diff --git a/packages/firestore/src/local/simple_db.ts b/packages/firestore/src/local/simple_db.ts
index 77d6b6ae971..1adbdf9f081 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/src/local/simple_db.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/src/local/simple_db.ts
@@ -406,6 +406,15 @@ export interface IterateOptions {
   reverse?: boolean;
 }
 
+/** An error that wraps exceptions that thrown during IndexedDB execution. */
+export class IndexedDbTransactionError extends FirestoreError {
+  name = 'IndexedDbTransactionError';
+
+  constructor(cause: Error) {
+    super(Code.UNAVAILABLE, 'IndexedDB transaction failed: ' + cause);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Wraps an IDBTransaction and exposes a store() method to get a handle to a
  * specific object store.
@@ -432,7 +441,9 @@ export class SimpleDbTransaction {
     };
     this.transaction.onabort = () => {
       if (transaction.error) {
-        this.completionDeferred.reject(transaction.error);
+        this.completionDeferred.reject(
+          new IndexedDbTransactionError(transaction.error)
+        );
       } else {
         this.completionDeferred.resolve();
       }
@@ -441,7 +452,7 @@ export class SimpleDbTransaction {
       const error = checkForAndReportiOSError(
         (event.target as IDBRequest).error!
       );
-      this.completionDeferred.reject(error);
+      this.completionDeferred.reject(new IndexedDbTransactionError(error));
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/firestore/src/util/async_queue.ts b/packages/firestore/src/util/async_queue.ts
index 9293634e20d..7b4bde18262 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/src/util/async_queue.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/src/util/async_queue.ts
@@ -318,9 +318,10 @@ export class AsyncQueue {
   /**
    * Enqueue a retryable operation.
    *
-   * A retryable operation is rescheduled with backoff if it fails with any
-   * exception. All retryable operations are executed in order and only run
-   * if all prior operations were retried successfully.
+   * A retryable operation is rescheduled with backoff if it fails with a
+   * IndexedDbTransactionError (the error type used by SimpleDb). All
+   * retryable operations are executed in order and only run if all prior
+   * operations were retried successfully.
    */
   enqueueRetryable(op: () => Promise<void>): void {
     this.verifyNotFailed();
@@ -337,8 +338,13 @@ export class AsyncQueue {
           deferred.resolve();
           this.backoff.reset();
         } catch (e) {
-          logDebug(LOG_TAG, 'Retryable operation failed: ' + e.message);
-          this.backoff.backoffAndRun(retryingOp);
+          if (e.name === 'IndexedDbTransactionError') {
+            logDebug(LOG_TAG, 'Operation failed with retryable error: ' + e);
+            this.backoff.backoffAndRun(retryingOp);
+          } else {
+            deferred.resolve();
+            throw e; // Failure will be handled by AsyncQueue
+          }
         }
       };
       this.enqueueAndForget(retryingOp);
diff --git a/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/recovery_spec.test.ts b/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/recovery_spec.test.ts
index b5dcf024479..8abb2bb2867 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/recovery_spec.test.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/recovery_spec.test.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describeSpec(
             // Client 1 has received the WebStorage notification that the write
             // has been acknowledged, but failed to process the change. Hence,
             // we did not get a user callback. We schedule the first retry and
-            // make sure that it also does not get processed until 
+            // make sure that it also does not get processed until
             // `recoverDatabase` is called.
             .runTimer(TimerId.AsyncQueueRetry)
             .recoverDatabase()
diff --git a/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/spec_test_components.ts b/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/spec_test_components.ts
index b5371b0e5e1..fa27ef9d06a 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/spec_test_components.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/test/unit/specs/spec_test_components.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import { TargetCache } from '../../../src/local/target_cache';
 import { RemoteDocumentCache } from '../../../src/local/remote_document_cache';
 import { IndexManager } from '../../../src/local/index_manager';
 import { PersistencePromise } from '../../../src/local/persistence_promise';
+import { IndexedDbTransactionError } from '../../../src/local/simple_db';
 import { debugAssert } from '../../../src/util/assert';
 import {
   MemoryEagerDelegate,
@@ -113,7 +114,9 @@ export class MockPersistence implements Persistence {
     ) => PersistencePromise<T>
   ): Promise<T> {
     if (this.injectFailures) {
-      return Promise.reject(new Error('Injected Failure'));
+      return Promise.reject(
+        new IndexedDbTransactionError(new Error('Simulated retryable error'))
+      );
     } else {
       return this.delegate.runTransaction(action, mode, transactionOperation);
     }
diff --git a/packages/firestore/test/unit/util/async_queue.test.ts b/packages/firestore/test/unit/util/async_queue.test.ts
index b4f3b829916..e667462d47f 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/test/unit/util/async_queue.test.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/test/unit/util/async_queue.test.ts
@@ -15,11 +15,17 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { expect } from 'chai';
+import * as chaiAsPromised from 'chai-as-promised';
+
+import { expect, use } from 'chai';
 import { AsyncQueue, TimerId } from '../../../src/util/async_queue';
 import { Code } from '../../../src/util/error';
 import { getLogLevel, setLogLevel, LogLevel } from '../../../src/util/log';
 import { Deferred, Rejecter, Resolver } from '../../../src/util/promise';
+import { fail } from '../../../src/util/assert';
+import { IndexedDbTransactionError } from '../../../src/local/simple_db';
+
+use(chaiAsPromised);
 
