diff --git a/tensorboard/BUILD b/tensorboard/BUILD
index df1c16a0f2..16dc32db50 100644
--- a/tensorboard/BUILD
+++ b/tensorboard/BUILD
@@ -302,6 +302,14 @@ py_library(
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
 )
 
+py_library(
+    name = "expect_grpc_installed",
+    # This is a dummy rule used as a grpc dependency in open-source.
+    # We expect grpc to already be installed on the system, e.g. via
+    # `pip install grpcio`
+    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+)
+
 py_library(
     name = "expect_sqlite3_installed",
     # This is a dummy rule used as a sqlite3 dependency in open-source.
diff --git a/tensorboard/util/BUILD b/tensorboard/util/BUILD
index c30c548ecb..32882c37b8 100644
--- a/tensorboard/util/BUILD
+++ b/tensorboard/util/BUILD
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package(default_visibility = ["//tensorboard:internal"])
 
+load("//tensorboard/defs:protos.bzl", "tb_proto_library")
+
 licenses(["notice"])  # Apache 2.0
 
 exports_files(["LICENSE"])  # Needed for internal repo.
@@ -45,6 +47,40 @@ py_test(
     ],
 )
 
+py_library(
+    name = "grpc_util",
+    srcs = ["grpc_util.py"],
+    srcs_version = "PY2AND3",
+    deps = [
+        "//tensorboard:expect_grpc_installed",
+        "//tensorboard/util:tb_logging",
+    ],
+)
+
+py_test(
+    name = "grpc_util_test",
+    size = "small",
+    srcs = ["grpc_util_test.py"],
+    srcs_version = "PY2AND3",
+    deps = [
+        ":grpc_util",
+        ":grpc_util_test_proto_py_pb2",
+        ":grpc_util_test_proto_py_pb2_grpc",
+        ":test_util",
+        "//tensorboard:expect_futures_installed",
+        "//tensorboard:expect_grpc_installed",
+        "//tensorboard:test",
+        "@org_pythonhosted_mock",
+    ],
+)
+
+tb_proto_library(
+    name = "grpc_util_test_proto",
+    has_services = True,
+    srcs = ["grpc_util_test.proto"],
+    testonly = True,
+)
+
 py_library(
     name = "op_evaluator",
     srcs = ["op_evaluator.py"],
diff --git a/tensorboard/util/grpc_util.py b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..caa66a933d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# Copyright 2019 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+# ==============================================================================
+"""Utilities for working with python gRPC stubs."""
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import division
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import random
+import time
+
+import grpc
+
+from tensorboard.util import tb_logging
+
+logger = tb_logging.get_logger()
+
+# Default RPC timeout.
+_GRPC_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECS = 30
+
+# Max number of times to attempt an RPC, retrying on transient failures.
+_GRPC_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5
+
+# Parameters to control the exponential backoff behavior.
+_GRPC_RETRY_EXPONENTIAL_BASE = 2
+_GRPC_RETRY_JITTER_FACTOR_MIN = 1.1
+_GRPC_RETRY_JITTER_FACTOR_MAX = 1.5
+
+# Status codes from gRPC for which it's reasonable to retry the RPC.
+_GRPC_RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES = frozenset([
+    grpc.StatusCode.ABORTED,
+    grpc.StatusCode.DEADLINE_EXCEEDED,
+    grpc.StatusCode.RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED,
+    grpc.StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE,
+])
+
+
+def call_with_retries(api_method, request, clock=None):
+  """Call a gRPC stub API method, with automatic retry logic.
+
+  This only supports unary-unary RPCs: i.e., no streaming on either end.
+  Streamed RPCs will generally need application-level pagination support,
+  because after a gRPC error one must retry the entire request; there is no
+  "retry-resume" functionality.
+
+  Args:
+    api_method: Callable for the API method to invoke.
+    request: Request protocol buffer to pass to the API method.
+    clock: an interface object supporting `time()` and `sleep()` methods
+      like the standard `time` module; if not passed, uses the normal module.
+
+  Returns:
+    Response protocol buffer returned by the API method.
+
+  Raises:
+    grpc.RpcError: if a non-retryable error is returned, or if all retry
+      attempts have been exhausted.
+  """
+  if clock is None:
+    clock = time
+  # We can't actually use api_method.__name__ because it's not a real method,
+  # it's a special gRPC callable instance that doesn't expose the method name.
+  rpc_name = request.__class__.__name__.replace("Request", "")
+  logger.debug("RPC call %s with request: %r", rpc_name, request)
+  num_attempts = 0
+  while True:
+    num_attempts += 1
+    try:
+      return api_method(request, timeout=_GRPC_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECS)
+    except grpc.RpcError as e:
+      logger.info("RPC call %s got error %s", rpc_name, e)
+      if e.code() not in _GRPC_RETRYABLE_STATUS_CODES:
+        raise
+      if num_attempts >= _GRPC_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS:
+        raise
+    jitter_factor = random.uniform(
+        _GRPC_RETRY_JITTER_FACTOR_MIN, _GRPC_RETRY_JITTER_FACTOR_MAX)
+    backoff_secs = (_GRPC_RETRY_EXPONENTIAL_BASE**num_attempts) * jitter_factor
+    logger.info(
+        "RPC call %s attempted %d times, retrying in %.1f seconds",
+        rpc_name, num_attempts, backoff_secs)
+    clock.sleep(backoff_secs)
diff --git a/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.proto b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.proto
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3f4bb5c976
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// Minimal example RPC service definition. See grpc_util_test.py for usage.
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package tensorboard.util;
+
+// Test service for grpc_util_test.py.
+service TestService {
+  // Test RPC.
