diff --git a/consts.go b/consts.go
index 106e1c8e..d682b0c7 100644
--- a/consts.go
+++ b/consts.go
@@ -5,22 +5,23 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	Protocol          = "weave"
-	ProtocolVersion   = 8
-	EthernetOverhead  = 14
-	UDPOverhead       = 28 // 20 bytes for IPv4, 8 bytes for UDP
-	Port              = 6783
-	DefaultPMTU       = 65535
-	MaxUDPPacketSize  = 65536
-	ChannelSize       = 16
-	UDPNonceSendAt    = 8192
-	FragTestSize      = 60001
-	PMTUDiscoverySize = 60000
-	FastHeartbeat     = 500 * time.Millisecond
-	SlowHeartbeat     = 10 * time.Second
-	FetchAllInterval  = 30 * time.Second
-	FragTestInterval  = 5 * time.Minute
-	PMTUVerifyTimeout = 5 * time.Second
+	Protocol           = "weave"
+	ProtocolVersion    = 8
+	EthernetOverhead   = 14
+	UDPOverhead        = 28 // 20 bytes for IPv4, 8 bytes for UDP
+	Port               = 6783
+	DefaultPMTU        = 65535
+	MaxUDPPacketSize   = 65536
+	ChannelSize        = 16
+	UDPNonceSendAt     = 8192
+	FragTestSize       = 60001
+	PMTUDiscoverySize  = 60000
+	FastHeartbeat      = 500 * time.Millisecond
+	SlowHeartbeat      = 10 * time.Second
+	FetchAllInterval   = 30 * time.Second
+	FragTestInterval   = 5 * time.Minute
+	PMTUVerifyAttempts = 8
+	PMTUVerifyTimeout  = 10 * time.Millisecond // gets doubled with every attempt
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/forwarder.go b/forwarder.go
index 7a15a25b..c48bcaf1 100644
--- a/forwarder.go
+++ b/forwarder.go
@@ -206,9 +206,15 @@ func (fwd *Forwarder) Run() {
 			// to other data.
 			fwd.pmtuVerifyTick = nil
 			if !fwd.conn.isEffectivePMTUVerfied() {
-				fwd.effectivePMTU -= 8
-				fwd.maxPayload -= 8
-				fwd.updateEffectivePMTU()
+				if fwd.pmtuVerifyCount == 0 {
+					fwd.pmtuVerifyCount = PMTUVerifyAttempts
+					fwd.effectivePMTU -= 8
+					fwd.maxPayload -= 8
+					fwd.conn.setEffectivePMTU(fwd.effectivePMTU)
+				} else {
+					fwd.pmtuVerifyCount--
+				}
+				fwd.verifyEffectivePMTU()
 			}
 		case frame = <-fwd.ch:
 			if !fwd.appendFrame(frame) {
@@ -242,27 +248,16 @@ func (fwd *Forwarder) setMaxPayloadAndEffectivePMTU(pmtu int) {
 	fwd.effectivePMTU = fwd.maxPayload - fwd.enc.PacketOverhead() - fwd.enc.FrameOverhead() - EthernetOverhead
 }
 
-func (fwd *Forwarder) updateEffectivePMTU() {
-	for gotNewPMTU := true; gotNewPMTU; {
-		fwd.conn.setEffectivePMTU(fwd.effectivePMTU)
-		pmtuVerifyFrame := &ForwardedFrame{
-			srcPeer: fwd.conn.local,
-			dstPeer: fwd.conn.remote,
-			frame:   make([]byte, fwd.effectivePMTU+EthernetOverhead)}
-		gotNewPMTU = false
-		for cnt := 0; cnt < 10; cnt += 1 {
-			fwd.enc.AppendFrame(pmtuVerifyFrame)
-			err := fwd.udpSender.Send(fwd.enc.Bytes())
-			if err != nil {
-				if mtbe, ok := err.(MsgTooBigError); ok {
-					fwd.setMaxPayloadAndEffectivePMTU(mtbe.PMTU)
-					gotNewPMTU = true
-					break
-				}
-			}
-		}
+func (fwd *Forwarder) verifyEffectivePMTU() {
+	pmtuVerifyFrame := &ForwardedFrame{
+		srcPeer: fwd.conn.local,
+		dstPeer: fwd.conn.remote,
+		frame:   make([]byte, fwd.effectivePMTU+EthernetOverhead)}
+	fwd.enc.AppendFrame(pmtuVerifyFrame)
+	fwd.flush()
+	if fwd.pmtuVerifyTick == nil {
+		fwd.pmtuVerifyTick = time.After(PMTUVerifyTimeout << (PMTUVerifyAttempts - fwd.pmtuVerifyCount))
 	}
-	fwd.pmtuVerifyTick = time.After(PMTUVerifyTimeout)
 }
 
 func (fwd *Forwarder) appendFrame(frame *ForwardedFrame) bool {
@@ -279,7 +274,9 @@ func (fwd *Forwarder) flush() {
 	if err != nil {
 		if mtbe, ok := err.(MsgTooBigError); ok {
 			fwd.setMaxPayloadAndEffectivePMTU(mtbe.PMTU)
-			fwd.updateEffectivePMTU()
+			fwd.conn.setEffectivePMTU(fwd.effectivePMTU)
+			fwd.pmtuVerifyCount = PMTUVerifyAttempts
+			fwd.verifyEffectivePMTU()
 		} else if PosixError(err) == syscall.ENOBUFS {
 			// TODO handle this better
 		} else {
diff --git a/types.go b/types.go
index cf675a21..861fa7f5 100644
--- a/types.go
+++ b/types.go
@@ -86,14 +86,15 @@ type ConnectionInteraction struct {
 }
 
 type Forwarder struct {
-	conn           *LocalConnection
-	ch             <-chan *ForwardedFrame
-	stop           <-chan interface{}
-	pmtuVerifyTick <-chan time.Time
-	enc            Encryptor
-	udpSender      UDPSender
-	maxPayload     int
-	effectivePMTU  int
+	conn            *LocalConnection
+	ch              <-chan *ForwardedFrame
+	stop            <-chan interface{}
+	pmtuVerifyTick  <-chan time.Time
+	pmtuVerifyCount uint
+	enc             Encryptor
+	udpSender       UDPSender
+	maxPayload      int
+	effectivePMTU   int
 }
 
 type UDPPacket struct {