diff --git a/agent.go b/agent.go
index aa146ca3d..d13c171f8 100644
--- a/agent.go
+++ b/agent.go
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ type Agent struct {
 	// Interval at which to flush data
 	FlushInterval Duration
 
+	// FlushRetries is the number of times to retry each data flush
+	FlushRetries int
+
 	// TODO(cam): Remove UTC and Precision parameters, they are no longer
 	// valid for the agent config. Leaving them here for now for backwards-
 	// compatability
@@ -61,6 +64,7 @@ func NewAgent(config *Config) (*Agent, error) {
 		Config:        config,
 		Interval:      Duration{10 * time.Second},
 		FlushInterval: Duration{10 * time.Second},
+		FlushRetries:  2,
 		UTC:           true,
 		Precision:     "s",
 	}
@@ -293,28 +297,56 @@ func (a *Agent) Test() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (a *Agent) flush(points []*client.Point) {
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-
+// writeOutput writes a list of points to a single output, with retries
+func (a *Agent) writeOutput(
+	points []*client.Point,
+	ro *runningOutput,
+	shutdown chan struct{},
+) {
+	retry := 0
+	retries := a.FlushRetries
 	start := time.Now()
-	counter := 0
-	for _, o := range a.outputs {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		counter++
 
-		go func(ro *runningOutput) {
-			defer wg.Done()
-			// Log all output errors:
-			if err := ro.output.Write(points); err != nil {
-				log.Printf("Error in output [%s]: %s", ro.name, err.Error())
+	for {
+		err := ro.output.Write(points)
+
+		select {
+		case <-shutdown:
+			return
+		default:
+			if err == nil {
+				// Write successful
+				elapsed := time.Since(start)
+				log.Printf("Flushed %d metrics to output %s in %s\n",
+					len(points), ro.name, elapsed)
+				return
+			} else if retry >= retries {
+				// No more retries
+				msg := "FATAL: Write to output [%s] failed %d times, dropping" +
+					" %d metrics\n"
+				log.Printf(msg, ro.name, retries+1, len(points))
+				return
+			} else if err != nil {
+				// Sleep for a retry
+				log.Printf("Error in output [%s]: %s, retrying in %s",
+					ro.name, err.Error(), a.FlushInterval.Duration)
+				time.Sleep(a.FlushInterval.Duration)
 			}
-		}(o)
+		}
+
+		retry++
+	}
+}
+
+// flush writes a list of points to all configured outputs
+func (a *Agent) flush(points []*client.Point, shutdown chan struct{}) {
+	if len(points) == 0 {
+		return
 	}
 
-	wg.Wait()
-	elapsed := time.Since(start)
-	log.Printf("Flushed %d metrics to %d output sinks in %s\n",
-		len(points), counter, elapsed)
+	for _, o := range a.outputs {
+		go a.writeOutput(points, o, shutdown)
+	}
 }
 
 // flusher monitors the points input channel and flushes on the minimum interval
@@ -327,9 +359,11 @@ func (a *Agent) flusher(shutdown chan struct{}, pointChan chan *client.Point) er
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-shutdown:
+			log.Println("Hang on, flushing any cached points before shutdown")
+			a.flush(points, shutdown)
 			return nil
 		case <-ticker.C:
-			a.flush(points)
+			a.flush(points, shutdown)
 			points = make([]*client.Point, 0)
 		case pt := <-pointChan:
 			points = append(points, pt)
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 13f62ce55..ac0fba425 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -357,6 +357,8 @@ var header = `# Telegraf configuration
   interval = "10s"
   # Default data flushing interval for all outputs
   flush_interval = "10s"
+  # Number of times to retry each data flush
+  flush_retries = 2
   # run telegraf in debug mode
   debug = false
   # Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
diff --git a/etc/config.sample.toml b/etc/config.sample.toml
index c66ea50f4..160d56630 100644
--- a/etc/config.sample.toml
+++ b/etc/config.sample.toml
@@ -27,17 +27,12 @@
 [agent]
   # Default data collection interval for all plugins
   interval = "10s"
-
-  # If utc = false, uses local time (utc is highly recommended)
-  utc = true
-
-  # Precision of writes, valid values are n, u, ms, s, m, and h
-  # note: using second precision greatly helps InfluxDB compression
-  precision = "s"
-
+  # Default data flushing interval for all outputs
+  flush_interval = "10s"
+  # Number of times to retry each data flush
+  flush_retries = 2
   # run telegraf in debug mode
   debug = false
-
   # Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
   hostname = ""
 
@@ -54,15 +49,16 @@
   # Multiple urls can be specified for InfluxDB cluster support. Server to
   # write to will be randomly chosen each interval.
   urls = ["http://localhost:8086"] # required.
-
   # The target database for metrics. This database must already exist
   database = "telegraf" # required.
+  # Precision of writes, valid values are n, u, ms, s, m, and h
+  # note: using second precision greatly helps InfluxDB compression
+  precision = "s"
 
   # Connection timeout (for the connection with InfluxDB), formatted as a string.
   # Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h".
   # If not provided, will default to 0 (no timeout)
   # timeout = "5s"
-
   # username = "telegraf"
   # password = "metricsmetricsmetricsmetrics"