diff --git a/eth/eventsyncer/event_syncer.go b/eth/eventsyncer/event_syncer.go
index 4ee6335efc..fa7c2ea74c 100644
--- a/eth/eventsyncer/event_syncer.go
+++ b/eth/eventsyncer/event_syncer.go
@@ -105,8 +105,9 @@ func (es *EventSyncer) blockBelowThreshold(ctx context.Context, block *big.Int)
 
 // SyncHistory reads and processes historical events since the given fromBlock.
 func (es *EventSyncer) SyncHistory(ctx context.Context, fromBlock uint64) (lastProcessedBlock uint64, err error) {
+	const maxTries = 3
 	var prevProcessedBlock uint64
-	for {
+	for i := 0; i < maxTries; i++ {
 		fetchLogs, fetchError, err := es.executionClient.FetchHistoricalLogs(ctx, fromBlock)
 		if errors.Is(err, executionclient.ErrNothingToSync) {
 			// Nothing to sync, should keep ongoing sync from the given fromBlock.
@@ -132,25 +133,27 @@ func (es *EventSyncer) SyncHistory(ctx context.Context, fromBlock uint64) (lastP
 			return 0, fmt.Errorf("event replay: lastProcessedBlock (%d) is lower than fromBlock (%d)", lastProcessedBlock, fromBlock)
 		}
 
-		if lastProcessedBlock == prevProcessedBlock {
-			break
-		}
-		prevProcessedBlock = lastProcessedBlock
-
 		err = es.blockBelowThreshold(ctx, new(big.Int).SetUint64(lastProcessedBlock))
 		if err == nil {
+			// Successfully synced up to a fresh block.
+			es.logger.Info("finished syncing historical events",
+				zap.Uint64("from_block", fromBlock),
+				zap.Uint64("last_processed_block", lastProcessedBlock))
+
+			return lastProcessedBlock, nil
+		}
+
+		if lastProcessedBlock == prevProcessedBlock {
+			// Not advancing, so can't sync any further.
 			break
 		}
+		prevProcessedBlock = lastProcessedBlock
 
 		fromBlock = lastProcessedBlock + 1
-		es.logger.Info("finished syncing on an old block, retrying", zap.Uint64("from_block", fromBlock))
+		es.logger.Info("finished syncing up to a stale block, resuming", zap.Uint64("from_block", fromBlock))
 	}
 
-	es.logger.Info("finished syncing historical events",
-		zap.Uint64("from_block", fromBlock),
-		zap.Uint64("last_processed_block", lastProcessedBlock))
-
-	return lastProcessedBlock, nil
+	return 0, fmt.Errorf("highest block is too old (%d)", lastProcessedBlock)
 }
 
 // SyncOngoing streams and processes ongoing events as they come since the given fromBlock.