diff --git a/pkg/controller/certificates/controller.go b/pkg/controller/certificates/controller.go
index 25ca57f67..4221cdafe 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/certificates/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/certificates/controller.go
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func New(
 ) *Controller {
 	ctrl := &Controller{client: client, cmClient: cmClient, issuerFactory: issuerFactory, recorder: recorder}
 	ctrl.syncHandler = ctrl.processNextWorkItem
-	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(time.Second*5, time.Minute*2), "certificates")
+	ctrl.queue = workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(time.Second*2, time.Minute*1), "certificates")
 	// Create a scheduled work queue that calls the ctrl.queue.Add method for
 	// each object in the queue. This is used to schedule re-checks of
 	// Certificate resources when they get near to expiry