diff --git a/src/logger.ts b/src/logger.ts
index 3a098bf1..bdd439e1 100644
--- a/src/logger.ts
+++ b/src/logger.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export const LogId = {
 
     atlasCheckCredentials: mongoLogId(1_001_001),
     atlasDeleteDatabaseUserFailure: mongoLogId(1_001_002),
+    atlasConnectFailure: mongoLogId(1_001_003),
 
     telemetryDisabled: mongoLogId(1_002_001),
     telemetryEmitFailure: mongoLogId(1_002_002),
diff --git a/src/session.ts b/src/session.ts
index 57053688..6f219c41 100644
--- a/src/session.ts
+++ b/src/session.ts
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter<{
             this.emit("disconnect");
             return;
         }
-        try {
-            await this.apiClient.deleteDatabaseUser({
+        void this.apiClient
+            .deleteDatabaseUser({
                 params: {
                     path: {
                         groupId: this.connectedAtlasCluster.projectId,
@@ -78,16 +78,15 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter<{
                         databaseName: "admin",
                     },
                 },
+            })
+            .catch((err: unknown) => {
+                const error = err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err));
+                logger.error(
+                    LogId.atlasDeleteDatabaseUserFailure,
+                    "atlas-connect-cluster",
+                    `Error deleting previous database user: ${error.message}`
+                );
             });
-        } catch (err: unknown) {
-            const error = err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err));
-
-            logger.error(
-                LogId.atlasDeleteDatabaseUserFailure,
-                "atlas-connect-cluster",
-                `Error deleting previous database user: ${error.message}`
-            );
-        }
         this.connectedAtlasCluster = undefined;
 
         this.emit("disconnect");
diff --git a/src/tools/atlas/metadata/connectCluster.ts b/src/tools/atlas/metadata/connectCluster.ts
index 523226ba..1bed7179 100644
--- a/src/tools/atlas/metadata/connectCluster.ts
+++ b/src/tools/atlas/metadata/connectCluster.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { AtlasToolBase } from "../atlasTool.js";
 import { ToolArgs, OperationType } from "../../tool.js";
 import { randomBytes } from "crypto";
 import { promisify } from "util";
+import logger, { LogId } from "../../../logger.js";
 
 const EXPIRY_MS = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 12; // 12 hours
 
@@ -15,6 +16,10 @@ async function generateSecurePassword(): Promise<string> {
     return pass;
 }
 
+function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+    return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
 export class ConnectClusterTool extends AtlasToolBase {
     protected name = "atlas-connect-cluster";
     protected description = "Connect to MongoDB Atlas cluster";
@@ -100,7 +105,31 @@ export class ConnectClusterTool extends AtlasToolBase {
         cn.searchParams.set("authSource", "admin");
         const connectionString = cn.toString();
 
-        await this.session.connectToMongoDB(connectionString, this.config.connectOptions);
+        let lastError: Error | undefined = undefined;
+
+        for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
+            try {
+                await this.session.connectToMongoDB(connectionString, this.config.connectOptions);
+                lastError = undefined;
+                break;
+            } catch (err: unknown) {
+                const error = err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err));
+
+                lastError = error;
+
+                logger.debug(
+                    LogId.atlasConnectFailure,
+                    "atlas-connect-cluster",
+                    `error connecting to cluster: ${error.message}`
+                );
+
+                await sleep(500); // wait for 500ms before retrying
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (lastError) {
+            throw lastError;
+        }
 
         return {
             content: [
diff --git a/src/tools/tool.ts b/src/tools/tool.ts
index b6b00eda..5e4fc1a3 100644
--- a/src/tools/tool.ts
+++ b/src/tools/tool.ts
@@ -126,9 +126,9 @@ export abstract class ToolBase {
                 {
                     type: "text",
                     text: `Error running ${this.name}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
-                    isError: true,
                 },
             ],
+            isError: true,
         };
     }