diff --git a/retrieval/target.go b/retrieval/target.go
index 218338683d..3e2a22f672 100644
--- a/retrieval/target.go
+++ b/retrieval/target.go
@@ -265,10 +265,18 @@ func (t *target) RunScraper(ingester extraction.Ingester, interval time.Duration
 			case <-t.scraperStopping:
 				return
 			case <-ticker.C:
-				targetIntervalLength.WithLabelValues(interval.String()).Observe(float64(time.Since(t.lastScrape) / time.Second))
+				took := time.Since(t.lastScrape)
 				t.Lock() // Write t.lastScrape requires locking.
 				t.lastScrape = time.Now()
 				t.Unlock()
+				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)
 				t.scrape(ingester)
 			}
 		}