diff --git a/pubsub/iterator.go b/pubsub/iterator.go
index 2675d42c4e5..49a3742d3c3 100644
--- a/pubsub/iterator.go
+++ b/pubsub/iterator.go
@@ -385,12 +385,53 @@ func (it *messageIterator) sendAck(m map[string]bool) bool {
 	return it.sendAckIDRPC(m, maxPayload-overhead, func(ids []string) error {
 		recordStat(it.ctx, AckCount, int64(len(ids)))
 		addAcks(ids)
-		// Use context.Background() as the call's context, not it.ctx. We don't
-		// want to cancel this RPC when the iterator is stopped.
-		return it.subc.Acknowledge(context.Background(), &pb.AcknowledgeRequest{
-			Subscription: it.subName,
-			AckIds:       ids,
-		})
+		bo := gax.Backoff{
+			Initial:    100 * time.Millisecond,
+			Max:        time.Second,
+			Multiplier: 2,
+		}
+		cctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Minute)
+		defer cancel()
+		for {
+			// Use context.Background() as the call's context, not it.ctx. We don't
+			// want to cancel this RPC when the iterator is stopped.
+			cctx2, cancel2 := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 60*time.Second)
+			defer cancel2()
+			err := it.subc.Acknowledge(cctx2, &pb.AcknowledgeRequest{
+				Subscription: it.subName,
+				AckIds:       ids,
+			})
+			// Retry DeadlineExceeded errors a few times before giving up and
+			// allowing the message to expire and be redelivered.
+			// The underlying library handles other retries, currently only
+			// codes.Unavailable.
+			switch status.Code(err) {
+			case codes.DeadlineExceeded:
+				// Use the outer context with timeout here. Errors from gax, including
+				// context deadline exceeded should be transparent, as unacked messages
+				// will be redelivered.
+				if err := gax.Sleep(cctx, bo.Pause()); err != nil {
+					return nil
+				}
+			default:
+				if err == nil {
+					return nil
+				}
+				// This addresses an error where `context deadline exceeded` errors
+				// not captured by the previous case causes fatal errors.
+				// See https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-go/issues/3060
+				if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "context deadline exceeded") {
+					// Context deadline exceeded errors here should be transparent
+					// to prevent the iterator from shutting down.
+					if err := gax.Sleep(cctx, bo.Pause()); err != nil {
+						return nil
+					}
+					continue
+				}
+				// Any other error is fatal.
+				return err
+			}
+		}
 	})
 }
 
@@ -443,7 +484,7 @@ func (it *messageIterator) sendModAck(m map[string]bool, deadline time.Duration)
 					return nil
 				}
 				// This addresses an error where `context deadline exceeded` errors
-				// not captured by the previous case do not cause fatal errors.
+				// not captured by the previous case causes fatal errors.
 				// See https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-go/issues/3060
 				if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "context deadline exceeded") {
 					recordStat(it.ctx, ModAckTimeoutCount, 1)