diff --git a/bin/heat-metadata b/bin/heat-metadata
index 985e0e3221..c18ecadd92 100755
--- a/bin/heat-metadata
+++ b/bin/heat-metadata
@@ -45,9 +45,15 @@ LOG = logging.getLogger('heat.metadata')
 
 def send_address_to_engine(host, port):
     con = context.get_admin_context()
-    resp = rpc.call(con, 'engine',
-                    {'method': 'metadata_register_address',
-                     'args': {'url': 'http://%s:%s' % (host, port)}})
+    while True:
+        try:
+            resp = rpc.call(con, 'engine',
+                            {'method': 'metadata_register_address',
+                             'args': {'url': 'http://%s:%s' % (host, port)}})
+            LOG.info('registered the hostname and port with the engine.')
+            return
+        except rpc.common.Timeout:
+            LOG.info('Could not connect to the engine, retrying...')
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':