diff --git a/ovsdbapp/backend/ovs_idl/connection.py b/ovsdbapp/backend/ovs_idl/connection.py
index fe59cf66..d1c3621f 100644
--- a/ovsdbapp/backend/ovs_idl/connection.py
+++ b/ovsdbapp/backend/ovs_idl/connection.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+import logging
 import os
 import threading
 import traceback
@@ -21,12 +22,15 @@ from ovs import poller
 from six.moves import queue as Queue
 
 from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import idlutils
+from ovsdbapp import exceptions
 
 if os.name == 'nt':
     from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl.windows import connection_utils
 else:
     from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl.linux import connection_utils
 
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 class TransactionQueue(Queue.Queue, object):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -85,6 +89,7 @@ class Connection(object):
             self.thread.start()
 
     def run(self):
+        errors = 0
         while self._is_running:
             self.idl.wait(self.poller)
             self.poller.fd_wait(self.txns.alert_fileno, poller.POLLIN)
@@ -92,7 +97,25 @@ class Connection(object):
             #                 is solved.
             self.poller.timer_wait(self.timeout * 1000)
             self.poller.block()
-            self.idl.run()
+            # If we fail on a run() call, we could have missed an update
+            # from the server, leaving us out of sync with ovsdb-server.
+            # It is not safe to continue without restarting the connection,
+            # though it is likely that the error is unrecoverable, so only try
+            # a few times before bailing completely.
+            try:
+                self.idl.run()
+            except Exception as e:
+                # This shouldn't happen, but is possible if there is a bug
+                # in python-ovs
+                errors += 1
+                LOG.exception(e)
+                if errors <= 3:
+                    self.idl.force_reconnect()
+                    idlutils.wait_for_change(self.idl, self.timeout)
+                    continue
+                self._is_running = False
+                break
+            errors = 0
             txn = self.txns.get_nowait()
             if txn is not None:
                 try:
@@ -117,7 +140,11 @@ class Connection(object):
     def queue_txn(self, txn):
         # Even if we aren't started, we can queue a transaction and it will
         # run when we are started
-        self.txns.put(txn)
+        try:
+            self.txns.put(txn, timeout=self.timeout)
+        except Queue.Full:
+            raise exceptions.TimeoutException(commands=txn.commands,
+                                              timeout=self.timeout)
 
 
 class OvsdbIdl(idl.Idl):
diff --git a/ovsdbapp/tests/functional/schema/open_vswitch/test_impl_idl.py b/ovsdbapp/tests/functional/schema/open_vswitch/test_impl_idl.py
index 75d3d1d7..7b9d6107 100644
--- a/ovsdbapp/tests/functional/schema/open_vswitch/test_impl_idl.py
+++ b/ovsdbapp/tests/functional/schema/open_vswitch/test_impl_idl.py
@@ -40,6 +40,21 @@ class TestOvsdbIdl(base.FunctionalTestCase):
         cleanup_cmd = self.api.del_br(self.brname)
         self.addCleanup(cleanup_cmd.execute)
 
+    def test_idl_run_exception_terminates(self):
+        run = self.api.idl.run
+        with mock.patch.object(self.api.idl, "run") as runmock:
+            exceptions = iter([Exception("TestException")])
+
+            def side_effect():
+                try:
+                    raise next(exceptions)
+                except StopIteration:
+                    return run()
+
+            runmock.side_effect = side_effect
+            exists = self.api.br_exists(self.brname).execute(check_error=True)
+            self.assertFalse(exists)
+
     def test_br_exists_false(self):
         exists = self.api.br_exists(self.brname).execute(check_error=True)
         self.assertFalse(exists)
diff --git a/ovsdbapp/tests/unit/backend/ovs_idl/test_connection.py b/ovsdbapp/tests/unit/backend/ovs_idl/test_connection.py
index f02a8e66..987dee79 100644
--- a/ovsdbapp/tests/unit/backend/ovs_idl/test_connection.py
+++ b/ovsdbapp/tests/unit/backend/ovs_idl/test_connection.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ class TestOVSNativeConnection(base.TestCase):
     def test_queue_txn(self):
         self.conn.start()
         self.conn.queue_txn('blah')
-        self.conn.txns.put.assert_called_once_with('blah')
+        self.conn.txns.put.assert_called_once_with('blah',
+                                                   timeout=self.conn.timeout)
 
 
 class TestTransactionQueue(base.TestCase):