diff --git a/posttroll/publisher.py b/posttroll/publisher.py
index 501e0fd..36276e8 100644
--- a/posttroll/publisher.py
+++ b/posttroll/publisher.py
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 import socket
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from threading import Lock
+import time
+
 from six.moves.urllib.parse import urlsplit, urlunsplit
 import six
 import zmq
@@ -37,6 +39,8 @@
 from posttroll.message_broadcaster import sendaddressservice
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+BIND_RETRIES = max(0, int(os.environ.get("PYTROLL_BIND_RETRIES", 5)))
+BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT = float(os.environ.get("PYTROLL_BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT", 0.1))
 
 
 def get_own_ip():
@@ -121,7 +125,7 @@ def __init__(self, address, name="", min_port=None, max_port=None):
             self.destination = urlunsplit((u__.scheme, netloc, u__.path,
                                            u__.query, u__.fragment))
         else:
-            self.publish.bind(self.destination)
+            self._bind_destination()
             self.port_number = port
 
         LOGGER.info("publisher started on port %s", str(self.port_number))
@@ -130,6 +134,18 @@ def __init__(self, address, name="", min_port=None, max_port=None):
         self._heartbeat = None
         self._pub_lock = Lock()
 
+    def _bind_destination(self):
+        """Bind publish destination."""
+        last_error = ""
+        for _ in range(BIND_RETRIES + 1):
+            try:
+                self.publish.bind(self.destination)
+                return
+            except zmq.error.ZMQError as err:
+                last_error = err.strerror
+                time.sleep(BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT)
+        raise OSError("Could not bind %s - %s" % (self.destination, last_error))
+
     def send(self, msg):
         """Send the given message.
         """
diff --git a/posttroll/tests/test_pubsub.py b/posttroll/tests/test_pubsub.py
index 0b842df..bbc9f35 100644
--- a/posttroll/tests/test_pubsub.py
+++ b/posttroll/tests/test_pubsub.py
@@ -1,27 +1,27 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-
+#
 # Copyright (c) 2014 Martin Raspaud
-
+#
 # Author(s):
-
+#
 #   Martin Raspaud <martin.raspaud@smhi.se>
-
+#   Panu Lahtinen <panu.lahtinen@fmi.fi>
+#
 # This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
-
+#
 # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 # GNU General Public License for more details.
-
+#
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-"""Test the publishing and subscribing facilities.
-"""
+"""Test the publishing and subscribing facilities."""
 import unittest
 from unittest import mock
 from datetime import timedelta
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import time
 
 import six
+import pytest
 
 test_lock = Lock()
 
@@ -314,6 +315,56 @@ def test_pub_minmax_port(self):
             self.assertEqual(res, port)
             break
 
+    @mock.patch("posttroll.publisher.get_context")
+    def test_bind_retries(self, get_context):
+        """Test that the destination bind is retried on failure."""
+        from zmq.error import ZMQError
+        from posttroll.publisher import Publish, BIND_RETRIES
+        context = mock.MagicMock()
+        context.bind.side_effect = ZMQError("mocked failure")
+        get_context.return_value.socket.return_value = context
+
+        with pytest.raises(OSError) as err:
+            with Publish("test_bind_retries", port=50000):
+                pass
+        assert context.bind.call_count == BIND_RETRIES + 1
+        assert "Could not bind" in err.value.args[0]
+        assert "50000" in err.value.args[0]
+
+    @mock.patch("posttroll.publisher.BIND_RETRIES", 0)
+    @mock.patch("posttroll.publisher.get_context")
+    def test_bind_no_retries(self, get_context):
+        """Test that the destination bind retries can be turned off."""
+        from zmq.error import ZMQError
+        from posttroll.publisher import Publish, BIND_RETRIES
+        # Just ensure the mock sets the variable correctly
+        assert BIND_RETRIES == 0
+        context = mock.MagicMock()
+        context.bind.side_effect = ZMQError("mocked failure")
+        get_context.return_value.socket.return_value = context
+
+        with pytest.raises(OSError) as err:
+            with Publish("test_bind_retries", port=50000):
+                pass
+        assert context.bind.call_count == 1
+
+    def test_bind_retries_env_variable(self):
+        """Test that the retry count env variable is handled correctly."""
+        import os
+        os.environ["PYTROLL_BIND_RETRIES"] = "-1"
+        from posttroll.publisher import BIND_RETRIES
+
+        assert BIND_RETRIES == 0
+
+    def test_bind_retry_timeout_env_variable(self):
+        """Test that the retry timeout env variable is handled correctly."""
+        import os
+        val = 0.3
+        os.environ["PYTROLL_BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT"] = str(val)
+        from posttroll.publisher import BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT
+
+        assert BIND_RETRY_TIMEOUT == val
+
 
 def _get_port(min_port=None, max_port=None):
     from zmq.error import ZMQError
@@ -400,4 +451,6 @@ def suite():
     mysuite.addTest(loader.loadTestsFromTestCase(TestListenerContainer))
     mysuite.addTest(loader.loadTestsFromTestCase(TestPub))
     mysuite.addTest(loader.loadTestsFromTestCase(TestAddressReceiver))
+    mysuite.addTest(loader.loadTestsFromTestCase(TestBindRetryEnvVariable))
+    mysuite.addTest(loader.loadTestsFromTestCase(TestBindRetryTimeoutEnvVariable))
     return mysuite