diff --git a/litellm/constants.py b/litellm/constants.py
index 49514fc4d0e..a59e1ca6fcd 100644
--- a/litellm/constants.py
+++ b/litellm/constants.py
@@ -494,6 +494,8 @@ DEFAULT_MAX_LRU_CACHE_SIZE: Final = int(os.getenv("DEFAULT_MAX_LRU_CACHE_SIZE",
 _REALTIME_BODY_CACHE_SIZE = 1000  # Keep realtime helper caches bounded; workloads rarely exceed 1k models/intents
 INITIAL_RETRY_DELAY: Final = float(os.getenv("INITIAL_RETRY_DELAY", 0.5))
 MAX_RETRY_DELAY: Final = float(os.getenv("MAX_RETRY_DELAY", 8.0))
+LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS: Final = get_env_int("LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS", 40)
+LENS_UPDATE_BACKOFF_SECONDS: Final = float(os.getenv("LENS_UPDATE_BACKOFF_SECONDS", 0.02))
 JITTER: Final = float(os.getenv("JITTER", 0.75))
 DEFAULT_IN_MEMORY_TTL = int(os.getenv("DEFAULT_IN_MEMORY_TTL", 5))  # default time to live for the in-memory cache
 DEFAULT_MAX_REDIS_BATCH_CACHE_SIZE: Final = int(
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/lens/repository.py b/litellm/proxy/lens/repository.py
index 6e1e2da112a..8875cf3512b 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/lens/repository.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/lens/repository.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+import asyncio
 import json
+import random
 from collections.abc import AsyncIterator, Awaitable, Callable
 from types import MappingProxyType
 from typing import Final, Protocol
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel, JsonValue, TypeAdapter
 
+from litellm.constants import LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS, LENS_UPDATE_BACKOFF_SECONDS
 from litellm.proxy.db.prisma_client import PrismaWrapper
 from litellm.proxy.lens.models import Job, Lens, Scope, Worker
 
@@ -22,8 +25,9 @@ _ROWS: Final = TypeAdapter(tuple[Row, ...])
 
 
 class LensRepository:
-    def __init__(self, db: Database) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, db: Database, sleep: Callable[[float], Awaitable[None]] = asyncio.sleep) -> None:
         self.db: Final = db
+        self.sleep: Final = sleep
 
     async def lenses(self) -> tuple[Lens, ...]:
         rows: Final = _ROWS.validate_python(await self.db.query_raw('SELECT data FROM "LiteLLM_Lens" ORDER BY id'))
@@ -47,12 +51,18 @@ class LensRepository:
         return lens
 
     async def update(
-        self, lens_id: str, transform: Callable[[Lens], Lens], attempts: int = 8, *, changed_only: bool = False
+        self,
+        lens_id: str,
+        transform: Callable[[Lens], Lens],
+        attempts: int = LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS,
+        *,
+        changed_only: bool = False,
     ) -> Lens | None:
-        for _ in range(attempts):
+        for attempt in range(attempts):
             completed, updated = await self._try_update(lens_id, transform, changed_only)
             if completed:
                 return updated
+            await self.sleep(random.uniform(0, LENS_UPDATE_BACKOFF_SECONDS * min(attempt + 1, 8)))
         return None
 
     async def _try_update(
diff --git a/tests/unit/proxy/lens/test_repository.py b/tests/unit/proxy/lens/test_repository.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a5cb60eaa3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/proxy/lens/test_repository.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from typing import Final
+
+import pytest
+
+from litellm.constants import LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS
+from litellm.proxy.lens.models import Check, Lens, LensSettings, Scope
+from litellm.proxy.lens.repository import LensRepository, Row
+
+NOW: Final = datetime(2026, 1, 15, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+STORED: Final = Lens(
+    id="lens",
+    scope=Scope(team_id="alpha"),
+    settings=LensSettings(name="Swarm", model="cerebras/gpt-oss-120b", checks=(Check(id="c", instruction="Find loops"),)),
+    created_at=NOW,
+    next_run_at=NOW,
+    budget_month=NOW.strftime("%Y-%m"),
+)
+
+
+class ContendedDatabase:
+    def __init__(self, losses: int) -> None:
+        self.losses: Final = losses
+        self.writes = 0  # rebind-ok: counts write attempts made under contention
+
+    async def query_raw(self, query: str, *args: object) -> object:
+        if query.startswith("SELECT data FROM"):
+            return (Row(data=STORED.model_dump(mode="json")),)
+        self.writes += 1
+        return (Row(data=1 if self.writes > self.losses else 0),)
+
+    async def execute_raw(self, query: str, *args: object) -> int:
+        return 0
+
+
+async def no_wait(_: float) -> None:
+    return None
+
+
+def renamed(lens: Lens) -> Lens:
+    return lens.model_copy(update={"settings": lens.settings.model_copy(update={"name": "Swarm (renamed)"})})
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_update_survives_the_contention_of_a_fast_model_writing_every_review() -> None:
+    db: Final = ContendedDatabase(losses=12)
+    updated: Final = await LensRepository(db, sleep=no_wait).update("lens", renamed)
+    assert updated is not None
+    assert updated.settings.name == "Swarm (renamed)"
+    assert db.writes == 13
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_update_backs_off_between_lost_writes_and_gives_up_after_the_limit() -> None:
+    waits: list[float] = []  # mutable-ok: records each backoff the repository requests
+
+    async def record(seconds: float) -> None:
+        waits.append(seconds)
+
+    db: Final = ContendedDatabase(losses=LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS)
+    assert await LensRepository(db, sleep=record).update("lens", renamed) is None
+    assert db.writes == LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS
+    assert len(waits) == LENS_UPDATE_ATTEMPTS
+    assert all(w >= 0 for w in waits)