diff --git a/plugins/river/twitter/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/river/twitter/TwitterRiver.java b/plugins/river/twitter/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/river/twitter/TwitterRiver.java
index 11befd87c03..97bac6bc75c 100644
--- a/plugins/river/twitter/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/river/twitter/TwitterRiver.java
+++ b/plugins/river/twitter/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/river/twitter/TwitterRiver.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.client.action.bulk.BulkRequestBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.block.ClusterBlockException;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.support.XContentMapValues;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.river.AbstractRiverComponent;
 import org.elasticsearch.river.River;
 import org.elasticsearch.river.RiverName;
 import org.elasticsearch.river.RiverSettings;
+import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 import twitter4j.*;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -47,8 +49,14 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
  */
 public class TwitterRiver extends AbstractRiverComponent implements River {
 
+    private final ThreadPool threadPool;
+
     private final Client client;
 
+    private final String user;
+
+    private final String password;
+
     private final String indexName;
 
     private final String typeName;
@@ -62,16 +70,19 @@ public class TwitterRiver extends AbstractRiverComponent implements River {
     private String streamType;
 
 
-    private final TwitterStream stream;
+    private volatile TwitterStream stream;
 
     private final AtomicInteger onGoingBulks = new AtomicInteger();
 
     private volatile BulkRequestBuilder currentRequest;
 
+    private volatile boolean closed = false;
+
     @SuppressWarnings({"unchecked"})
-    @Inject public TwitterRiver(RiverName riverName, RiverSettings settings, Client client) {
+    @Inject public TwitterRiver(RiverName riverName, RiverSettings settings, Client client, ThreadPool threadPool) {
         super(riverName, settings);
         this.client = client;
+        this.threadPool = threadPool;
 
         String user = null;
         String password = null;
@@ -161,6 +172,8 @@ public class TwitterRiver extends AbstractRiverComponent implements River {
 
         logger.info("creating twitter stream river for [{}]", user);
 
+        this.user = user;
+        this.password = password;
         if (user == null || password == null) {
             stream = null;
             indexName = null;
@@ -226,7 +239,56 @@ public class TwitterRiver extends AbstractRiverComponent implements River {
         }
     }
 
+    private void reconnect() {
+        if (closed) {
+            return;
+        }
+        try {
+            stream.cleanUp();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.debug("failed to cleanup after failure", e);
+        }
+        try {
+            stream.shutdown();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.debug("failed to shutdown after failure", e);
+        }
+        if (closed) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        try {
+            stream = new TwitterStreamFactory().getInstance(user, password);
+            stream.addListener(new StatusHandler());
+
+            if (streamType.equals("filter") || filterQuery != null) {
+                try {
+                    stream.filter(filterQuery);
+                } catch (TwitterException e) {
+                    logger.warn("failed to create filter stream based on query, disabling river....");
+                }
+            } else if (streamType.equals("firehose")) {
+                stream.firehose(0);
+            } else {
+                stream.sample();
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            if (closed) {
+                close();
+                return;
+            }
+            // TODO, we can update the status of the river to RECONNECT
+            logger.warn("failed to connect after failure, throttling", e);
+            threadPool.schedule(TimeValue.timeValueSeconds(10), ThreadPool.Names.CACHED, new Runnable() {
+                @Override public void run() {
+                    reconnect();
+                }
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
     @Override public void close() {
+        this.closed = true;
         logger.info("closing twitter stream river");
         if (stream != null) {
             stream.cleanUp();
@@ -362,10 +424,16 @@ public class TwitterRiver extends AbstractRiverComponent implements River {
         }
 
         @Override public void onTrackLimitationNotice(int numberOfLimitedStatuses) {
+            logger.info("received track limitation notice, number_of_limited_statuses {}", numberOfLimitedStatuses);
         }
 
         @Override public void onException(Exception ex) {
-            logger.warn("stream failure", ex);
+            logger.warn("stream failure, restarting stream...", ex);
+            threadPool.cached().execute(new Runnable() {
+                @Override public void run() {
+                    reconnect();
+                }
+            });
         }
 
         private void processBulkIfNeeded() {