diff --git a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/sponsorblock.py b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/sponsorblock.py
index 7265a9de7..70c5462d1 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/postprocessor/sponsorblock.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/postprocessor/sponsorblock.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+from hashlib import sha256
+import itertools
 import json
 import re
-from hashlib import sha256
+import time
 
 from .ffmpeg import FFmpegPostProcessor
 from ..compat import compat_urllib_parse_urlencode, compat_HTTPError
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ class SponsorBlockPP(FFmpegPostProcessor):
             self.to_screen(f'SponsorBlock is not supported for {extractor}')
             return [], info
 
+        self.to_screen('Fetching SponsorBlock segments')
         info['sponsorblock_chapters'] = self._get_sponsor_chapters(info, info['duration'])
         return [], info
 
@@ -79,18 +82,28 @@ class SponsorBlockPP(FFmpegPostProcessor):
             'service': service,
             'categories': json.dumps(self._categories),
         })
+        self.write_debug(f'SponsorBlock query: {url}')
         for d in self._get_json(url):
             if d['videoID'] == video_id:
                 return d['segments']
         return []
 
     def _get_json(self, url):
-        self.write_debug(f'SponsorBlock query: {url}')
-        try:
-            rsp = self._downloader.urlopen(sanitized_Request(url))
-        except network_exceptions as e:
-            if isinstance(e, compat_HTTPError) and e.code == 404:
-                return []
-            raise PostProcessingError(f'Unable to communicate with SponsorBlock API - {e}')
-
-        return json.loads(rsp.read().decode(rsp.info().get_param('charset') or 'utf-8'))
+        # While this is not an extractor, it behaves similar to one and
+        # so obey extractor_retries and sleep_interval_requests
+        max_retries = self.get_param('extractor_retries', 3)
+        sleep_interval = self.get_param('sleep_interval_requests') or 0
+        for retries in itertools.count():
+            try:
+                rsp = self._downloader.urlopen(sanitized_Request(url))
+                return json.loads(rsp.read().decode(rsp.info().get_param('charset') or 'utf-8'))
+            except network_exceptions as e:
+                if isinstance(e, compat_HTTPError) and e.code == 404:
+                    return []
+                if retries < max_retries:
+                    self.report_warning(f'{e}. Retrying...')
+                    if sleep_interval > 0:
+                        self.to_screen(f'Sleeping {sleep_interval} seconds ...')
+                        time.sleep(sleep_interval)
+                    continue
+                raise PostProcessingError(f'Unable to communicate with SponsorBlock API: {e}')