diff --git a/backend/putio/error.go b/backend/putio/error.go
index 34eecabb9..27476b838 100644
--- a/backend/putio/error.go
+++ b/backend/putio/error.go
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/putdotio/go-putio/putio"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fserrors"
+	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/pacer"
 )
 
 func checkStatusCode(resp *http.Response, expected int) error {
@@ -24,8 +27,10 @@ func (e *statusCodeError) Error() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("unexpected status code (%d) response while doing %s to %s", e.response.StatusCode, e.response.Request.Method, e.response.Request.URL.String())
 }
 
+// This method is called from fserrors.ShouldRetry() to determine if an error should be retried.
+// Some errors (e.g. 429 Too Many Requests) are handled before this step, so they are not included here.
 func (e *statusCodeError) Temporary() bool {
-	return e.response.StatusCode == 429 || e.response.StatusCode >= 500
+	return e.response.StatusCode >= 500
 }
 
 // shouldRetry returns a boolean as to whether this err deserves to be
@@ -40,6 +45,16 @@ func shouldRetry(ctx context.Context, err error) (bool, error) {
 	if perr, ok := err.(*putio.ErrorResponse); ok {
 		err = &statusCodeError{response: perr.Response}
 	}
+	if scerr, ok := err.(*statusCodeError); ok && scerr.response.StatusCode == 429 {
+		delay := defaultRateLimitSleep
+		header := scerr.response.Header.Get("x-ratelimit-reset")
+		if header != "" {
+			if resetTime, cerr := strconv.ParseInt(header, 10, 64); cerr == nil {
+				delay = time.Until(time.Unix(resetTime+1, 0))
+			}
+		}
+		return true, pacer.RetryAfterError(scerr, delay)
+	}
 	if fserrors.ShouldRetry(err) {
 		return true, err
 	}
diff --git a/backend/putio/fs.go b/backend/putio/fs.go
index 073f86a44..29cc2f840 100644
--- a/backend/putio/fs.go
+++ b/backend/putio/fs.go
@@ -302,8 +302,8 @@ func (f *Fs) createUpload(ctx context.Context, name string, size int64, parentID
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
-		if resp.StatusCode != 201 {
-			return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected status code from upload create: %d", resp.StatusCode)
+		if err := checkStatusCode(resp, 201); err != nil {
+			return shouldRetry(ctx, err)
 		}
 		location = resp.Header.Get("location")
 		if location == "" {
diff --git a/backend/putio/object.go b/backend/putio/object.go
index 0383a355e..4b5f72015 100644
--- a/backend/putio/object.go
+++ b/backend/putio/object.go
@@ -241,7 +241,13 @@ func (o *Object) Open(ctx context.Context, options ...fs.OpenOption) (in io.Read
 		}
 		// fs.Debugf(o, "opening file: id=%d", o.file.ID)
 		resp, err = o.fs.httpClient.Do(req)
-		return shouldRetry(ctx, err)
+		if err != nil {
+			return shouldRetry(ctx, err)
+		}
+		if err := checkStatusCode(resp, 200); err != nil {
+			return shouldRetry(ctx, err)
+		}
+		return false, nil
 	})
 	if perr, ok := err.(*putio.ErrorResponse); ok && perr.Response.StatusCode >= 400 && perr.Response.StatusCode <= 499 {
 		_ = resp.Body.Close()
diff --git a/backend/putio/putio.go b/backend/putio/putio.go
index 0019bc089..766a99b77 100644
--- a/backend/putio/putio.go
+++ b/backend/putio/putio.go
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ const (
 	rcloneObscuredClientSecret = "cMwrjWVmrHZp3gf1ZpCrlyGAmPpB-YY5BbVnO1fj-G9evcd8"
 	minSleep                   = 10 * time.Millisecond
 	maxSleep                   = 2 * time.Second
-	decayConstant              = 2 // bigger for slower decay, exponential
+	decayConstant              = 1 // bigger for slower decay, exponential
 	defaultChunkSize           = 48 * fs.Mebi
+	defaultRateLimitSleep      = 60 * time.Second
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/docs/content/putio.md b/docs/content/putio.md
index 069b21fd3..f80a1f3bd 100644
--- a/docs/content/putio.md
+++ b/docs/content/putio.md
@@ -127,3 +127,12 @@ Properties:
 - Default:     Slash,BackSlash,Del,Ctl,InvalidUtf8,Dot
 
 {{< rem autogenerated options stop >}}
+
+## Limitations
+
+put.io has rate limiting. When you hit a limit, rclone automatically
+retries after waiting the amount of time requested by the server.
+
+If you want to avoid ever hitting these limits, you may use the
+`--tpslimit` flag with a low number. Note that the imposed limits
+may be different for different operations, and may change over time.