diff --git a/data/database.py b/data/database.py
index 80e47bf2e..225b0c11c 100644
--- a/data/database.py
+++ b/data/database.py
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ class QueueItem(BaseModel):
   available_after = DateTimeField(default=datetime.utcnow, index=True)
   available = BooleanField(default=True, index=True)
   processing_expires = DateTimeField(null=True, index=True)
-  retries_remaining = IntegerField(default=5)
+  retries_remaining = IntegerField(default=5, index=True)
 
 
 class RepositoryBuild(BaseModel):
diff --git a/data/migrations/versions/246df01a6d51_add_index_to_retries_remaining.py b/data/migrations/versions/246df01a6d51_add_index_to_retries_remaining.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41488b17b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/migrations/versions/246df01a6d51_add_index_to_retries_remaining.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+"""Add index to retries_remaining
+
+Revision ID: 246df01a6d51
+Revises: 5232a5610a0a
+Create Date: 2015-08-04 17:59:42.262877
+
+"""
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = '246df01a6d51'
+down_revision = '5232a5610a0a'
+
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+
+
+def upgrade(tables):
+    ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.create_index('queueitem_retries_remaining', 'queueitem', ['retries_remaining'], unique=False)
+    ### end Alembic commands ###
+
+
+def downgrade(tables):
+    ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.drop_index('queueitem_retries_remaining', table_name='queueitem')
+    ### end Alembic commands ###