diff --git a/gerritlib/gerrit.py b/gerritlib/gerrit.py
index a518bfb..0089bc9 100644
--- a/gerritlib/gerrit.py
+++ b/gerritlib/gerrit.py
@@ -199,10 +199,16 @@ class GerritWatcher(threading.Thread):
 class Gerrit(object):
     log = logging.getLogger("gerrit.Gerrit")
 
-    def __init__(self, hostname, username, port=29418, keyfile=None,
-                 keep_alive_interval=0):
-        self.connection = GerritConnection(username, hostname, port, keyfile,
-                                           keep_alive=keep_alive_interval)
+    def __init__(
+            self, hostname, username, port=29418, keyfile=None,
+            keep_alive_interval=0,
+            connection_attempts=-1,
+            retry_delay=5):
+        self.connection = GerritConnection(
+            username, hostname, port, keyfile,
+            keep_alive=keep_alive_interval,
+            connection_attempts=connection_attempts,
+            retry_delay=retry_delay)
         self.client = None
         self.watcher_thread = None
         self.event_queue = None