diff --git a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
index 8f8312023f1..975b1a85d2b 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
+++ b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import cromwell.backend.validation._
 import cromwell.core._
 import cromwell.core.io.{AsyncIoActorClient, DefaultIoCommandBuilder, IoCommandBuilder}
 import cromwell.core.path.Path
+import cromwell.core.retry._
 import cromwell.services.keyvalue.KeyValueServiceActor._
 import cromwell.services.keyvalue.KvClient
 import cromwell.services.metadata.CallMetadataKeys
@@ -268,6 +269,25 @@ trait StandardAsyncExecutionActor
       }
     }
 
+  lazy val maxRetriesMode: MaxRetriesMode = {
+    val maxRetriesModeOption: Option[MaxRetriesMode] =
+      jobDescriptor.workflowDescriptor.getWorkflowOption(WorkflowOptions.MaxRetriesMode) flatMap { value: String =>
+        MaxRetriesMode.tryParse(value) match {
+          case Success(v) => Option(v)
+          case Failure(e) =>
+            // should not happen, this case should have been screened for and fast-failed during workflow materialization.
+            log.error(
+              e,
+              s"Programmer error: unexpected failure attempting to convert value for workflow option " +
+                s"'${WorkflowOptions.MaxRetriesMode.name}' to MaxRetriesMode."
+            )
+            Option(MaxRetriesMode.DefaultMode)
+        }
+      }
+
+    maxRetriesModeOption.getOrElse(MaxRetriesMode.DefaultMode)
+  }
+
   lazy val memoryRetryRequested: Boolean = memoryRetryFactor.nonEmpty
 
   /**
@@ -1101,8 +1121,17 @@ trait StandardAsyncExecutionActor
 
         failedRetryableOrNonRetryable match {
           case failedNonRetryable: FailedNonRetryableExecutionHandle if previousFailedRetries < maxRetries =>
-            // The user asked us to retry finitely for them, possibly with a memory modification
-            evaluateFailureRetry(failedNonRetryable, kvsFromPreviousAttempt, kvsForNextAttempt, memoryRetry)
+            maxRetriesMode match {
+              case AllErrors =>
+                // The user asked us to retry finitely for them, possibly with a memory modification
+                evaluateFailureRetry(failedNonRetryable, kvsFromPreviousAttempt, kvsForNextAttempt, memoryRetry)
+              case KnownErrors if memoryRetry.oomDetected =>
+                // The user asked us to retry finitely for them, with a memory modification
+                evaluateFailureRetry(failedNonRetryable, kvsFromPreviousAttempt, kvsForNextAttempt, memoryRetry)
+              case _ =>
+                // No reason to retry
+                Future.successful(failedNonRetryable)
+            }
           case failedNonRetryable: FailedNonRetryableExecutionHandle =>
             // No reason to retry
             Future.successful(failedNonRetryable)
diff --git a/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_allerrors.options b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_allerrors.options
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..867fc91aaef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_allerrors.options
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+    "max_retries_mode" : "AllErrors"
+}
diff --git a/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.options b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.options
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7aa7f56d1a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.options
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+    "max_retries_mode" : "KnownErrors"
+}
diff --git a/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_allerrors.test b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_allerrors.test
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db461cdf345
--- /dev/null
+++ b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_allerrors.test
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+name: max_retries_mode_allerrors
+testFormat: workflowfailure
+
+files {
+  workflow: max_retries/max_retries.wdl
+  options: max_retries/max_retries_mode_allerrors.options
+}
+
+metadata {
+  "failures.0.causedBy.0.message": "Job retry_for_me.broken_task:NA:2 exited with return code 1 which has not been declared as a valid return code. See 'continueOnReturnCode' runtime attribute for more details."
+}
diff --git a/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.test b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.test
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c2c38c0045c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/centaur/src/main/resources/standardTestCases/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.test
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+name: max_retries_mode_knownerrors
+testFormat: workflowfailure
+
+files {
+  workflow: max_retries/max_retries.wdl
+  options: max_retries/max_retries_mode_knownerrors.options
+}
+
+metadata {
+  "failures.0.causedBy.0.message": "Job retry_for_me.broken_task:NA:1 exited with return code 1 which has not been declared as a valid return code. See 'continueOnReturnCode' runtime attribute for more details."
+}
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/WorkflowOptions.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/WorkflowOptions.scala
index 78615a5147f..f58fa9ddb23 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/WorkflowOptions.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/WorkflowOptions.scala
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ object WorkflowOptions {
   case object WorkflowFailureMode extends WorkflowOption("workflow_failure_mode")
   case object UseReferenceDisks extends WorkflowOption("use_reference_disks")
   case object MemoryRetryMultiplier extends WorkflowOption("memory_retry_multiplier")
+  case object MaxRetriesMode extends WorkflowOption("max_retries_mode")
   case object WorkflowCallbackUri extends WorkflowOption("workflow_callback_uri")
 
