diff --git a/systemd/dbus.go b/systemd/dbus.go
index bb87ae8..c492372 100644
--- a/systemd/dbus.go
+++ b/systemd/dbus.go
@@ -4,10 +4,13 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand/v2"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	systemdDbus "github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22/dbus"
 	dbus "github.com/godbus/dbus/v5"
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -64,10 +67,27 @@ func (d *dbusConnManager) getConnection() (*systemdDbus.Conn, error) {
 }
 
 func (d *dbusConnManager) newConnection() (*systemdDbus.Conn, error) {
-	if dbusRootless {
-		return newUserSystemdDbus()
+	newDbusConn := func() (*systemdDbus.Conn, error) {
+		if dbusRootless {
+			return newUserSystemdDbus()
+		}
+		return systemdDbus.NewWithContext(context.TODO())
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	for retry := range 7 {
+		var conn *systemdDbus.Conn
+		conn, err = newDbusConn()
+		if !errors.Is(err, unix.EAGAIN) {
+			return conn, err
+		}
+		// Exponential backoff (100ms * 2^attempt + ~12.5% jitter).
+		// At most we would expect 15 seconds of delay with 7 attempts.
+		delay := 100 * time.Millisecond << retry
+		delay += time.Duration(rand.Int64N(1 + (delay.Milliseconds() >> 3)))
+		time.Sleep(delay)
 	}
-	return systemdDbus.NewWithContext(context.TODO())
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("dbus connection failed after several retries: %w", err)
 }
 
 // resetConnection resets the connection to its initial state
diff --git a/systemd/dbus_test.go b/systemd/dbus_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50bde38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/systemd/dbus_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package systemd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParallelConnection(t *testing.T) {
+	if !IsRunningSystemd() {
+		t.Skip("Test requires systemd.")
+	}
+	var dms []*dbusConnManager
+	for range 600 {
+		dms = append(dms, newDbusConnManager(os.Geteuid() != 0))
+	}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	var (
+		doneWg  sync.WaitGroup
+		startCh = make(chan struct{})
+		errCh   = make(chan error, 1)
+	)
+	for _, dm := range dms {
+		doneWg.Add(1)
+		go func(dm *dbusConnManager) {
+			defer doneWg.Done()
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-startCh:
+				_, err := dm.newConnection()
+				if err != nil {
+					// Only bother trying to send the first error.
+					select {
+					case errCh <- err:
+					default:
+					}
+					cancel()
+				}
+			}
+		}(dm)
+	}
+	close(startCh) // trigger all connection attempts
+	doneWg.Wait()
+
+	select {
+	case err := <-errCh:
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	default:
+	}
+}