diff --git a/lib/httpx/resolver.rb b/lib/httpx/resolver.rb
index f1fef215..9a7b11c3 100644
--- a/lib/httpx/resolver.rb
+++ b/lib/httpx/resolver.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ require "ipaddr"
 
 module HTTPX
   module Resolver
-    RESOLVE_TIMEOUT = 5
+    RESOLVE_TIMEOUT = [2, 3].freeze
 
     require "httpx/resolver/resolver"
     require "httpx/resolver/system"
diff --git a/lib/httpx/resolver/system.rb b/lib/httpx/resolver/system.rb
index 4611624b..6707b50e 100644
--- a/lib/httpx/resolver/system.rb
+++ b/lib/httpx/resolver/system.rb
@@ -164,7 +164,8 @@ module HTTPX
     def async_resolve(connection, hostname, scheme)
       families = connection.options.ip_families
       log { "resolver: query for #{hostname}" }
-      resolve_timeout = @timeouts[connection.origin.host].first
+      timeouts = @timeouts[connection.origin.host]
+      resolve_timeout = timeouts.first
 
       Thread.start do
         Thread.current.report_on_exception = false
@@ -191,6 +192,8 @@ module HTTPX
           end
         rescue StandardError => e
           if e.is_a?(Timeout::Error)
+            timeouts.shift
+            retry unless timeouts.empty?
             e = ResolveTimeoutError.new(resolve_timeout, e.message)
             e.set_backtrace(e.backtrace)
           end
diff --git a/sig/resolver.rbs b/sig/resolver.rbs
index e353399c..7193184e 100644
--- a/sig/resolver.rbs
+++ b/sig/resolver.rbs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module HTTPX
   type ipaddr = IPAddr | String
 
   module Resolver
-    RESOLVE_TIMEOUT: Integer
+    RESOLVE_TIMEOUT: Array[Integer]
 
     @lookup_mutex: Thread::Mutex
 
diff --git a/test/support/requests/resolvers.rb b/test/support/requests/resolvers.rb
index 2dca272a..d74b2a80 100644
--- a/test/support/requests/resolvers.rb
+++ b/test/support/requests/resolvers.rb
@@ -123,29 +123,22 @@ module Requests
           end
         end
 
-        # this test mocks an unresponsive DNS server which doesn't return a DNS asnwer back.
         define_method :"test_resolver_#{resolver_type}_timeout" do
-          session = HTTPX.plugin(SessionWithPool)
-          uri = URI(build_uri("/get"))
-          # absolute URL, just to shorten the impact of resolv.conf search.
-          uri.host = "#{uri.host}."
+          start_test_servlet(SlowDNSServer, 12) do |slow_dns_server|
+            resolver_opts = options.merge(nameserver: [slow_dns_server.nameserver], timeouts: [1, 2])
 
-          resolver_class = Class.new(HTTPX::Resolver::Native) do
-            def interests
-              super
-              :w
+            HTTPX.plugin(SessionWithPool).wrap do |session|
+              uri = build_uri("/get")
+
+              before_time = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC, :second)
+              response = session.get(uri, resolver_class: resolver_type, resolver_options: resolver_opts)
+              after_time = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC, :second)
+              total_time = after_time - before_time
+
+              verify_error_response(response, HTTPX::ResolveTimeoutError)
+              assert_in_delta 2 + 1, total_time, 12, "request didn't take as expected to retry dns queries (#{total_time} secs)"
             end
-
-            def dwrite; end
           end
-
-          before_time = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC, :second)
-          response = session.head(uri, resolver_class: resolver_class, resolver_options: options.merge(timeouts: [1, 2]))
-          after_time = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC, :second)
-          total_time = after_time - before_time
-
-          verify_error_response(response, HTTPX::ResolveTimeoutError)
-          assert_in_delta 2 + 1, total_time, 6, "request didn't take as expected to retry dns queries (#{total_time} secs)"
         end
 
         # this test mocks the case where there's no nameserver set to send the DNS queries to.