diff --git a/receiver/kafkareceiver/config.go b/receiver/kafkareceiver/config.go
index 5b25c7c7c5f3..c781fe0c2cd0 100644
--- a/receiver/kafkareceiver/config.go
+++ b/receiver/kafkareceiver/config.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/exporter/kafkaexporter"
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/internal/kafka"
@@ -85,6 +86,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	DefaultFetchSize int32 `mapstructure:"default_fetch_size"`
 	// The maximum bytes per fetch from Kafka (default "0", no limit)
 	MaxFetchSize int32 `mapstructure:"max_fetch_size"`
+
+	// In case of some errors returned by the next consumer, the receiver will wait before consuming the next message
+	ErrorBackOff configretry.BackOffConfig `mapstructure:"error_backoff"`
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/receiver/kafkareceiver/config_test.go b/receiver/kafkareceiver/config_test.go
index b5e7faa1dc93..cee1cce72207 100644
--- a/receiver/kafkareceiver/config_test.go
+++ b/receiver/kafkareceiver/config_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtls"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/confmaptest"
 
@@ -65,6 +66,9 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				MinFetchSize:     1,
 				DefaultFetchSize: 1048576,
 				MaxFetchSize:     0,
+				ErrorBackOff: configretry.BackOffConfig{
+					Enabled: false,
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -101,6 +105,13 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				MinFetchSize:     1,
 				DefaultFetchSize: 1048576,
 				MaxFetchSize:     0,
+				ErrorBackOff: configretry.BackOffConfig{
+					Enabled:         true,
+					InitialInterval: 1 * time.Second,
+					MaxInterval:     10 * time.Second,
+					MaxElapsedTime:  1 * time.Minute,
+					Multiplier:      1.5,
+				},
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver.go b/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver.go
index 1ec2d5aca6e9..ead8402c5578 100644
--- a/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver.go
+++ b/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver.go
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/IBM/sarama"
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/plog"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
@@ -35,6 +38,8 @@ const (
 
 var errInvalidInitialOffset = errors.New("invalid initial offset")
 
+var errMemoryLimiterDataRefused = errors.New("data refused due to high memory usage")
+
 // kafkaTracesConsumer uses sarama to consume and handle messages from kafka.
 type kafkaTracesConsumer struct {
 	config            Config
@@ -205,6 +210,7 @@ func (c *kafkaTracesConsumer) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) erro
 		messageMarking:    c.messageMarking,
 		headerExtractor:   &nopHeaderExtractor{},
 		telemetryBuilder:  c.telemetryBuilder,
+		backOff:           newExponentialBackOff(c.config.ErrorBackOff),
 	}
 	if c.headerExtraction {
 		consumerGroup.headerExtractor = &headerExtractor{
@@ -218,6 +224,20 @@ func (c *kafkaTracesConsumer) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) erro
 	return nil
 }
 
+func newExponentialBackOff(config configretry.BackOffConfig) *backoff.ExponentialBackOff {
+	if !config.Enabled {
+		return nil
+	}
+	backOff := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+	backOff.InitialInterval = config.InitialInterval
+	backOff.RandomizationFactor = config.RandomizationFactor
+	backOff.Multiplier = config.Multiplier
+	backOff.MaxInterval = config.MaxInterval
+	backOff.MaxElapsedTime = config.MaxElapsedTime
+	backOff.Reset()
+	return backOff
+}
+
 func (c *kafkaTracesConsumer) consumeLoop(ctx context.Context, handler sarama.ConsumerGroupHandler) {
 	defer c.consumeLoopWG.Done()
 	for {
@@ -481,6 +501,7 @@ type tracesConsumerGroupHandler struct {
 	autocommitEnabled bool
 	messageMarking    MessageMarking
 	headerExtractor   HeaderExtractor
+	backOff           *backoff.ExponentialBackOff
 }
 
 type metricsConsumerGroupHandler struct {
@@ -582,8 +603,18 @@ func (c *tracesConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSe
 				if c.messageMarking.After && c.messageMarking.OnError {
 					session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 				}
+				if errorRequiresBackoff(err) && c.backOff != nil {
+					select {
+					case <-session.Context().Done():
+						return nil
+					case <-time.After(c.backOff.NextBackOff()):
+					}
+				}
 				return err
 			}
+			if c.backOff != nil {
+				c.backOff.Reset()
+			}
 			if c.messageMarking.After {
 				session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 			}
@@ -600,6 +631,10 @@ func (c *tracesConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSe
 	}
 }
 
