diff --git a/history.md b/history.md
index 686bf9a..7f745ef 100644
--- a/history.md
+++ b/history.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # v2.2.8 - 2020/04/03
 
 * Added support for socket options for player-service socket.
+* Use retry/exponential backoff mechanisms for rawStream requests.
 
 # v2.2.7 - 2020/02/19
 
diff --git a/lib/request.js b/lib/request.js
index e51b1bf..622de90 100644
--- a/lib/request.js
+++ b/lib/request.js
@@ -144,10 +144,10 @@ module.exports = (function (self) {
 		}
 
 		if (options.totalTimeout) {
-			const timeElapsed = (new Date()) - startTime;
+			const timeElapsed = new Date() - startTime;
 			return timeElapsed < options.totalTimeout;
 		}
-		
+
 		return true;
 	}
 
@@ -297,6 +297,19 @@ module.exports = (function (self) {
 										HTTP_REDIRECT_NEW_CODE_TEMP
 									].some((code) => (code === context.statusCode));
 
+								const retry = context.statusCode >= HTTP_ERROR_CODE_RETRY_THRESHHOLD
+									&& isRetry(options, startTime, tryCount);
+
+								// handle retry if error code is above threshhold
+								if (retry) {
+									return delay(retryWait)
+										.then(() => {
+											tryCount++;
+											retryWait *= EXPONENT;
+										})
+										.then(makeRequest);
+								}
+
 								// provide response event (as there are response headers)
 								if (_this.emit) {
 									_this.emit(EVENT_RESPONSE, context);
@@ -372,18 +385,6 @@ module.exports = (function (self) {
 
 								res.once('end', () => {
 									let body = chunks.join('');
-									const retry = context.statusCode >= HTTP_ERROR_CODE_RETRY_THRESHHOLD &&
-										isRetry(options, startTime, tryCount);
-
-									// handle retry if error code is above threshhold
-									if (retry) {
-										tryCount += 1;
-										return delay(retryWait)
-											.then(makeRequest)
-											.then(() => {
-												retryWait *= EXPONENT;
-											});
-									}
 
 									// attempt to parse the body
 									if (typeof body === 'string' && body.length) {
@@ -421,12 +422,12 @@ module.exports = (function (self) {
 						req.on('error', (err) => {
 							// retry if below retry count threshhold
 							if (isRetry(options, startTime, tryCount)) {
-								tryCount += 1;
 								return delay(retryWait)
-									.then(makeRequest)
 									.then(() => {
+										tryCount++;
 										retryWait *= EXPONENT;
-									});
+									})
+									.then(makeRequest);
 							}
 
 							return reject(err)
diff --git a/test/lib/request.js b/test/lib/request.js
index 02955aa..c39bf5e 100644
--- a/test/lib/request.js
+++ b/test/lib/request.js
@@ -508,12 +508,16 @@ describe('request', () => {
 					// capture request and response info
 					req.on('request', (info) => (requestInfo = info));
 
+				beforeEach(() => {
+					delete options.rawStream;
+				});
+
 				afterEach(function() {
 					nock.cleanAll();
 					requestInfo = undefined;
 				});
-				it('should properly retry on 500s and based on exponential backoff', function(done) {
 
+				it('should properly retry on 500s and based on exponential backoff', function(done) {
 					// intercept outbound request
 					let responseBody = { message : 'overload', statusCode : 503 };
 
@@ -537,6 +541,31 @@ describe('request', () => {
 							return done();
 						});
 				});
+
+				it('should properly retry on 500s and based on exponential backoff for rawStream requests', function (done) {
+					options.rawStream = true;
+
+					// intercept outbound request
+					let responseBody = { message : 'overload', statusCode : 503 };
+
+					// fail twice
+					nock(`https://${options.host}`)[method]('/v0/tests/retry')
+						.times(2)
+						.reply(responseBody.statusCode, responseBody);
+
+					// succeed on 3rd retry
+					nock(`https://${options.host}`)[method]('/v0/tests/retry')
+						.times(1)
+						.reply(200);
+
+					return req[method](
+						{ path : '/v0/tests/retry' },
+						function (err, response) {
+							should.not.exist(err);
+
+							return done();
+						});
+				});
 			});
 		});
 	});