diff --git a/libavformat/http.c b/libavformat/http.c
index 6927fea2fb..06bd3e340e 100644
--- a/libavformat/http.c
+++ b/libavformat/http.c
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ typedef struct HTTPContext {
     uint64_t filesize_from_content_range;
     int respect_retry_after;
     unsigned int retry_after;
+    int reconnect_max_retries;
 } HTTPContext;
 
 #define OFFSET(x) offsetof(HTTPContext, x)
@@ -178,6 +179,7 @@ static const AVOption options[] = {
     { "reconnect_on_http_error", "list of http status codes to reconnect on", OFFSET(reconnect_on_http_error), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = NULL }, 0, 0, D },
     { "reconnect_streamed", "auto reconnect streamed / non seekable streams", OFFSET(reconnect_streamed), AV_OPT_TYPE_BOOL, { .i64 = 0 }, 0, 1, D },
     { "reconnect_delay_max", "max reconnect delay in seconds after which to give up", OFFSET(reconnect_delay_max), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = 120 }, 0, UINT_MAX/1000/1000, D },
+    { "reconnect_max_retries", "the max number of times to retry a connection", OFFSET(reconnect_max_retries), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = -1 }, -1, INT_MAX, D },
     { "respect_retry_after", "respect the Retry-After header when retrying connections", OFFSET(respect_retry_after), AV_OPT_TYPE_BOOL, { .i64 = 1 }, 0, 1, D },
     { "listen", "listen on HTTP", OFFSET(listen), AV_OPT_TYPE_INT, { .i64 = 0 }, 0, 2, D | E },
     { "resource", "The resource requested by a client", OFFSET(resource), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, { .str = NULL }, 0, 0, E },
@@ -359,7 +361,7 @@ static int http_open_cnx(URLContext *h, AVDictionary **options)
 {
     HTTPAuthType cur_auth_type, cur_proxy_auth_type;
     HTTPContext *s = h->priv_data;
-    int ret, auth_attempts = 0, redirects = 0;
+    int ret, conn_attempts = 1, auth_attempts = 0, redirects = 0;
     int reconnect_delay = 0;
     uint64_t off;
     char *cached;
@@ -386,7 +388,8 @@ redo:
     ret = http_open_cnx_internal(h, options);
     if (ret < 0) {
         if (!http_should_reconnect(s, ret) ||
-            reconnect_delay > s->reconnect_delay_max)
+            reconnect_delay > s->reconnect_delay_max ||
+            (s->reconnect_max_retries >= 0 && conn_attempts > s->reconnect_max_retries))
             goto fail;
 
         if (s->respect_retry_after && s->retry_after > 0) {
@@ -401,6 +404,7 @@ redo:
         if (ret != AVERROR(ETIMEDOUT))
             goto fail;
         reconnect_delay = 1 + 2 * reconnect_delay;
+        conn_attempts++;
 
         /* restore the offset (http_connect resets it) */
         s->off = off;
@@ -1706,6 +1710,7 @@ static int http_read_stream(URLContext *h, uint8_t *buf, int size)
     int err, read_ret;
     int64_t seek_ret;
     int reconnect_delay = 0;
+    int conn_attempt = 1;
 
     if (!s->hd)
         return AVERROR_EOF;
@@ -1734,7 +1739,7 @@ static int http_read_stream(URLContext *h, uint8_t *buf, int size)
             !(s->reconnect_at_eof && read_ret == AVERROR_EOF))
             break;
 
-        if (reconnect_delay > s->reconnect_delay_max)
+        if (reconnect_delay > s->reconnect_delay_max || (s->reconnect_max_retries >= 0 && conn_attempt > s->reconnect_max_retries))
             return AVERROR(EIO);
 
         av_log(h, AV_LOG_WARNING, "Will reconnect at %"PRIu64" in %d second(s), error=%s.\n", s->off, reconnect_delay, av_err2str(read_ret));
@@ -1742,6 +1747,7 @@ static int http_read_stream(URLContext *h, uint8_t *buf, int size)
         if (err != AVERROR(ETIMEDOUT))
             return err;
         reconnect_delay = 1 + 2*reconnect_delay;
+        conn_attempt++;
         seek_ret = http_seek_internal(h, target, SEEK_SET, 1);
         if (seek_ret >= 0 && seek_ret != target) {
             av_log(h, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to reconnect at %"PRIu64".\n", target);
diff --git a/libavformat/version.h b/libavformat/version.h
index ee91990360..41dbd4ad01 100644
--- a/libavformat/version.h
+++ b/libavformat/version.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 #include "version_major.h"
 
 #define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MINOR   3
-#define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MICRO 101
+#define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MICRO 102
 
 #define LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_INT AV_VERSION_INT(LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR, \
                                                LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MINOR, \
