diff --git a/relayer/listener.go b/relayer/listener.go
index 6df5dc05..379af75f 100644
--- a/relayer/listener.go
+++ b/relayer/listener.go
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func newListener(
 		)
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	sub := vms.NewSubscriber(logger, config.ParseVM(sourceBlockchain.VM), blockchainID, ethWSClient)
+	sub := vms.NewSubscriber(logger, config.ParseVM(sourceBlockchain.VM), blockchainID, ethWSClient, ethRPCClient)
 
 	// Marks when the listener has finished the catch-up process on startup.
 	// Until that time, we do not know the order in which messages are processed,
diff --git a/vms/evm/subscriber.go b/vms/evm/subscriber.go
index 8027baeb..672e9290 100644
--- a/vms/evm/subscriber.go
+++ b/vms/evm/subscriber.go
@@ -22,11 +22,13 @@ const (
 	maxClientSubscriptionBuffer = 20000
 	subscribeRetryTimeout       = 1 * time.Second
 	MaxBlocksPerRequest         = 200
+	rpcMaxRetries               = 5
 )
 
 // subscriber implements Subscriber
 type subscriber struct {
-	ethClient    ethclient.Client
+	wsClient     ethclient.Client
+	rpcClient    ethclient.Client
 	blockchainID ids.ID
 	headers      chan *types.Header
 	sub          interfaces.Subscription
@@ -35,10 +37,16 @@ type subscriber struct {
 }
 
 // NewSubscriber returns a subscriber
-func NewSubscriber(logger logging.Logger, blockchainID ids.ID, ethClient ethclient.Client) *subscriber {
+func NewSubscriber(
+	logger logging.Logger,
+	blockchainID ids.ID,
+	wsClient ethclient.Client,
+	rpcClient ethclient.Client,
+) *subscriber {
 	return &subscriber{
 		blockchainID: blockchainID,
-		ethClient:    ethClient,
+		wsClient:     wsClient,
+		rpcClient:    rpcClient,
 		logger:       logger,
 		headers:      make(chan *types.Header, maxClientSubscriptionBuffer),
 	}
@@ -63,7 +71,7 @@ func (s *subscriber) ProcessFromHeight(height *big.Int, done chan bool) {
 	}
 
 	// Grab the latest block before filtering logs so we don't miss any before updating the db
-	latestBlockHeight, err := s.ethClient.BlockNumber(context.Background())
+	latestBlockHeight, err := s.rpcClient.BlockNumber(context.Background())
 	if err != nil {
 		s.logger.Error(
 			"Failed to get latest block",
@@ -103,10 +111,10 @@ func (s *subscriber) processBlockRange(
 	fromBlock, toBlock *big.Int,
 ) error {
 	for i := fromBlock.Int64(); i <= toBlock.Int64(); i++ {
-		header, err := s.ethClient.HeaderByNumber(context.Background(), big.NewInt(i))
+		header, err := s.getHeaderByNumberRetryable(big.NewInt(i))
 		if err != nil {
 			s.logger.Error(
-				"Failed to get header by number",
+				"Failed to get header by number after max attempts",
 				zap.String("blockchainID", s.blockchainID.String()),
 				zap.Error(err),
 			)
@@ -117,6 +125,29 @@ func (s *subscriber) processBlockRange(
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (s *subscriber) getHeaderByNumberRetryable(headerNumber *big.Int) (*types.Header, error) {
+	var err error
+	var header *types.Header
+	attempt := 1
+	for {
+		header, err = s.rpcClient.HeaderByNumber(context.Background(), headerNumber)
+		if err == nil {
+			return header, nil
+		}
+		s.logger.Warn(
+			"Failed to get header by number",
+			zap.String("blockchainID", s.blockchainID.String()),
+			zap.Int("attempt", attempt),
+			zap.Error(err),
+		)
+		if attempt >= rpcMaxRetries {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		time.Sleep(subscribeRetryTimeout)
+		attempt++
+	}
+}
+
 // Loops forever iff maxResubscribeAttempts == 0
 func (s *subscriber) Subscribe(maxResubscribeAttempts int) error {
 	// Retry subscribing until successful. Attempt to resubscribe maxResubscribeAttempts times
@@ -155,7 +186,7 @@ func (s *subscriber) Subscribe(maxResubscribeAttempts int) error {
 }
 
 func (s *subscriber) subscribe() error {
-	sub, err := s.ethClient.SubscribeNewHead(context.Background(), s.headers)
+	sub, err := s.wsClient.SubscribeNewHead(context.Background(), s.headers)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.logger.Error(
 			"Failed to subscribe to logs",
diff --git a/vms/evm/subscriber_test.go b/vms/evm/subscriber_test.go
index f9661257..7a72b776 100644
--- a/vms/evm/subscriber_test.go
+++ b/vms/evm/subscriber_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func makeSubscriberWithMockEthClient(t *testing.T) (*subscriber, *mock_ethclient
 	mockEthClient := mock_ethclient.NewMockClient(gomock.NewController(t))
 	blockchainID, err := ids.FromString(sourceSubnet.BlockchainID)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	subscriber := NewSubscriber(logger, blockchainID, mockEthClient)
+	subscriber := NewSubscriber(logger, blockchainID, mockEthClient, mockEthClient)
 
 	return subscriber, mockEthClient
 }
diff --git a/vms/subscriber.go b/vms/subscriber.go
index 860caf08..91f90e60 100644
--- a/vms/subscriber.go
+++ b/vms/subscriber.go
@@ -39,10 +39,16 @@ type Subscriber interface {
 }
 
 // NewSubscriber returns a concrete Subscriber according to the VM specified by [subnetInfo]
-func NewSubscriber(logger logging.Logger, vm config.VM, blockchainID ids.ID, ethClient ethclient.Client) Subscriber {
+func NewSubscriber(
+	logger logging.Logger,
+	vm config.VM,
+	blockchainID ids.ID,
+	ethWSClient ethclient.Client,
+	ethRPCClient ethclient.Client,
+) Subscriber {
 	switch vm {
 	case config.EVM:
-		return evm.NewSubscriber(logger, blockchainID, ethClient)
+		return evm.NewSubscriber(logger, blockchainID, ethWSClient, ethRPCClient)
 	default:
 		return nil
 	}