Index: core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ConsumerConfig.scala
===================================================================
--- core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ConsumerConfig.scala	(revision 1205689)
+++ core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ConsumerConfig.scala	(working copy)
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
   val AutoCommit = true
   val AutoCommitInterval = 10 * 1000
   val MaxQueuedChunks = 100
+  val MaxRebalanceRetries = 4
   val AutoOffsetReset = OffsetRequest.SmallestTimeString
   val ConsumerTimeoutMs = -1
   val MirrorTopicsWhitelist = ""
@@ -77,6 +78,9 @@
   /** max number of messages buffered for consumption */
   val maxQueuedChunks = Utils.getInt(props, "queuedchunks.max", MaxQueuedChunks)
 
+  /** max number of retries during rebalance */
+  val maxRebalanceRetries = Utils.getInt(props, "rebalance,retries.max", MaxRebalanceRetries)
+
   /* what to do if an offset is out of range.
      smallest : automatically reset the offset to the smallest offset
      largest : automatically reset the offset to the largest offset
Index: core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala
===================================================================
--- core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala	(revision 1205689)
+++ core/src/main/scala/kafka/consumer/ZookeeperConsumerConnector.scala	(working copy)
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@
  *
  */
 private[kafka] object ZookeeperConsumerConnector {
-  val MAX_N_RETRIES = 4
   val shutdownCommand: FetchedDataChunk = new FetchedDataChunk(null, null, -1L)
 }
 
@@ -424,7 +423,7 @@
 
     def syncedRebalance() {
       rebalanceLock synchronized {
-        for (i <- 0 until ZookeeperConsumerConnector.MAX_N_RETRIES) {
+        for (i <- 0 until config.maxRebalanceRetries) {
           info("begin rebalancing consumer " + consumerIdString + " try #" + i)
           var done = false
           try {
@@ -447,7 +446,7 @@
         }
       }
 
-      throw new RuntimeException(consumerIdString + " can't rebalance after " + ZookeeperConsumerConnector.MAX_N_RETRIES +" retires")
+      throw new RuntimeException(consumerIdString + " can't rebalance after " + config.maxRebalanceRetries +" retires")
     }
 
     private def rebalance(): Boolean = {