers/controller.go b/pkg/controller/issuers/controller.go
index 8fd89f37a..2dbb4f861 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/issuers/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/issuers/controller.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func New(ctx *controllerpkg.Context) *Controller {
 	}
 
 	ctrl.syncHandler = ctrl.processNextWorkItem
-	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), "issuers")
+	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(time.Second*5, time.Minute*1), "issuers")
 
 	issuerInformer := ctrl.SharedInformerFactory.Certmanager().V1alpha1().Issuers()
 	issuerInformer.Informer().AddEventHandler(&controllerpkg.QueuingEventHandler{Queue: ctrl.queue})