diff --git a/command/agent/agent.go b/command/agent/agent.go
index ea3c515079..19a0a6303b 100644
--- a/command/agent/agent.go
+++ b/command/agent/agent.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul/structs"
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ const (
 	servicesDir = "services"
 
 	// Path to save local agent checks
-	checksDir = "checks"
+	checksDir     = "checks"
+	checkStateDir = "checks/state"
 
 	// The ID of the faux health checks for maintenance mode
 	serviceMaintCheckPrefix = "_service_maintenance"
@@ -757,6 +759,13 @@ func (a *Agent) AddCheck(check *structs.HealthCheck, chkType *CheckType, persist
 				TTL:     chkType.TTL,
 				Logger:  a.logger,
 			}
+
+			// Restore persisted state, if any
+			if err := a.recallCheckState(check); err != nil {
+				a.logger.Printf("[WARN] agent: failed restoring state for check %q: %s",
+					check.CheckID, err)
+			}
+
 			ttl.Start()
 			a.checkTTLs[check.CheckID] = ttl
 
@@ -861,6 +870,75 @@ func (a *Agent) UpdateCheck(checkID, status, output string) error {
 
 	// Set the status through CheckTTL to reset the TTL
 	check.SetStatus(status, output)
+
+	// Always persist the state for TTL checks
+	if err := a.persistCheckState(check, status, output); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed persisting state for check %q: %s", checkID, err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// persistCheckState is used to record the check status into the data dir.
+// This allows the state to be restored on a later agent start. Currently
+// only useful for TTL based checks.
+func (a *Agent) persistCheckState(check *CheckTTL, status, output string) error {
+	// Create the persisted state
+	state := persistedCheckState{
+		CheckID: check.CheckID,
+		Status:  status,
+		Output:  output,
+		Expires: time.Now().Add(check.TTL).Unix(),
+	}
+
+	// Encode the state
+	buf, err := json.Marshal(state)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Create the state dir if it doesn't exist
+	dir := filepath.Join(a.config.DataDir, checkStateDir)
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0700); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed creating check state dir %q: %s", dir, err)
+	}
+
+	// Write the state to the file
+	file := filepath.Join(dir, stringHash(check.CheckID))
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(file, buf, 0600); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed writing file %q: %s", file, err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// recallCheckState is used to restore the persisted state of a check.
+func (a *Agent) recallCheckState(check *structs.HealthCheck) error {
+	// Try to read the persisted state for this check
+	file := filepath.Join(a.config.DataDir, checkStateDir, stringHash(check.CheckID))
+	buf, err := ioutil.ReadFile(file)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed reading file %q: %s", file, err)
+	}
+
+	// Decode the state data
+	var p persistedCheckState
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(buf, &p); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed decoding check state: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Check if the state has expired
+	if time.Now().Unix() > p.Expires {
+		a.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] agent: check state expired for %q, not restoring", check.CheckID)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Restore the fields from the state
+	check.Output = p.Output
+	check.Status = p.Status
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/command/agent/check.go b/command/agent/check.go
index 66578db8e7..6677483886 100644
--- a/command/agent/check.go
+++ b/command/agent/check.go
@@ -266,6 +266,17 @@ type persistedCheck struct {
 	Token   string
 }
 
+// persistedCheckState is used to persist the current state of a given
+// check. This is different from the check definition, and includes an
+// expiration timestamp which is used to determine staleness on later
+// agent restarts.
+type persistedCheckState struct {
+	CheckID string
+	Output  string
+	Status  string
+	Expires int64
+}
+
 // CheckHTTP is used to periodically make an HTTP request to
 // determine the health of a given check.
 // The check is passing if the response code is 2XX.