diff --git a/lib/sidekiq/middleware/server/retry_jobs.rb b/lib/sidekiq/middleware/server/retry_jobs.rb
index 1bc82167..bdb81d0b 100644
--- a/lib/sidekiq/middleware/server/retry_jobs.rb
+++ b/lib/sidekiq/middleware/server/retry_jobs.rb
@@ -83,13 +83,20 @@ module Sidekiq
             end
           else
             # Goodbye dear message, you (re)tried your best I'm sure.
-            worker.exhausted(*msg['args']) if worker.respond_to?(:exhausted)
-            logger.debug { "Dropping message after hitting the retry maximum: #{msg}" }
+            retries_exhausted(msg)
           end
 
           raise e
         end
 
+        def retries_exhausted(msg)
+          logger.debug { "Dropping message after hitting the retry maximum: #{msg}" }
+          worker.retries_exhausted(*msg['args']) if worker.respond_to?(:retries_exhausted)
+
+        rescue Exception => e
+          logger.debug { "Failure during `retries_exhausted` hook: #{e} - #{msg}" }
+        end
+
         def retry_attempts_from(msg_retry, default)
           if msg_retry.is_a?(Fixnum)
             msg_retry
diff --git a/test/test_retry.rb b/test/test_retry.rb
index 4546544b..e1f293b4 100644
--- a/test/test_retry.rb
+++ b/test/test_retry.rb
@@ -168,14 +168,30 @@ class TestRetry < MiniTest::Unit::TestCase
       assert_raises(MockExpectationError) { @redis.verify }
     end
 
-    it 'calls exhausted method on worker after too many retries if available' do
-      msg = {"class"=>"Bob", "args"=>[1, 2, "foo"], "queue"=>"default", "error_message"=>"kerblammo!", "error_class"=>"RuntimeError", "failed_at"=>Time.now.utc, "retry"=>3, "retry_count"=>3}
-      worker = MiniTest::Mock.new
-      worker.expect :exhausted, true, [1, 2, "foo"]
-      handler = Sidekiq::Middleware::Server::RetryJobs.new
-      assert_raises RuntimeError do
-        handler.call(worker, msg, 'default') do
-          raise "kerblammo!"
+    describe "retry exhaustion" do
+      let(:worker){ MiniTest::Mock.new }
+      let(:handler){ Sidekiq::Middleware::Server::RetryJobs.new }
+      let(:msg){ {"class"=>"Bob", "args"=>[1, 2, "foo"], "queue"=>"default", "error_message"=>"kerblammo!", "error_class"=>"RuntimeError", "failed_at"=>Time.now.utc, "retry"=>3, "retry_count"=>3} }
+
+      it 'calls worker retries_exhausted after too many retries' do
+        worker.expect(:retries_exhausted, true, [1,2,3]) 
+        task_misbehaving_worker
+      end
+
+      it 'handles and logs retries_exhausted failures gracefully (drops them)' do
+        def worker.retries_exhausted(*args)
+          raise 'bam!'
+        end
+
+        e = task_misbehaving_worker
+        assert_equal e.message, "kerblammo!"
+      end
+
+      def task_misbehaving_worker
+        assert_raises RuntimeError do
+          handler.call('', msg, 'default') do
+            raise 'kerblammo!'
+          end
         end
       end
     end