diff --git a/beetsplug/spotify.py b/beetsplug/spotify.py
index 239e143e2..a95e09cc8 100644
--- a/beetsplug/spotify.py
+++ b/beetsplug/spotify.py
@@ -157,7 +157,8 @@ class SpotifyPlugin(MetadataSourcePlugin, BeetsPlugin):
         with open(self.tokenfile, 'w') as f:
             json.dump({'access_token': self.access_token}, f)
 
-    def _handle_response(self, request_type, url, params=None):
+    def _handle_response(self, request_type, url, params=None, retry_count=0,
+                         max_retries=3):
         """Send a request, reauthenticating if necessary.
 
         :param request_type: Type of :class:`Request` constructor,
@@ -195,12 +196,16 @@ class SpotifyPlugin(MetadataSourcePlugin, BeetsPlugin):
                 raise SpotifyAPIError(f'API Error: {e.response.status_code}\n'
                                       f'URL: {url}\nparams: {params}')
             elif e.response.status_code == 429:
+                if retry_count >= max_retries:
+                    raise SpotifyAPIError('Maximum retries reached.')
                 seconds = response.headers.get('Retry-After',
                                                DEFAULT_WAITING_TIME)
                 self._log.debug(f'Too many API requests. Retrying after '
                                 f'{seconds} seconds.')
                 time.sleep(int(seconds) + 1)
-                return self._handle_response(request_type, url, params=params)
+                return self._handle_response(request_type, url,
+                                             params=params,
+                                             retry_count=retry_count + 1)
             elif e.response.status_code == 503:
                 self._log.error('Service Unavailable.')
                 raise SpotifyAPIError('Service Unavailable.')
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 0e1d8611e..13e75a904 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ New features:
 
 Bug fixes:
 
+* :doc:`/plugins/spotify`: Add a limit of 3 retries, instead of retrying endlessly when the API is not available.
 * Fix a crash when the Spotify API timeouts or does not return a `Retry-After` interval.
   :bug:`4942`
 * :doc:`/plugins/scrub`: Fixed the import behavior where scrubbed database tags