diff --git a/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go b/internal/elasticsearch/client_test.go
index 4126c879031..301c7075e4c 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 +88,92 @@ func TestClientCustomUserAgent(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("timed out while waiting for request")
 	}
 }
+
+func esMockHandler(responder http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("X-Elastic-Product", "Elasticsearch")
+
+		switch {
+		case r.Method == http.MethodPost && r.URL.Path == "/_bulk":
+			responder(w, r)
+			return
+		default:
+			http.Error(w, "unsupported request", 419) // Signal unexpected error
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestClientRetryableStatuses(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name                 string
+		responseStatusCode   int
+		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) {
+			maxRetries := 2
+			count := 0
+			handler := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				if count < maxRetries {
+					count += 1
+					http.Error(w, "", tt.responseStatusCode)
+					return
+				}
+
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+			})
+
+			es := esMockHandler(handler)
+			srv := httptest.NewServer(&es)
+			defer srv.Close()
+
+			c := Config{
+				Username: "test",
+				Password: "foobar",
+				Backoff: BackoffConfig{
+					Init: 0,
+					Max:  0,
+				},
+				MaxRetries: maxRetries,
+				Hosts:      []string{srv.URL},
+			}
+			client, err := NewClient(&c)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			var 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)
+		})
+	}
+}