 describe('AsyncQueue', () => {
   // We reuse these TimerIds for generic testing.
@@ -212,13 +218,31 @@ describe('AsyncQueue', () => {
     queue.enqueueRetryable(async () => {
       doStep(1);
       if (completedSteps.length === 1) {
-        throw new Error('Simulated retryable error');
+        throw new IndexedDbTransactionError(
+          new Error('Simulated retryable error')
+        );
       }
     });
     await queue.runDelayedOperationsEarly(TimerId.AsyncQueueRetry);
     expect(completedSteps).to.deep.equal([1, 1]);
   });
 
+  it("Doesn't retry internal exceptions", async () => {
+    const queue = new AsyncQueue();
+    // We use a deferred Promise as retryable operations are scheduled only
+    // when Promise chains are resolved, which can happen after the
+    // `queue.enqueue()` call below.
+    const deferred = new Deferred<void>();
+    queue.enqueueRetryable(async () => {
+      deferred.resolve();
+      throw fail('Simulated test failure');
+    });
+    await deferred.promise;
+    await expect(
+      queue.enqueue(() => Promise.resolve())
+    ).to.eventually.be.rejectedWith('Simulated test failure');
+  });
+
   it('Schedules first retryable attempt with no delay', async () => {
     const queue = new AsyncQueue();
     const completedSteps: number[] = [];
@@ -244,7 +268,9 @@ describe('AsyncQueue', () => {
     queue.enqueueRetryable(async () => {
       doStep(1);
       if (completedSteps.length === 1) {
-        throw new Error('Simulated retryable error');
+        throw new IndexedDbTransactionError(
+          new Error('Simulated retryable error')
+        );
       }
     });
 
@@ -270,7 +296,9 @@ describe('AsyncQueue', () => {
       doStep(1);
       if (completedSteps.length > 1) {
       } else {
-        throw new Error('Simulated retryable error');
+        throw new IndexedDbTransactionError(
+          new Error('Simulated retryable error')
+        );
       }
     });
     queue.enqueueRetryable(async () => {
diff --git a/packages/firestore/test/util/node_persistence.ts b/packages/firestore/test/util/node_persistence.ts
index 90977b0295f..aa95831da50 100644
--- a/packages/firestore/test/util/node_persistence.ts
+++ b/packages/firestore/test/util/node_persistence.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /**
  * @license
- * Copyright 2018 Google Inc.
+ * Copyright 2018 Google LLC
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.