diff --git a/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go b/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go
index 4126c879031..904b2b61236 100644
--- a/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go
+++ b/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package elasticsearch
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 
 	apmVersion "github.com/elastic/apm-server/internal/version"
 	esv8 "github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8"
+	"github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8/esapi"
 )
 
 func TestClient(t *testing.T) {
@@ -86,3 +88,114 @@ func TestClientCustomUserAgent(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("timed out while waiting for request")
 	}
 }
+
+type esMock struct {
+	responder   http.HandlerFunc
+	ClusterUUID string
+	UUID        string
+}
+
+func (h *esMock) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	w.Header().Set("X-Elastic-Product", "Elasticsearch")
+
+	switch {
+	case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/":
+		root := fmt.Sprintf("{\"name\" : \"mock\", \"cluster_uuid\" : \"%s\", \"version\" : { \"number\" : \"%s\", \"build_flavor\" : \"default\"}}", h.ClusterUUID, "runningtest")
+		w.Header().Set(http.CanonicalHeaderKey("Content-Type"), "application/json")
+		w.Write([]byte(root))
+		return
+	case r.Method == http.MethodPost && r.URL.Path == "/_bulk":
+		h.responder(w, r)
+		return
+	case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/_license":
+		license := fmt.Sprintf("{\"license\" : {\"status\" : \"active\", \"uid\" : \"%s\", \"type\" : \"trial\", \"expiry_date_in_millis\" : %d}}", h.UUID, time.Now().Add(1*time.Hour).Unix())
+		w.Header().Set(http.CanonicalHeaderKey("Content-Type"), "application/json")
+		w.Write([]byte(license))
+		return
+	default:
+		http.Error(w, "unsupported request", 419) // Signal unexpected error
+		return
+	}
+}
+
+func TestClientRetryableStatuses(t *testing.T) {
+	bc := Config{
+		Username: "test",
+		Password: "foobar",
+		Backoff: BackoffConfig{
+			Init: 0,
+			Max:  0,
+		},
+		MaxRetries: 2,
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name               string
+		responseStatusCode int
+		handler            http.HandlerFunc
+
+		expectedStatusCode   int
+		expectedRequestCount int
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "retry 429 Too Many Requests",
+
+			responseStatusCode:   http.StatusTooManyRequests,
+			expectedStatusCode:   http.StatusOK,
+			expectedRequestCount: 2,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "retry 502 Bad Gateway",
+
+			responseStatusCode:   http.StatusBadGateway,
+			expectedStatusCode:   http.StatusBadGateway,
+			expectedRequestCount: 1,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "retry 503 Service Not Available",
+
+			responseStatusCode:   http.StatusServiceUnavailable,
+			expectedStatusCode:   http.StatusServiceUnavailable,
+			expectedRequestCount: 1,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                 "retry 504 Gateway Timeout",
+			responseStatusCode:   http.StatusGatewayTimeout,
+			expectedStatusCode:   http.StatusGatewayTimeout,
+			expectedRequestCount: 1,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			count := 0
+			handler := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				if count < bc.MaxRetries {
+					count += 1
+					http.Error(w, "", tt.responseStatusCode)
+					return
+				}
+
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+			})
+
+			es := esMock{responder: handler, ClusterUUID: "8f8d1c95-dde0-4c11-bf27-063e2a819a4c", UUID: "b97b91b3-16e0-49e2-a635-000c97059b46"}
+			srv := httptest.NewServer(&es)
+			defer srv.Close()
+			c := bc
+			c.Hosts = []string{srv.URL}
+
+			client, err := NewClient(&c)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			buf := bytes.Buffer{}
+
+			var res *esapi.Response
+			res, err = client.Bulk(bytes.NewReader(buf.Bytes()))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedStatusCode, res.StatusCode)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedRequestCount, count)
+
+		})
+	}
+}