+func errorRequiresBackoff(err error) bool {
+	return err.Error() == errMemoryLimiterDataRefused.Error()
+}
+
 func (c *metricsConsumerGroupHandler) Setup(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSession) error {
 	c.readyCloser.Do(func() {
 		close(c.ready)
diff --git a/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver_test.go b/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver_test.go
index e353974acd91..a76b7592f845 100644
--- a/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver_test.go
+++ b/receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/IBM/sarama"
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
@@ -340,35 +341,63 @@ func TestTracesConsumerGroupHandler_error_nextConsumer(t *testing.T) {
 	consumerError := errors.New("failed to consume")
 	obsrecv, err := receiverhelper.NewObsReport(receiverhelper.ObsReportSettings{ReceiverCreateSettings: receivertest.NewNopSettings()})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	c := tracesConsumerGroupHandler{
-		unmarshaler:      newPdataTracesUnmarshaler(&ptrace.ProtoUnmarshaler{}, defaultEncoding),
-		logger:           zap.NewNop(),
-		ready:            make(chan bool),
-		nextConsumer:     consumertest.NewErr(consumerError),
-		obsrecv:          obsrecv,
-		headerExtractor:  &nopHeaderExtractor{},
-		telemetryBuilder: nopTelemetryBuilder(t),
-	}
 
-	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
-	wg.Add(1)
-	groupClaim := &testConsumerGroupClaim{
-		messageChan: make(chan *sarama.ConsumerMessage),
+	tests := []struct {
+		name            string
+		err             error
+		expectedBackoff time.Duration
+	}{
+		{
+			name:            "memory limiter data refused error",
+			err:             errMemoryLimiterDataRefused,
+			expectedBackoff: backoff.DefaultInitialInterval,
+		},
+		{
+			name:            "consumer error that does not require backoff",
+			err:             consumerError,
+			expectedBackoff: 0,
+		},
 	}
-	go func() {
-		e := c.ConsumeClaim(testConsumerGroupSession{ctx: context.Background()}, groupClaim)
-		assert.EqualError(t, e, consumerError.Error())
-		wg.Done()
-	}()
 
-	td := ptrace.NewTraces()
-	td.ResourceSpans().AppendEmpty()
-	unmarshaler := &ptrace.ProtoMarshaler{}
-	bts, err := unmarshaler.MarshalTraces(td)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	groupClaim.messageChan <- &sarama.ConsumerMessage{Value: bts}
-	close(groupClaim.messageChan)
-	wg.Wait()
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			backOff := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+			backOff.RandomizationFactor = 0
+			c := tracesConsumerGroupHandler{
+				unmarshaler:      newPdataTracesUnmarshaler(&ptrace.ProtoUnmarshaler{}, defaultEncoding),
+				logger:           zap.NewNop(),
+				ready:            make(chan bool),
+				nextConsumer:     consumertest.NewErr(tt.err),
+				obsrecv:          obsrecv,
+				headerExtractor:  &nopHeaderExtractor{},
+				telemetryBuilder: nopTelemetryBuilder(t),
+				backOff:          backOff,
+			}
+
+			wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
+			wg.Add(1)
+			groupClaim := &testConsumerGroupClaim{
+				messageChan: make(chan *sarama.ConsumerMessage),
+			}
+			go func() {
+				start := time.Now()
+				e := c.ConsumeClaim(testConsumerGroupSession{ctx: context.Background()}, groupClaim)
+				end := time.Now()
+				assert.EqualError(t, e, tt.err.Error())
+				assert.WithinDuration(t, start.Add(tt.expectedBackoff), end, 100*time.Millisecond)
+				wg.Done()
+			}()
+
+			td := ptrace.NewTraces()
+			td.ResourceSpans().AppendEmpty()
+			unmarshaler := &ptrace.ProtoMarshaler{}
+			bts, err := unmarshaler.MarshalTraces(td)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			groupClaim.messageChan <- &sarama.ConsumerMessage{Value: bts}
+			close(groupClaim.messageChan)
+			wg.Wait()
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 func TestTracesReceiver_encoding_extension(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/receiver/kafkareceiver/testdata/config.yaml b/receiver/kafkareceiver/testdata/config.yaml
index a0a744764602..835b50193198 100644
--- a/receiver/kafkareceiver/testdata/config.yaml
+++ b/receiver/kafkareceiver/testdata/config.yaml
@@ -35,3 +35,9 @@ kafka/logs:
     retry:
       max: 10
       backoff: 5s
+  error_backoff:
+    enabled: true
+    initial_interval: 1s
+    max_interval: 10s
+    max_elapsed_time: 1m
+    multiplier: 1.5
\ No newline at end of file