diff --git a/synapse/federation/transport/client.py b/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
index edba5a9808..5e8bf8ac76 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transport/client.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class TransportLayerClient(object):
             path=path,
             data=json_data,
             json_data_callback=json_data_callback,
-            long_retries=True,
+            long_retries=False,
             backoff_on_404=True,  # If we get a 404 the other side has gone
         )
 
diff --git a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
index 24b6110c20..b54d4a7b89 100644
--- a/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
+++ b/synapse/http/matrixfederationclient.py
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ class MatrixFederationHttpClient(object):
         self.clock = hs.get_clock()
         self._store = hs.get_datastore()
         self.version_string_bytes = hs.version_string.encode('ascii')
-        self.default_timeout = 60
+        self.default_timeout = 30
 
         def schedule(x):
             reactor.callLater(_EPSILON, x)