   private lazy val WorkflowOptionsConf = ConfigFactory.load.getConfig("workflow-options")
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/retry/MaxRetriesMode.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/retry/MaxRetriesMode.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f847022de2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cromwell/core/retry/MaxRetriesMode.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package cromwell.core.retry
+
+import scala.util.{Failure, Success, Try}
+
+sealed trait MaxRetriesMode
+case object AllErrors extends MaxRetriesMode
+case object KnownErrors extends MaxRetriesMode
+
+object MaxRetriesMode {
+  val DefaultMode = AllErrors
+  private val AllModes = Seq(AllErrors, KnownErrors)
+
+  def tryParse(mode: String): Try[MaxRetriesMode] =
+    AllModes find { _.toString.equalsIgnoreCase(mode) } map { Success(_) } getOrElse Failure(
+      new Exception(s"Invalid max retries mode: '$mode', supported modes are: ${AllModes.mkString("'", "', '", "'")}")
+    )
+}
diff --git a/docs/RuntimeAttributes.md b/docs/RuntimeAttributes.md
index 4461d5da433..e5e2f82cf09 100644
--- a/docs/RuntimeAttributes.md
+++ b/docs/RuntimeAttributes.md
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ runtime {
 
 *Default: _0_*
 
-This retry option is introduced to provide a method for tackling transient job failures. For example, if a task fails due to a timeout from accessing an external service, then this option helps re-run the failed the task without having to re-run the entire workflow. It takes an Int as a value that indicates the maximum number of times Cromwell should retry a failed task. This retry is applied towards jobs that fail while executing the task command. This method only applies to transient job failures and is a feeble attempt to retry a job, that is it cannot be used to increase memory in out-of-memory situations.
+This retry option is introduced to provide a method for tackling transient job failures. For example, if a task fails due to a timeout from accessing an external service, then this option helps re-run the failed the task without having to re-run the entire workflow. It takes an Int as a value that indicates the maximum number of times Cromwell should retry a failed task. This retry is applied towards jobs that fail while executing the task command. This method only applies to transient job failures and is a feeble attempt to retry a job.
 
 If using the Google backend, it's important to note that The `maxRetries` count is independent from the [preemptible](#preemptible) count. For example, the task below can be retried up to 6 times if it's preempted 3 times AND the command execution fails 3 times.
 
