diff --git a/dr_botzo/dr_botzo/settings.py b/dr_botzo/dr_botzo/settings.py
index 9fb9c17..178fe6c 100644
--- a/dr_botzo/dr_botzo/settings.py
+++ b/dr_botzo/dr_botzo/settings.py
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ IRCBOT_SSL = False
 IRCBOT_IPV6 = False
 
 
+# post-connect, pre-autojoin stuff
+IRCBOT_SLEEP_BEFORE_AUTOJOIN_SECONDS = 10
+
+
 # XML-RPC settings
 IRCBOT_XMLRPC_HOST = 'localhost'
 IRCBOT_XMLRPC_PORT = 13132
diff --git a/dr_botzo/ircbot/bot.py b/dr_botzo/ircbot/bot.py
index a970435..67adda5 100644
--- a/dr_botzo/ircbot/bot.py
+++ b/dr_botzo/ircbot/bot.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import socket
 import ssl
 import sys
 import thread
+import time
 
 from django.conf import settings
 
@@ -468,6 +469,10 @@ class IRCBot(irc.client.SimpleIRCClient):
 
         log.debug("welcome: %s", what)
 
+
+        # sleep before doing autojoins
+        time.sleep(settings.IRCBOT_SLEEP_BEFORE_AUTOJOIN_SECONDS)
+
         for chan in IrcChannel.objects.filter(autojoin=True):
             log.info(u"autojoining %s", chan.name)
             self.connection.join(chan)