diff --git a/collectors/monitoring_collector.go b/collectors/monitoring_collector.go
index 4f9ddb30..25a4d01a 100644
--- a/collectors/monitoring_collector.go
+++ b/collectors/monitoring_collector.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ type MonitoringCollector struct {
 	metricsTypePrefixes             []string
 	metricsFilters                  []MetricFilter
 	metricsInterval                 time.Duration
+	metricsDelay                    time.Duration
 	metricsOffset                   time.Duration
 	metricsIngestDelay              bool
 	monitoringService               *monitoring.Service
@@ -70,6 +71,9 @@ type MonitoringCollectorOptions struct {
 	// RequestInterval is the time interval used in each request to get metrics. If there are many data points returned
 	// during this interval, only the latest will be reported.
 	RequestInterval time.Duration
+	// RequestDelay is the time interval between each subsequent request to get metrics. If you are receiving a rateLimited
+	// error, this can be increased.
+	RequestDelay time.Duration
 	// RequestOffset is used to offset the requested interval into the past.
 	RequestOffset time.Duration
 	// IngestDelay decides if the ingestion delay specified in the metrics metadata is used when calculating the
@@ -198,6 +202,7 @@ func NewMonitoringCollector(projectID string, monitoringService *monitoring.Serv
 		metricsTypePrefixes:             opts.MetricTypePrefixes,
 		metricsFilters:                  opts.ExtraFilters,
 		metricsInterval:                 opts.RequestInterval,
+		metricsDelay:                    opts.RequestDelay,
 		metricsOffset:                   opts.RequestOffset,
 		metricsIngestDelay:              opts.IngestDelay,
 		monitoringService:               monitoringService,
@@ -340,6 +345,9 @@ func (c *MonitoringCollector) reportMonitoringMetrics(ch chan<- prometheus.Metri
 					timeSeriesListCall.PageToken(page.NextPageToken)
 				}
 			}(metricDescriptor, ch, startTime, endTime)
+			if c.metricsDelay != 0 {
+				time.Sleep(c.metricsDelay)
+			}
 		}
 
 		wg.Wait()
diff --git a/stackdriver_exporter.go b/stackdriver_exporter.go
index f71c4f43..0b21be8a 100644
--- a/stackdriver_exporter.go
+++ b/stackdriver_exporter.go
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ var (
 		"monitoring.metrics-interval", "Interval to request the Google Stackdriver Monitoring Metrics for. Only the most recent data point is used.",
 	).Default("5m").Duration()
 
+	monitoringMetricsDelay = kingpin.Flag(
+		"monitoring.metrics-delay", "Interval delay between metrics requests to the Google Stackdriver Monitoring.",
+	).Default("0s").Duration()
+
 	monitoringMetricsOffset = kingpin.Flag(
 		"monitoring.metrics-offset", "Offset for the Google Stackdriver Monitoring Metrics interval into the past.",
 	).Default("0s").Duration()
@@ -215,6 +219,7 @@ func (h *handler) innerHandler(filters map[string]bool) http.Handler {
 			MetricTypePrefixes:        h.filterMetricTypePrefixes(filters),
 			ExtraFilters:              h.metricsExtraFilters,
 			RequestInterval:           *monitoringMetricsInterval,
+			RequestDelay:              *monitoringMetricsDelay,
 			RequestOffset:             *monitoringMetricsOffset,
 			IngestDelay:               *monitoringMetricsIngestDelay,
 			FillMissingLabels:         *collectorFillMissingLabels,