diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfig.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfig.java
index 41bf6c6fee5..d3207499512 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfig.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfig.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import java.util.EnumMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.Random;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /**
@@ -352,12 +353,13 @@ public class DatafeedConfig extends AbstractDiffable<DatafeedConfig> implements
     public static class Builder {
 
         private static final int DEFAULT_SCROLL_SIZE = 1000;
-        private static final TimeValue DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY = TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(1);
+        private static final TimeValue MIN_DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY = TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(1);
+        private static final TimeValue MAX_DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY = TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(2);
         private static final int DEFAULT_AGGREGATION_CHUNKING_BUCKETS = 1000;
 
         private String id;
         private String jobId;
-        private TimeValue queryDelay = DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY;
+        private TimeValue queryDelay;
         private TimeValue frequency;
         private List<String> indices = Collections.emptyList();
         private List<String> types = Collections.emptyList();
@@ -460,6 +462,7 @@ public class DatafeedConfig extends AbstractDiffable<DatafeedConfig> implements
             }
             validateAggregations();
             setDefaultChunkingConfig();
+            setDefaultQueryDelay();
             return new DatafeedConfig(id, jobId, queryDelay, frequency, indices, types, query, aggregations, scriptFields, scrollSize,
                     chunkingConfig);
         }
@@ -530,6 +533,15 @@ public class DatafeedConfig extends AbstractDiffable<DatafeedConfig> implements
             }
         }
 
+        private void setDefaultQueryDelay() {
+            if (queryDelay == null) {
+                Random random = new Random(jobId.hashCode());
+                long delayMillis = random.longs(MIN_DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY.millis(), MAX_DEFAULT_QUERY_DELAY.millis())
+                        .findFirst().getAsLong();
+                queryDelay = TimeValue.timeValueMillis(delayMillis);
+            }
+        }
+
         private static ElasticsearchException invalidOptionValue(String fieldName, Object value) {
             String msg = Messages.getMessage(Messages.DATAFEED_CONFIG_INVALID_OPTION_VALUE, fieldName, value);
             throw ExceptionsHelper.badRequestException(msg);
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfigTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfigTests.java
index d0bdb4c8404..57be39f7612 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfigTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/datafeed/DatafeedConfigTests.java
@@ -33,18 +33,23 @@ import org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder.ScriptField;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.AbstractSerializingTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.datafeed.ChunkingConfig.Mode;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.job.config.JobTests;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.job.messages.Messages;
 import org.joda.time.DateTimeZone;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.TimeZone;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.greaterThanOrEqualTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.lessThan;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 
 public class DatafeedConfigTests extends AbstractSerializingTestCase<DatafeedConfig> {
 
@@ -162,15 +167,36 @@ public class DatafeedConfigTests extends AbstractSerializingTestCase<DatafeedCon
         }
     }
 
-    public void testFillDefaults() {
+    public void testDefaults() {
         DatafeedConfig.Builder expectedDatafeedConfig = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed1", "job1");
         expectedDatafeedConfig.setIndices(Collections.singletonList("index"));
         expectedDatafeedConfig.setQueryDelay(TimeValue.timeValueMinutes(1));
         expectedDatafeedConfig.setScrollSize(1000);
-        DatafeedConfig.Builder defaultedDatafeedConfig = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed1", "job1");
-        defaultedDatafeedConfig.setIndices(Collections.singletonList("index"));
+        DatafeedConfig.Builder defaultFeedBuilder = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed1", "job1");
+        defaultFeedBuilder.setIndices(Collections.singletonList("index"));
+        DatafeedConfig defaultFeed = defaultFeedBuilder.build();
 
-        assertEquals(expectedDatafeedConfig.build(), defaultedDatafeedConfig.build());
+
+        assertThat(defaultFeed.getScrollSize(), equalTo(1000));
+        assertThat(defaultFeed.getQueryDelay().seconds(), greaterThanOrEqualTo(60L));
+        assertThat(defaultFeed.getQueryDelay().seconds(), lessThan(120L));
+    }
+
+    public void testDefaultQueryDelay() {
+        DatafeedConfig.Builder feedBuilder1 = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed1", "job1");
+        feedBuilder1.setIndices(Arrays.asList("foo"));
+        DatafeedConfig.Builder feedBuilder2 = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed2", "job1");
+        feedBuilder2.setIndices(Arrays.asList("foo"));
+        DatafeedConfig.Builder feedBuilder3 = new DatafeedConfig.Builder("datafeed3", "job2");
+        feedBuilder3.setIndices(Arrays.asList("foo"));
+        DatafeedConfig feed1 = feedBuilder1.build();
+        DatafeedConfig feed2 = feedBuilder2.build();
+        DatafeedConfig feed3 = feedBuilder3.build();
+
+        // Two datafeeds with the same job id should have the same random query delay
+        assertThat(feed1.getQueryDelay(), equalTo(feed2.getQueryDelay()));
+        // But the query delay of a datafeed with a different job id should differ too
+        assertThat(feed1.getQueryDelay(), not(equalTo(feed3.getQueryDelay())));
     }
 
     public void testCheckValid_GivenNullIndices() throws IOException {