diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinition.java b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinition.java
index 5d63f0cc6..6ca5727fa 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinition.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinition.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import hudson.AbortException;
 import hudson.Extension;
 import hudson.FilePath;
+import hudson.Functions;
 import hudson.model.Action;
 import hudson.model.Computer;
 import hudson.model.Item;
@@ -34,12 +35,14 @@
 import hudson.model.Node;
 import hudson.model.Queue;
 import hudson.model.Run;
+import hudson.model.Run.RunnerAbortedException;
 import hudson.model.TaskListener;
 import hudson.model.TopLevelItem;
 import hudson.scm.SCM;
 import hudson.scm.SCMDescriptor;
 import hudson.slaves.WorkspaceList;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InterruptedIOException;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 import jenkins.model.Jenkins;
@@ -125,7 +128,7 @@ public boolean isLightweight() {
             dir = new FilePath(owner.getRootDir());
         }
         listener.getLogger().println("Checking out " + scm.getKey() + " into " + dir + " to read " + scriptPath);
-        String script;
+        String script = null;
         Computer computer = node.toComputer();
         if (computer == null) {
             throw new IOException(node.getDisplayName() + " may be offline");
@@ -135,7 +138,30 @@ public boolean isLightweight() {
         delegate.setChangelog(true);
         FilePath acquiredDir;
         try (WorkspaceList.Lease lease = computer.getWorkspaceList().acquire(dir)) {
-            delegate.checkout(build, dir, listener, node.createLauncher(listener));
+            for (int retryCount = Jenkins.getInstance().getScmCheckoutRetryCount(); retryCount >= 0; retryCount--) {
+                try {
+                    delegate.checkout(build, dir, listener, node.createLauncher(listener));
+                    break;
+                } catch (AbortException e) {
+                    // abort exception might have a null message.
+                    // If so, just skip echoing it.
+                    if (e.getMessage() != null) {
+                        listener.error(e.getMessage());
+                    }
+                } catch (InterruptedIOException e) {
+                    throw e;
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    // checkout error not yet reported
+                    listener.error("Checkout failed").println(Functions.printThrowable(e).trim()); // TODO 2.43+ use Functions.printStackTrace
+                }
+
+                if (retryCount == 0)   // all attempts failed
+                    throw new AbortException("Maximum checkout retry attempts reached, aborting");
+
+                listener.getLogger().println("Retrying after 10 seconds");
+                Thread.sleep(10000);
+            }
+            
             FilePath scriptFile = dir.child(scriptPath);
             if (!scriptFile.absolutize().getRemote().replace('\\', '/').startsWith(dir.absolutize().getRemote().replace('\\', '/') + '/')) { // TODO JENKINS-26838
                 throw new IOException(scriptFile + " is not inside " + dir);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest.java b/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest.java
index c71559a3c..0c44e4bdb 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 import hudson.model.ParametersAction;
 import hudson.model.ParametersDefinitionProperty;
+import hudson.model.Result;
 import hudson.model.StringParameterDefinition;
 import hudson.model.StringParameterValue;
 import hudson.plugins.git.BranchSpec;
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
     @ClassRule public static BuildWatcher buildWatcher = new BuildWatcher();
     @Rule public JenkinsRule r = new JenkinsRule();
     @Rule public GitSampleRepoRule sampleRepo = new GitSampleRepoRule();
+    @Rule public GitSampleRepoRule invalidRepo = new GitSampleRepoRule();
 
     @Test public void configRoundtrip() throws Exception {
         sampleRepo.init();
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
         // TODO currently the log text is in Run.log, but not on FlowStartNode/LogAction, so not visible from Workflow Steps etc.
         r.assertLogContains("hello from SCM", b);
         r.assertLogContains("Staging flow.groovy", b);
+        r.assertLogNotContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
         FlowGraphWalker w = new FlowGraphWalker(b.getExecution());
         int workspaces = 0;
         for (FlowNode n : w) {
@@ -105,6 +108,7 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
         WorkflowRun b = r.assertBuildStatusSuccess(p.scheduleBuild2(0));
         r.assertLogContains("Cloning the remote Git repository", b);
         r.assertLogContains("version one", b);
+        r.assertLogNotContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
         sampleRepo.write("flow.groovy", "echo 'version two'");
         sampleRepo.git("add", "flow.groovy");
         sampleRepo.git("commit", "--message=next");
@@ -113,6 +117,7 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
         assertEquals(2, b.number);
         r.assertLogContains("Fetching changes from the remote Git repository", b);
         r.assertLogContains("version two", b);
+        r.assertLogNotContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
         List<ChangeLogSet<? extends ChangeLogSet.Entry>> changeSets = b.getChangeSets();
         assertEquals(1, changeSets.size());
         ChangeLogSet<? extends ChangeLogSet.Entry> changeSet = changeSets.get(0);
@@ -138,6 +143,7 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
         WorkflowRun b = r.assertBuildStatusSuccess(p.scheduleBuild2(0));
         r.assertLogContains("Cloning the remote Git repository", b);
         r.assertLogContains("version one", b);
+        r.assertLogNotContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
         b = r.assertBuildStatusSuccess(p.scheduleBuild2(0));
         assertEquals(2, b.number);
         List<ChangeLogSet<? extends ChangeLogSet.Entry>> changeSets = b.getChangeSets();
@@ -157,9 +163,24 @@ public class CpsScmFlowDefinitionTest {
         p.setDefinition(def);
         WorkflowRun b = r.assertBuildStatusSuccess(p.scheduleBuild2(0));
         r.assertLogNotContains("Cloning the remote Git repository", b);
+        r.assertLogNotContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
         r.assertLogContains("Obtained flow.groovy from git " + sampleRepo, b);
         r.assertLogContains("version one", b);
     }
+    
+    @Issue("JENKINS-39194")
+    @Test public void retry() throws Exception {
+        // We use an un-initialized repo here to test retry
+        WorkflowJob p = r.jenkins.createProject(WorkflowJob.class, "p");
+        GitStep step = new GitStep(invalidRepo.toString());
+        CpsScmFlowDefinition def = new CpsScmFlowDefinition(step.createSCM(), "flow.groovy");
+        def.setLightweight(false);
+        p.setDefinition(def);
+        r.jenkins.setScmCheckoutRetryCount(1);
+        WorkflowRun b = r.assertBuildStatus(Result.FAILURE, p.scheduleBuild2(0));
+        r.assertLogContains("Could not read from remote repository", b);
+        r.assertLogContains("Retrying after 10 seconds", b);
+    }
 
     @Issue("JENKINS-28447")
     @Test public void usingParameter() throws Exception {