diff --git a/nagios/check_whois b/nagios/check_whois
index 78acc2f..8f08e46 100755
--- a/nagios/check_whois
+++ b/nagios/check_whois
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
 	shift
 
 	# get the expiration date for this domain
+	test -n "$EXPIRATION_DATE" && sleep 2  # trying not to flood the whois servers
 	EXPIRATION_DATE="$( whois "$DOMAIN" | extract_date_from_whois )"
 	if [ -z "$EXPIRATION_DATE" ]; then
 		# We couldn't get the date :-(