diff --git a/celery/backends/redis.py b/celery/backends/redis.py
index 660af701ac..1b9db7433f 100644
--- a/celery/backends/redis.py
+++ b/celery/backends/redis.py
@@ -328,6 +328,15 @@ def _params_from_url(self, url, defaults):
         connparams.update(query)
         return connparams
 
+    @cached_property
+    def retry_policy(self):
+        retry_policy = super().retry_policy
+        if "retry_policy" in self._transport_options:
+            retry_policy = retry_policy.copy()
+            retry_policy.update(self._transport_options['retry_policy'])
+
+        return retry_policy
+
     def on_task_call(self, producer, task_id):
         if not task_join_will_block():
             self.result_consumer.consume_from(task_id)
@@ -401,10 +410,11 @@ def apply_chord(self, header_result, body, **kwargs):
 
     @cached_property
     def _chord_zset(self):
-        transport_options = self.app.conf.get(
-            'result_backend_transport_options', {}
-        )
-        return transport_options.get('result_chord_ordered', True)
+        return self._transport_options.get('result_chord_ordered', True)
+
+    @cached_property
+    def _transport_options(self):
+        return self.app.conf.get('result_backend_transport_options', {})
 
     def on_chord_part_return(self, request, state, result,
                              propagate=None, **kwargs):
@@ -530,12 +540,8 @@ def _get_sentinel_instance(self, **params):
         connparams = params.copy()
 
         hosts = connparams.pop("hosts")
-        result_backend_transport_opts = self.app.conf.get(
-            "result_backend_transport_options", {})
-        min_other_sentinels = result_backend_transport_opts.get(
-            "min_other_sentinels", 0)
-        sentinel_kwargs = result_backend_transport_opts.get(
-            "sentinel_kwargs", {})
+        min_other_sentinels = self._transport_options.get("min_other_sentinels", 0)
+        sentinel_kwargs = self._transport_options.get("sentinel_kwargs", {})
 
         sentinel_instance = self.sentinel.Sentinel(
             [(cp['host'], cp['port']) for cp in hosts],
@@ -548,9 +554,7 @@ def _get_sentinel_instance(self, **params):
     def _get_pool(self, **params):
         sentinel_instance = self._get_sentinel_instance(**params)
 
-        result_backend_transport_opts = self.app.conf.get(
-            "result_backend_transport_options", {})
-        master_name = result_backend_transport_opts.get("master_name", None)
+        master_name = self._transport_options.get("master_name", None)
 
         return sentinel_instance.master_for(
             service_name=master_name,
diff --git a/docs/getting-started/brokers/redis.rst b/docs/getting-started/brokers/redis.rst
index 9dde8c9086..52a9b6944b 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started/brokers/redis.rst
+++ b/docs/getting-started/brokers/redis.rst
@@ -94,6 +94,21 @@ If you are using Sentinel, you should specify the master_name using the :setting
 
     app.conf.result_backend_transport_options = {'master_name': "mymaster"}
 
+Connection timeouts
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+To configure the connection timeouts for the Redis result backend, use the ``retry_policy`` key under :setting:`result_backend_transport_options`:
+
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    app.conf.result_backend_transport_options = {
+        'retry_policy': {
+           'timeout': 5.0
+        }
+    }
+
+See :func:`~kombu.utils.functional.retry_over_time` for the possible retry policy options.
 
 .. _redis-caveats:
 
diff --git a/t/unit/backends/test_redis.py b/t/unit/backends/test_redis.py
index 1415978cbf..7c3e3e7d90 100644
--- a/t/unit/backends/test_redis.py
+++ b/t/unit/backends/test_redis.py
@@ -523,6 +523,29 @@ def test_on_connection_error(self, logger):
         assert self.b.on_connection_error(10, exc, intervals, 3) == 30
         logger.error.assert_called_with(self.E_LOST, 3, 10, 'in 30.00 seconds')
 
+    @patch('celery.backends.redis.retry_over_time')
+    def test_retry_policy_conf(self, retry_over_time):
+        self.app.conf.result_backend_transport_options = dict(
+            retry_policy=dict(
+                max_retries=2,
+                interval_start=0,
+                interval_step=0.01,
+            ),
+        )
+        b = self.Backend(app=self.app)
+
+        def fn():
+            return 1
+
+        # We don't want to re-test retry_over_time, just check we called it
+        # with the expected args
+        b.ensure(fn, (),)
+
+        retry_over_time.assert_called_with(
+            fn, b.connection_errors, (), {}, ANY,
+            max_retries=2, interval_start=0, interval_step=0.01, interval_max=1
+        )
+
     def test_incr(self):
         self.b.client = Mock(name='client')
         self.b.incr('foo')