diff --git a/atf.inc.php b/atf.inc.php
index 73f1011..e067cf2 100644
--- a/atf.inc.php
+++ b/atf.inc.php
@@ -114,17 +114,17 @@ function _try_lz4_replay(string $txt)
   return "4:" . base64_encode(lz4_compress(base64_decode($txt)));
 }
 
-function log($msg)
+function log(string $msg)
 {
   echo date("Y-m-d H:i:s") . " " . $msg . "\n";
 }
 
-function err($msg)
+function err(string $msg)
 {
   taskman\stderr(date("Y-m-d H:i:s") . " " . $msg . "\n");
 }
 
-function _retry($max_tries, $func)
+function _retry(int $max_tries, callable $func, int $sleep = 1)
 {
   for($i=0;$i<$max_tries;++$i)
   {
@@ -133,12 +133,12 @@ function _retry($max_tries, $func)
       $func();
       return;
     }
-    catch(Exception $e)
+    catch(\Throwable $e)
     {
       if(($i+1) == $max_tries)
         throw $e;
     }
-    sleep(1);
+    sleep($sleep);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/plan.inc.php b/plan.inc.php
index 626f84a..091fe18 100644
--- a/plan.inc.php
+++ b/plan.inc.php
@@ -254,7 +254,9 @@ class Plan
         try
         {
           //let's not exit the testing just because we couldn't update IM thread for some reason
-          $this->_updateMessengerThread(false);
+          _retry(3, function() {
+            $this->_updateMessengerThread(false);
+          });
         }
         catch(\Throwable $e) 
         {
@@ -296,7 +298,10 @@ class Plan
         }
       }
 
-      $this->_updateMessengerThread(true);
+      _retry(3, function() {
+          $this->_updateMessengerThread(true);
+        }
+      );
     });
   }