diff --git a/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-retry/index.d.ts b/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-retry/index.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9de61f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-retry/index.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+declare module '@octokit/plugin-retry' {
+  import Octokit from '@octokit/rest'
+  declare function plugin(octokit: Octokit, options: Octokit.Options): void
+  export = plugin
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-throttling/index.d.ts b/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-throttling/index.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f9f272a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/@types/@octokit/plugin-throttling/index.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+declare module '@octokit/plugin-throttling' {
+  import Octokit from '@octokit/rest'
+  declare function plugin(octokit: Octokit, options: Octokit.Options): void
+  export = plugin
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/github/index.ts b/src/github/index.ts
index 644107d9..b68c3d8a 100644
--- a/src/github/index.ts
+++ b/src/github/index.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
+import retryPlugin from '@octokit/plugin-retry'
+import throttlePlugin from '@octokit/plugin-throttling'
 import Octokit from '@octokit/rest'
+
 import { addGraphQL } from './graphql'
 import { addLogging, Logger } from './logging'
 import { addPagination } from './pagination'
-import { addRateLimiting } from './rate-limiting'
+
+const ProbotOctokit = Octokit
+  .plugin(throttlePlugin)
+  .plugin(retryPlugin)
 
 /**
  * the [@octokit/rest Node.js module](https://github.com/octokit/rest.js),
@@ -12,10 +18,14 @@ import { addRateLimiting } from './rate-limiting'
  * @see {@link https://github.com/octokit/rest.js}
  */
 export function GitHubAPI (options: Options = {} as any) {
-  const octokit = new Octokit(options) as GitHubAPI
+  const octokit = new ProbotOctokit(Object.assign(options, {
+    throttle: {
+      onAbuseLimit: (retryAfter: number) => options.logger.warn(`Abuse limit hit, retrying in ${retryAfter} seconds`),
+      onRateLimit: (retryAfter: number) => options.logger.warn(`Rate limit hit, retrying in ${retryAfter} seconds`)
+    }
+  })) as GitHubAPI
 
   addPagination(octokit)
-  addRateLimiting(octokit, options.limiter)
   addLogging(octokit, options.logger)
   addGraphQL(octokit)
 
@@ -25,7 +35,6 @@ export function GitHubAPI (options: Options = {} as any) {
 export interface Options extends Octokit.Options {
   debug?: boolean
   logger: Logger
-  limiter?: any
 }
 
 export interface RequestOptions {
diff --git a/src/github/rate-limiting.ts b/src/github/rate-limiting.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 84de6918..00000000
--- a/src/github/rate-limiting.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-import Bottleneck from 'bottleneck'
-import { GitHubAPI } from './'
-
-export function addRateLimiting (octokit: GitHubAPI, limiter: Bottleneck) {
-  if (!limiter) {
-    limiter = new Bottleneck({
-      maxConcurrent: 1,
-      minTime: 1000
-    })
-  }
-
-  const noop = () => Promise.resolve()
-  octokit.hook.before('request', () => limiter.schedule(noop))
-}
diff --git a/test/github.test.ts b/test/github.test.ts
index a0e98122..b77d7fd9 100644
--- a/test/github.test.ts
+++ b/test/github.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import Bottleneck from 'bottleneck'
 import nock from 'nock'
 import { GitHubAPI, Options } from '../src/github'
 import { logger } from '../src/logger'
@@ -7,11 +6,7 @@ describe('GitHubAPI', () => {
   let github: GitHubAPI
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    // Set a shorter limiter, otherwise tests are _slow_
-    const limiter = new Bottleneck()
-
     const options: Options = {
-      limiter,
       logger
     }
 
diff --git a/test/github/graphql.test.ts b/test/github/graphql.test.ts
index f1a32985..6917187b 100644
--- a/test/github/graphql.test.ts
+++ b/test/github/graphql.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import Bottleneck from 'bottleneck'
 import nock from 'nock'
 import { GitHubAPI, Options } from '../../src/github'
 import { logger } from '../../src/logger'
@@ -11,11 +10,7 @@ describe('github/graphql', () => {
   afterEach(() => expect(nock.pendingMocks()).toEqual([]))
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    // Set a shorter limiter, otherwise tests are _slow_
-    const limiter = new Bottleneck()
-
     const options: Options = {
-      limiter,
       logger
     }
 
@@ -97,11 +92,7 @@ describe('github/graphql', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       process.env.GHE_HOST = 'notreallygithub.com'
 
-      // Set a shorter limiter, otherwise tests are _slow_
-      const limiter = new Bottleneck()
-
       const options: Options = {
-        limiter,
         logger
       }