diff --git a/scripts/harb-evaluator/red-team-sweep.sh b/scripts/harb-evaluator/red-team-sweep.sh
index 78217e0..3b23826 100755
--- a/scripts/harb-evaluator/red-team-sweep.sh
+++ b/scripts/harb-evaluator/red-team-sweep.sh
@@ -289,15 +289,17 @@ PYEOF
     '{completed: $arr, last_updated: now | todate}' > "$PROGRESS_FILE"
   log "DONE $seed_name"
 
-  # 6. Teardown — poll until all containers have exited (no fixed sleep)
+  # 6. Teardown — poll until all containers have exited (exponential backoff, no fixed delay)
   cd "$REPO_ROOT" && docker compose down -v 2>/dev/null || true
   _deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + 30 ))
+  _backoff_ms=100
   while [[ -n "$(docker compose ps --quiet 2>/dev/null)" ]]; do
     if [[ $(date +%s) -ge $_deadline ]]; then
       log "WARNING: containers still present after 30s — proceeding anyway"
       break
     fi
-    sleep 1
+    sleep "$(awk "BEGIN{printf \"%.1f\", $_backoff_ms / 1000}")"
+    (( _backoff_ms = _backoff_ms * 2 > 2000 ? 2000 : _backoff_ms * 2 ))
   done
 done