diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate.java
index c985de20d4..d5b3426476 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate.java
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 
 package org.springframework.test.context.cache;
 
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
@@ -60,6 +62,12 @@ public class DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate implements CacheAwareContext
 
 	private static final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate.class);
 
+	/**
+	 * The default failure threshold for errors encountered while attempting to
+	 * load an {@link ApplicationContext}: {@value}.
+	 * @since 6.1
+	 */
+	private static final int DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD = 1;
 
 	/**
 	 * Default static cache of Spring application contexts.
@@ -74,6 +82,19 @@ public class DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate implements CacheAwareContext
 
 	private final ContextCache contextCache;
 
+	/**
+	 * Map of context keys to context load failure counts.
+	 * @since 6.1
+	 */
+	private final Map<MergedContextConfiguration, Integer> failureCounts = new HashMap<>(32);
+
+	/**
+	 * The configured failure threshold for errors encountered while attempting to
+	 * load an {@link ApplicationContext}.
+	 * @since 6.1
+	 */
+	private final int failureThreshold;
+
 
 	/**
 	 * Construct a new {@code DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate} using
@@ -95,6 +116,7 @@ public class DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate implements CacheAwareContext
 	public DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate(ContextCache contextCache) {
 		Assert.notNull(contextCache, "ContextCache must not be null");
 		this.contextCache = contextCache;
+		this.failureThreshold = DEFAULT_FAILURE_THRESHOLD;
 	}
 
 
@@ -112,6 +134,13 @@ public class DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate implements CacheAwareContext
 		synchronized (this.contextCache) {
 			ApplicationContext context = this.contextCache.get(mergedConfig);
 			if (context == null) {
+				Integer failureCount = this.failureCounts.getOrDefault(mergedConfig, 0);
+				if (failureCount >= this.failureThreshold) {
+					throw new IllegalStateException("""
+							ApplicationContext failure threshold (%d) exceeded: \
+							skipping repeated attempt to load context for %s"""
+								.formatted(this.failureThreshold, mergedConfig));
+				}
 				try {
 					if (mergedConfig instanceof AotMergedContextConfiguration aotMergedConfig) {
 						context = loadContextInAotMode(aotMergedConfig);
@@ -126,6 +155,7 @@ public class DefaultCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate implements CacheAwareContext
 					this.contextCache.put(mergedConfig, context);
 				}
 				catch (Exception ex) {
+					this.failureCounts.put(mergedConfig, ++failureCount);
 					Throwable cause = ex;
 					if (ex instanceof ContextLoadException cle) {
 						cause = cle.getCause();
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/ContextFailureThresholdTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/ContextFailureThresholdTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72f778d1ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/cache/ContextFailureThresholdTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2023 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.test.context.cache;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.MethodOrderer.OrderAnnotation;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Order;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestMethodOrder;
+
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.SpringJUnitConfig;
+
+import static org.springframework.test.context.cache.ContextCacheTestUtils.assertContextCacheStatistics;
+import static org.springframework.test.context.cache.ContextCacheTestUtils.resetContextCache;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 6.1
+ */
+@SpringJUnitConfig
+@TestMethodOrder(OrderAnnotation.class)
+@Disabled
+class ContextFailureThresholdTests {
+
+	@BeforeAll
+	static void verifyInitialCacheState() {
+		resetContextCache();
+		assertContextCacheStatistics("BeforeAll", 0, 0, 0);
+	}
+
+	@AfterAll
+	static void verifyFinalCacheState() {
+		assertContextCacheStatistics("AfterAll", 0, 0, 3);
+		resetContextCache();
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@Order(1)
+	void test1() {
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@Order(2)
+	void test2() {
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@Order(3)
+	void test3() {
+	}
+
+
+	@Configuration
+	static class FailingConfig {
+
+		@Bean
+		String explosiveString() {
+			throw new RuntimeException("Boom!");
+		}
+	}
+
+}