diff --git a/retrieval/ingester.go b/retrieval/ingester.go
index 55e0f51ae..428c2833a 100644
--- a/retrieval/ingester.go
+++ b/retrieval/ingester.go
@@ -14,11 +14,15 @@
 package retrieval
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/extraction"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 )
 
+var errIngestChannelFull = errors.New("ingestion channel full")
+
 // MergeLabelsIngester merges a labelset ontop of a given extraction result and
 // passes the result on to another ingester. Label collisions are avoided by
 // appending a label prefix to any newly merged colliding labels.
@@ -42,8 +46,14 @@ func (i *MergeLabelsIngester) Ingest(samples clientmodel.Samples) error {
 // ChannelIngester feeds results into a channel without modifying them.
 type ChannelIngester chan<- clientmodel.Samples
 
-// Ingest ingests the provided extraction result by sending it to i.
+// Ingest ingests the provided extraction result by sending it to its channel.
+// It returns an error if the channel is not ready to receive. This is important
+// to fail fast and to not pile up ingestion requests in case of overload.
 func (i ChannelIngester) Ingest(s clientmodel.Samples) error {
-	i <- s
-	return nil
+	select {
+	case i <- s:
+		return nil
+	default:
+		return errIngestChannelFull
+	}
 }
diff --git a/retrieval/target.go b/retrieval/target.go
index 7c4ba49f0..ddd0a0eb4 100644
--- a/retrieval/target.go
+++ b/retrieval/target.go
@@ -272,18 +272,6 @@ func (t *target) RunScraper(ingester extraction.Ingester, interval time.Duration
 				targetIntervalLength.WithLabelValues(interval.String()).Observe(
 					float64(took) / float64(time.Second), // Sub-second precision.
 				)
-				// Throttle the scrape if it took longer than interval - by
-				// sleeping for the time it took longer. This will make the
-				// actual scrape interval increase as long as a scrape takes
-				// longer than the interval we are aiming for.
-				time.Sleep(took - interval)
-				// After the sleep, we should check again if we have been stopped.
-				select {
-				case <-t.scraperStopping:
-					return
-				default:
-					// Do nothing.
-				}
 				t.scrape(ingester)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/retrieval/target_test.go b/retrieval/target_test.go
index dee3bce31..cb84ef7e4 100644
--- a/retrieval/target_test.go
+++ b/retrieval/target_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,32 @@ func TestTargetScrapeUpdatesState(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestTargetScrapeWithFullChannel(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(
+		http.HandlerFunc(
+			func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.Header().Set("Content-Type", `text/plain; version=0.0.4`)
+				w.Write([]byte("test_metric{foo=\"bar\"} 123.456\n"))
+			},
+		),
+	)
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	testTarget := NewTarget(
+		server.URL,
+		100*time.Millisecond,
+		clientmodel.LabelSet{"dings": "bums"},
+	).(*target)
+
+	testTarget.scrape(ChannelIngester(make(chan clientmodel.Samples))) // Capacity 0.
+	if testTarget.state != Unreachable {
+		t.Errorf("Expected target state %v, actual: %v", Unreachable, testTarget.state)
+	}
+	if testTarget.lastError != errIngestChannelFull {
+		t.Errorf("Expected target error %q, actual: %q", errIngestChannelFull, testTarget.lastError)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestTargetRecordScrapeHealth(t *testing.T) {
 	testTarget := target{
 		url:        "http://example.url",
@@ -96,12 +122,15 @@ func TestTargetRecordScrapeHealth(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTargetScrapeTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	signal := make(chan bool, 1)
-	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		<-signal
-		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", `application/json; schema="prometheus/telemetry"; version=0.0.2`)
-		w.Write([]byte(`[]`))
-	}))
-
+	server := httptest.NewServer(
+		http.HandlerFunc(
+			func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				<-signal
+				w.Header().Set("Content-Type", `text/plain; version=0.0.4`)
+				w.Write([]byte{})
+			},
+		),
+	)
 	defer server.Close()
 
 	testTarget := NewTarget(server.URL, 10*time.Millisecond, clientmodel.LabelSet{})
@@ -137,10 +166,13 @@ func TestTargetScrapeTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTargetScrape404(t *testing.T) {
-	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
-	}))
-
+	server := httptest.NewServer(
+		http.HandlerFunc(
+			func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+			},
+		),
+	)
 	defer server.Close()
 
 	testTarget := NewTarget(server.URL, 10*time.Millisecond, clientmodel.LabelSet{})
@@ -179,3 +211,29 @@ func TestTargetRunScraperScrapes(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Scrape occured after it was stopped.")
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkScrape(b *testing.B) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(
+		http.HandlerFunc(
+			func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				w.Header().Set("Content-Type", `text/plain; version=0.0.4`)
+				w.Write([]byte("test_metric{foo=\"bar\"} 123.456\n"))
+			},
+		),
+	)
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	testTarget := NewTarget(
+		server.URL,
+		100*time.Millisecond,
+		clientmodel.LabelSet{"dings": "bums"},
+	)
+	ingester := nopIngester{}
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		if err := testTarget.(*target).scrape(ingester); err != nil {
+			b.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+}