diff --git a/bigtable/docs/snippets.py b/bigtable/docs/snippets.py
index 7f4071b41fd8..1119b3b6bd90 100644
--- a/bigtable/docs/snippets.py
+++ b/bigtable/docs/snippets.py
@@ -395,6 +395,8 @@ def test_bigtable_update_cluster():
 
 def test_bigtable_create_table():
     # [START bigtable_create_table]
+    from google.api_core import exceptions
+    from google.api_core import retry
     from google.cloud.bigtable import Client
     from google.cloud.bigtable import column_family
 
@@ -403,7 +405,13 @@ def test_bigtable_create_table():
     table = instance.table("table_my")
     # Define the GC policy to retain only the most recent 2 versions.
     max_versions_rule = column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(2)
-    table.create(column_families={"cf1": max_versions_rule})
+
+    # Could include other retriable exception types
+    # Could configure deadline, etc.
+    predicate_504 = retry.if_exception_type(exceptions.DeadlineExceeded)
+    retry_504 = retry.Retry(predicate_504)
+
+    retry_504(table.create)(column_families={"cf1": max_versions_rule})
     # [END bigtable_create_table]
 
     try: