diff --git a/src/targets/crates.ts b/src/targets/crates.ts
index e740c0e8..032904c6 100644
--- a/src/targets/crates.ts
+++ b/src/targets/crates.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ import { GithubGlobalConfig, TargetConfig } from '../schemas/project_config';
 import { forEachChained } from '../utils/async';
 import { ConfigurationError } from '../utils/errors';
 import { withTempDir } from '../utils/files';
-import { checkExecutableIsPresent, spawnProcess } from '../utils/system';
+import {
+  checkExecutableIsPresent,
+  sleepAsync,
+  spawnProcess,
+} from '../utils/system';
 import { BaseTarget } from './base';
 import { BaseArtifactProvider } from '../artifact_providers/base';
 
@@ -24,6 +28,30 @@ const DEFAULT_CARGO_BIN = 'cargo';
  */
 const CARGO_BIN = process.env.CARGO_BIN || DEFAULT_CARGO_BIN;
 
+/**
+ * A message fragment emitted by cargo when publishing fails due to a missing
+ * dependency. This sometimes indicates a false positive if the cache has not
+ * been updated.
+ */
+const VERSION_ERROR = 'failed to select a version for the requirement';
+
+/**
+ * Maximum number of attempts including the initial one when publishing fails
+ * due to a stale cache. After this number of retries, publishing fails.
+ */
+const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5;
+
+/**
+ * Initial delay to wait between publish retries in seconds. Exponential backoff
+ * is applied to this delay on retries.
+ */
+const RETRY_DELAY_SECS = 2;
+
+/**
+ * Exponential backoff that is applied to the initial retry delay.
+ */
+const RETRY_EXP_FACTOR = 2;
+
 /** Options for "crates" target */
 export interface CratesTargetOptions extends TargetConfig {
   /** Crates API token */
@@ -203,9 +231,9 @@ export class CratesTarget extends BaseTarget {
 
     const crates = this.getPublishOrder(unorderedCrates);
     logger.debug(
-      `Publishing packages in the following order: [${crates
+      `Publishing packages in the following order: ${crates
         .map(c => c.name)
-        .toString()}]`
+        .join(', ')}`
     );
     return forEachChained(crates, async crate => this.publishPackage(crate));
   }
@@ -227,9 +255,26 @@ export class CratesTarget extends BaseTarget {
       crate.manifest_path
     );
 
-    return spawnProcess(CARGO_BIN, args, {
-      env: { ...process.env, CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN: this.cratesConfig.apiToken },
-    });
+    const env = {
+      ...process.env,
+      CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN: this.cratesConfig.apiToken,
+    };
+
+    let delay = RETRY_DELAY_SECS;
+    logger.info(`Publishing ${crate.name}`);
+    for (let i = 0; i <= MAX_ATTEMPTS; i++) {
+      try {
+        return await spawnProcess(CARGO_BIN, args, { env });
+      } catch (e) {
+        if (i < MAX_ATTEMPTS && e.message.includes(VERSION_ERROR)) {
+          logger.warn(`Publish failed, trying again in ${delay}s...`);
+          await sleepAsync(delay * 1000);
+          delay *= RETRY_EXP_FACTOR;
+        } else {
+          throw e;
+        }
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   /**