diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
index 13a5c33a1e4..59c0035a53a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
+
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
@@ -103,6 +105,10 @@ func NewController(
 	eventBroadcaster.StartStructuredLogging(0)
 	eventBroadcaster.StartRecordingToSink(&typedcorev1.EventSinkImpl{Interface: kubeclientset.CoreV1().Events("")})
 	recorder := eventBroadcaster.NewRecorder(scheme.Scheme, corev1.EventSource{Component: controllerAgentName})
+	ratelimiter := workqueue.NewMaxOfRateLimiter(
+		workqueue.NewItemExponentialFailureRateLimiter(5*time.Millisecond, 1000*time.Second),
+		&workqueue.BucketRateLimiter{Limiter: rate.NewLimiter(rate.Limit(50), 300)},
+	)
 
 	controller := &Controller{
 		kubeclientset:     kubeclientset,
@@ -111,7 +117,7 @@ func NewController(
 		deploymentsSynced: deploymentInformer.Informer().HasSynced,
 		foosLister:        fooInformer.Lister(),
 		foosSynced:        fooInformer.Informer().HasSynced,
-		workqueue:         workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), "Foos"),
+		workqueue:         workqueue.NewRateLimitingQueue(ratelimiter),
 		recorder:          recorder,
 	}
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
index bdbe6f32d28..206742dc391 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ module k8s.io/sample-controller
 go 1.20
 
 require (
+	golang.org/x/time v0.3.0
 	k8s.io/api v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.0.0
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.13.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.13.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/time v0.3.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.12.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/appengine v1.6.7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.31.0 // indirect