diff --git a/docs/wf_options/Overview.md b/docs/wf_options/Overview.md
index 84a44fbc865..9bb19a5d414 100644
--- a/docs/wf_options/Overview.md
+++ b/docs/wf_options/Overview.md
@@ -146,3 +146,12 @@ Example `options.json`:
     "memory_retry_multiplier" : 1.1
 }
 ```
+
+## Max Retries Mode
+
+The `max_retries_mode` workflow options sets the behavior of retrying failed jobs when the [`maxRetries` runtime
+attribute](../RuntimeAttributes.md#maxretries) is specified.
+
+The possible values are `AllErrors` or `KnownErrors`. If set to `AllErrors`, the job will be retried for any error. If
+set to `KnownErrors`, the job will only be retried for errors that are known to be retryable, such as increasing memory
+in out-of-memory situations. The default value is `AllErrors`.
diff --git a/engine/src/main/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/materialization/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.scala b/engine/src/main/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/materialization/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.scala
index 45165cad5f5..6c300c3d4bb 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/materialization/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.scala
+++ b/engine/src/main/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/materialization/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.scala
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import cromwell.core.io.AsyncIo
 import cromwell.core.labels.{Label, Labels}
 import cromwell.core.logging.WorkflowLogging
 import cromwell.core.path.{PathBuilder, PathBuilderFactory}
+import cromwell.core.retry._
 import cromwell.engine._
 import cromwell.engine.backend.CromwellBackends
 import cromwell.engine.workflow.WorkflowProcessingEventPublishing._
@@ -182,6 +183,19 @@ object MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor {
         s"'$optionName' is specified in workflow options but value is not of expected Double type: ${e.getMessage}".invalidNel
     }
   }
+
+  def validateMaxRetriesMode(workflowOptions: WorkflowOptions): ErrorOr[MaxRetriesMode] = {
+    val modeString: Try[String] = workflowOptions.get(WorkflowOptions.MaxRetriesMode) match {
+      case Success(value) => Success(value)
+      case Failure(_: OptionNotFoundException) => Success(MaxRetriesMode.DefaultMode.toString)
+      case Failure(e) => Failure(e)
+    }
+
+    modeString flatMap MaxRetriesMode.tryParse match {
+      case Success(mode) => mode.validNel
+      case Failure(t) => t.getMessage.invalidNel
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 // TODO WOM: need to decide where to draw the line between language specific initialization and WOM
@@ -495,12 +509,15 @@ class MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor(override val serviceRegistryActor: Acto
 
     val memoryRetryMultiplierValidation: ErrorOr[Unit] = validateMemoryRetryMultiplier(workflowOptions)
 
+    val maxRetriesModeValidation: ErrorOr[MaxRetriesMode] = validateMaxRetriesMode(workflowOptions)
+
     (failureModeValidation,
      backendAssignmentsValidation,
      callCachingModeValidation,
      useReferenceDisksValidation,
-     memoryRetryMultiplierValidation
-    ) mapN { case (failureMode, backendAssignments, callCachingMode, _, _) =>
+     memoryRetryMultiplierValidation,
+     maxRetriesModeValidation
+    ) mapN { case (failureMode, backendAssignments, callCachingMode, _, _, _) =>
       val callable = womNamespace.executable.entryPoint
       val backendDescriptor = BackendWorkflowDescriptor(id,
                                                         callable,
diff --git a/server/src/test/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec.scala b/server/src/test/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec.scala
index cf845af5d30..78ecd387944 100644
--- a/server/src/test/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec.scala
+++ b/server/src/test/scala/cromwell/engine/workflow/lifecycle/MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec.scala
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ class MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec
   private val invalidMemoryRetryOptions5 =
     WorkflowOptions.fromJsonString(""" { "memory_retry_multiplier": true } """).get
 
+  private val validMaxRetriesModeOptions1 =
+    WorkflowOptions.fromJsonString(""" { "max_retries_mode": "AllErrors" } """).get
+  private val validMaxRetriesModeOptions2 =
+    WorkflowOptions.fromJsonString(""" { "max_retries_mode": "KnownErrors" } """).get
+  private val invalidMaxRetriesModeOptions1 =
+    WorkflowOptions.fromJsonString(""" { "max_retries_mode": "invalid value" } """).get
+  private val invalidMaxRetriesModeOptions2 =
+    WorkflowOptions.fromJsonString(""" { "max_retries_mode": true } """).get
+
   before {}
 
   after {
@@ -699,6 +708,27 @@ class MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActorSpec
       }
     }
 
+    "accept valid max_retries_mode" in {
+      List(validMaxRetriesModeOptions1, validMaxRetriesModeOptions2, validOptions) map { options =>
+        MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.validateMaxRetriesMode(options) match {
+          case Valid(_) => // good!
+          case Invalid(_) => fail(s"max_retries_mode validation for $options failed but should have passed!")
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    "reject invalid max_retries_mode" in {
+      List(invalidMaxRetriesModeOptions1, invalidMaxRetriesModeOptions2) map { options =>
+        MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.validateMaxRetriesMode(options) match {
+          case Invalid(errorsList) =>
+            errorsList.head should startWith(
+              "Invalid max retries mode"
+            )
+          case Valid(_) => fail(s"max_retries_mode validation for $options succeeded but should have failed!")
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     "fail materialization if memory_retry_multiplier is invalid" in {
       val materializeWfActor = system.actorOf(
         MaterializeWorkflowDescriptorActor.props(NoBehaviorActor,