diff --git a/nmap_dns.cc b/nmap_dns.cc
index 59778ded7..77e7419ae 100644
--- a/nmap_dns.cc
+++ b/nmap_dns.cc
@@ -601,6 +601,8 @@ static int deal_with_timedout_reads(bool adjust_timing) {
       else {
         may_increase = false;
         tpreq->tries++;
+        if (tpreq->tries > MAX_DNS_TRIES)
+          tpreq->tries = MAX_DNS_TRIES;
         servI->in_process.erase(reqI);
         records.erase(tpreq->id);
         servI->reqs_on_wire--;