diff --git a/core/server/scheduling/SchedulingDefault.js b/core/server/scheduling/SchedulingDefault.js
index 60aae38794..cbde4c76f5 100644
--- a/core/server/scheduling/SchedulingDefault.js
+++ b/core/server/scheduling/SchedulingDefault.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ function SchedulingDefault(options) {
     this.runTimeoutInMs = 1000 * 60 * 5;
     this.offsetInMinutes = 10;
     this.beforePingInMs = -50;
+    this.retryTimeoutInMs = 1000 * 5;
 
     this.allJobs = {};
     this.deletedJobs = {};
@@ -158,14 +159,16 @@ SchedulingDefault.prototype._execute = function (jobs) {
 };
 
 /**
- * if we detect to publish a post in the past (case blog is down)
- * we add a force flag
+ * - if we detect to publish a post in the past (case blog is down), we add a force flag
  */
 SchedulingDefault.prototype._pingUrl = function (object) {
     var url = object.url,
         time = object.time,
         httpMethod = object.extra.httpMethod,
-        req = request[httpMethod.toLowerCase()](url);
+        tries = object.tries || 0,
+        maxTries = 30,
+        req = request[httpMethod.toLowerCase()](url),
+        self = this, timeout;
 
     if (moment(time).isBefore(moment())) {
         if (httpMethod === 'GET') {
@@ -184,6 +187,16 @@ SchedulingDefault.prototype._pingUrl = function (object) {
                 return;
             }
 
+            // CASE: blog is in maintenance mode, retry
+            if (response && response.status === 503 && tries < maxTries) {
+                timeout = setTimeout(function pingAgain() {
+                    clearTimeout(timeout);
+
+                    object.tries = tries + 1;
+                    self._pingUrl(object);
+                }, self.retryTimeoutInMs);
+            }
+
             errors.logError(err);
         }
     });
diff --git a/core/test/unit/scheduling/SchedulingDefault_spec.js b/core/test/unit/scheduling/SchedulingDefault_spec.js
index 9546e88011..c99986aeb2 100644
--- a/core/test/unit/scheduling/SchedulingDefault_spec.js
+++ b/core/test/unit/scheduling/SchedulingDefault_spec.js
@@ -282,5 +282,47 @@ describe('Scheduling Default Adapter', function () {
                 setTimeout(retry, 100);
             })();
         });
+
+        it('pingUrl, but blog returns 503', function (done) {
+            var app = express(),
+                server = http.createServer(app),
+                returned500Count = 0,
+                returned200 = false,
+                reqBody;
+
+            scope.adapter.retryTimeoutInMs = 200;
+
+            app.use(bodyParser.json());
+            app.put('/ping', function (req, res) {
+                reqBody = req.body;
+
+                if (returned500Count === 5) {
+                    returned200 = true;
+                    return res.sendStatus(200);
+                }
+
+                returned500Count = returned500Count + 1;
+                res.sendStatus(503);
+            });
+
+            server.listen(1111);
+
+            scope.adapter._pingUrl({
+                url: 'http://localhost:1111/ping',
+                time: moment().valueOf(),
+                extra: {
+                    httpMethod: 'PUT'
+                }
+            });
+
+            (function retry() {
+                if (returned200) {
+                    should.exist(reqBody.force);
+                    return server.close(done);
+                }
+
+                setTimeout(retry, 100);
+            })();
+        });
     });
 });