+  rpc TestRpc(TestRpcRequest) returns (TestRpcResponse);
+}
+
+message TestRpcRequest {
+  int32 nonce = 1;
+}
+
+message TestRpcResponse {
+  int32 nonce = 1;
+}
diff --git a/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.py b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df0f8e4d03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tensorboard/util/grpc_util_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+# Copyright 2019 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+# ==============================================================================
+"""Tests for `tensorboard.util.grpc_util`."""
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import division
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import contextlib
+import threading
+
+from concurrent import futures
+import grpc
+
+from tensorboard.util import grpc_util
+from tensorboard.util import grpc_util_test_pb2
+from tensorboard.util import grpc_util_test_pb2_grpc
+from tensorboard.util import test_util
+from tensorboard import test as tb_test
+
+
+def make_request(nonce):
+  return grpc_util_test_pb2.TestRpcRequest(nonce=nonce)
+
+
+def make_response(nonce):
+  return grpc_util_test_pb2.TestRpcResponse(nonce=nonce)
+
+
+class TestGrpcServer(grpc_util_test_pb2_grpc.TestServiceServicer):
+  """Helper for testing gRPC client logic with a dummy gRPC server."""
+
+  def __init__(self, handler):
+    super(TestGrpcServer, self).__init__()
+    self._handler = handler
+
+  def TestRpc(self, request, context):
+    return self._handler(request, context)
+
+  @contextlib.contextmanager
+  def run(self):
+    """Context manager to run the gRPC server and yield a client for it."""
+    server = grpc.server(futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1))
+    grpc_util_test_pb2_grpc.add_TestServiceServicer_to_server(self, server)
+    port = server.add_secure_port(
+        "localhost:0", grpc.local_server_credentials())
+    def launch_server():
+      server.start()
+      server.wait_for_termination()
+    thread = threading.Thread(target=launch_server, name="TestGrpcServer")
+    thread.daemon = True
+    thread.start()
+    with grpc.secure_channel(
+        "localhost:%d" % port, grpc.local_channel_credentials()) as channel:
+      yield grpc_util_test_pb2_grpc.TestServiceStub(channel)
+    server.stop(grace=None)
+    thread.join()
+
+
+class GrpcUtilTest(tb_test.TestCase):
+
+  def test_call_with_retries_succeeds(self):
+    def handler(request, _):
+      return make_response(request.nonce)
+    server = TestGrpcServer(handler)
+    with server.run() as client:
+      response = grpc_util.call_with_retries(client.TestRpc, make_request(42))
+    self.assertEqual(make_response(42), response)
+
+  def test_call_with_retries_fails_immediately_on_permanent_error(self):
+    def handler(_, context):
+      context.abort(grpc.StatusCode.INTERNAL, "foo")
+    server = TestGrpcServer(handler)
+    with server.run() as client:
+      with self.assertRaises(grpc.RpcError) as raised:
+        grpc_util.call_with_retries(client.TestRpc, make_request(42))
+    self.assertEqual(grpc.StatusCode.INTERNAL, raised.exception.code())
+    self.assertEqual("foo", raised.exception.details())
+
+  def test_call_with_retries_fails_after_backoff_on_nonpermanent_error(self):
+    attempt_times = []
+    fake_time = test_util.FakeTime()
+    def handler(_, context):
+      attempt_times.append(fake_time.time())
+      context.abort(grpc.StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE, "foo")
+    server = TestGrpcServer(handler)
+    with server.run() as client:
+      with self.assertRaises(grpc.RpcError) as raised:
+        grpc_util.call_with_retries(client.TestRpc, make_request(42), fake_time)
+    self.assertEqual(grpc.StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE, raised.exception.code())
+    self.assertEqual("foo", raised.exception.details())
+    self.assertLen(attempt_times, 5)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[1] - attempt_times[0], 2, 4)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[2] - attempt_times[1], 4, 8)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[3] - attempt_times[2], 8, 16)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[4] - attempt_times[3], 16, 32)
+
+  def test_call_with_retries_succeeds_after_backoff_on_transient_error(self):
+    attempt_times = []
+    fake_time = test_util.FakeTime()
+    def handler(request, context):
+      attempt_times.append(fake_time.time())
+      if len(attempt_times) < 3:
+        context.abort(grpc.StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE, "foo")
+      return make_response(request.nonce)
+    server = TestGrpcServer(handler)
+    with server.run() as client:
+      response = grpc_util.call_with_retries(
+          client.TestRpc, make_request(42), fake_time)
+    self.assertEqual(make_response(42), response)
+    self.assertLen(attempt_times, 3)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[1] - attempt_times[0], 2, 4)
+    self.assertBetween(attempt_times[2] - attempt_times[1], 4, 8)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+  tb_test.main()
diff --git a/tensorboard/util/test_util.py b/tensorboard/util/test_util.py
index c970dcf472..44d56fa164 100644
--- a/tensorboard/util/test_util.py
+++ b/tensorboard/util/test_util.py
@@ -128,6 +128,22 @@ def get(logdir):
       return FileWriterCache._cache[logdir]
 
 
+class FakeTime(object):
+  """Thread-safe fake replacement for the `time` module."""
+
+  def __init__(self, current=0.0):
+    self._time = float(current)
+    self._lock = threading.Lock()
+
+  def time(self):
+    with self._lock:
+      return self._time
+
+  def sleep(self, secs):
+    with self._lock:
+      self._time += secs
+
+
 def ensure_tb_summary_proto(summary):
   """Ensures summary is TensorBoard Summary proto.