diff --git a/server/handler/push.go b/server/handler/push.go
index 65a96d6d5..7924ee19d 100644
--- a/server/handler/push.go
+++ b/server/handler/push.go
@@ -17,13 +17,23 @@ package handler
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v40/github"
+	"github.com/palantir/bulldozer/bulldozer"
 	"github.com/palantir/bulldozer/pull"
 	"github.com/palantir/go-githubapp/githubapp"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
+const (
+	PullQueryDelay = 250 * time.Millisecond
+
+	PullUpdateBaseDelay = 1 * time.Second
+	PullUpdateMaxDelay  = 60 * time.Second
+	PullUpdateDelayMult = 1.5
+)
+
 type Push struct {
 	Base
 }
@@ -75,18 +85,64 @@ func (h *Push) Handle(ctx context.Context, eventType, deliveryID string, payload
 		return err
 	}
 
-	for _, pr := range prs {
+	if config == nil {
+		logger.Debug().Msg("Skipping pull request updates to missing configuration")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var toUpdate []updateCtx
+	for i, pr := range prs {
 		logger := logger.With().Int(githubapp.LogKeyPRNum, pr.GetNumber()).Logger()
-		logger.Debug().Msgf("Considering pull request for update")
+		logger.Debug().Msg("Checking if pull request should update")
 
+		ctx := logger.WithContext(ctx)
 		pullCtx := pull.NewGithubContext(client, pr)
-		if _, err := h.UpdatePullRequest(logger.WithContext(ctx), pullCtx, client, config, pr, baseRef); err != nil {
-			logger.Error().Err(errors.WithStack(err)).Msg("Error updating pull request")
+
+		shouldUpdate, err := bulldozer.ShouldUpdatePR(ctx, pullCtx, config.Update)
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Error().Err(err).Msg("Error determining if pull request should update, skipping")
+			continue
+		}
+		if shouldUpdate {
+			toUpdate = append(toUpdate, updateCtx{
+				ctx:     ctx,
+				pullCtx: pullCtx,
+			})
+		}
+
+		if i < len(prs)-1 {
+			time.Sleep(delay(i, PullQueryDelay, 1, PullQueryDelay))
+		}
+	}
+
+	logger.Info().Msgf("Found %d pull requests that need updates", len(toUpdate))
+	for i, pr := range toUpdate {
+		bulldozer.UpdatePR(pr.ctx, pr.pullCtx, client, config.Update, baseRef)
+		if i < len(toUpdate)-1 {
+			d := delay(i, PullUpdateBaseDelay, PullUpdateDelayMult, PullUpdateMaxDelay)
+			logger.Debug().Msgf("Waiting %v until next update to avoid GitHub rate limits", d)
+			time.Sleep(d)
 		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
+type updateCtx struct {
+	ctx     context.Context
+	pullCtx pull.Context
+}
+
+func delay(iter int, base time.Duration, mult float64, max time.Duration) time.Duration {
+	t := base
+	for ; iter > 0; iter-- {
+		t = time.Duration(mult * float64(t))
+		if t > max {
+			return max
+		}
+	}
+	return t
+}
+
 // type assertion
 var _ githubapp.EventHandler = &Push{}