diff --git a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HConnectionManager.java b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HConnectionManager.java
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HConnectionManager.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/me/prettyprint/cassandra/connection/HConnectionManager.java
@@ -277,8 +277,8 @@ public class HConnectionManager {
             if (hostPools.isEmpty()) {
               throw he;
             }
-            retryable = op.failoverPolicy.shouldRetryFor(HPoolExhaustedException.class);
             excludeHosts.add(pool.getCassandraHost());
+            retryable = op.failoverPolicy.shouldRetryFor(HPoolExhaustedException.class);
             monitor.incCounter(Counter.POOL_EXHAUSTED);
           }
         } else if ( he instanceof HPoolRecoverableException ) {
added limit on how long client pool can be exhausted