diff --git a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
index 079e335fa6fb..cce30f526a9f 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/accessors_metadata.go
@@ -90,15 +90,47 @@ type crashList struct {
 
 const crashesToKeep = 10
 
-// PushUncleanShutdownMarker appends a new unclean shutdown marker and returns
-// the previous data
+func StartUncleanShutdownMarker(name string, db ethdb.KeyValueStore) {
+	switch name {
+	case "les.client":
+		db.(*nofreezedb).isChainDb = false
+		return
+	case "lightchaindata":
+		db.(*nofreezedb).isChainDb = true
+	case "chaindata":
+		break
+	case "":
+		break
+	default:
+		return
+	}
+	if uncleanShutdowns, discards, err := PushUncleanShutdownMarker(db); err != nil {
+		log.Error("Could not update unclean-shutdown-marker list", "error", err)
+	} else {
+		if discards > 0 {
+			log.Warn("Old unclean shutdowns found", "count", discards)
+		}
+		for _, tstamp := range uncleanShutdowns {
+			t := time.Unix(int64(tstamp), 0)
+			log.Warn("Unclean shutdown detected", "booted", t, "age", common.PrettyAge(t))
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// PushUncleanShutdownMarker appends a new unclean shutdown marker and starts a goroutine
+// to update the unclean shutdown marker every five minutes. It returns
+// the previous unclean shutdown
 // - a list of timestamps
 // - a count of how many old unclean-shutdowns have been discarded
 func PushUncleanShutdownMarker(db ethdb.KeyValueStore) ([]uint64, uint64, error) {
 	var uncleanShutdowns crashList
 	// Read old data
 	if data, err := db.Get(uncleanShutdownKey); err != nil {
-		log.Warn("Error reading unclean shutdown markers", "error", err)
+		// don't want to warn if there were no unclean shutdowns
+		if err.Error() != "leveldb: not found" {
+			log.Warn("Error reading unclean shutdown markers", "error", err)
+		}
 	} else if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(data, &uncleanShutdowns); err != nil {
 		return nil, 0, err
 	}
@@ -118,6 +150,11 @@ func PushUncleanShutdownMarker(db ethdb.KeyValueStore) ([]uint64, uint64, error)
 		log.Warn("Failed to write unclean-shutdown marker", "err", err)
 		return nil, 0, err
 	}
+	if frdb, ok := db.(*freezerdb); ok {
+		go UpdateUncleanShutdownMarker(db, frdb.stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh)
+	} else if nfrdb, ok := db.(*nofreezedb); ok {
+		go UpdateUncleanShutdownMarker(db, nfrdb.stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh)
+	}
 	return previous, discarded, nil
 }
 
@@ -138,3 +175,34 @@ func PopUncleanShutdownMarker(db ethdb.KeyValueStore) {
 		log.Warn("Failed to clear unclean-shutdown marker", "err", err)
 	}
 }
+
+// UpdateUncleanShutdownMarker updates the current unclean shutdown marker
+// every 5 minutes
+func UpdateUncleanShutdownMarker(db ethdb.KeyValueStore, stopUncleanShutdownUpdateCh chan bool) {
+	var uncleanShutdowns crashList
+	// Read old data
+	if previous, err := db.Get(uncleanShutdownKey); err != nil {
+		log.Warn("Error reading unclean shutdown markers", "error", err)
+	} else if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(previous, &uncleanShutdowns); err != nil {
+		log.Error("Error decoding unclean shutdown markers", "error", err) // Should mos def _not_ happen
+	}
+	l := len(uncleanShutdowns.Recent)
+	if l == 0 {
+		l++
+	}
+	// update marker every five minutes
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(300 * time.Second)
+	defer func() { ticker.Stop() }()
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			uncleanShutdowns.Recent[l-1] = uint64(time.Now().Unix())
+			data, _ := rlp.EncodeToBytes(uncleanShutdowns)
+			if err := db.Put(uncleanShutdownKey, data); err != nil {
+				log.Warn("Failed to update unclean-shutdown marker", "err", err)
+			}
+		case <-stopUncleanShutdownUpdateCh:
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/core/rawdb/database.go b/core/rawdb/database.go
index c8bfdbace14e..f4d86117a646 100644
--- a/core/rawdb/database.go
+++ b/core/rawdb/database.go
@@ -33,15 +33,20 @@ import (
 )
 
 // freezerdb is a database wrapper that enabled freezer data retrievals.
+// stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh is used to stop the unclean shutdown marker
+// that updates every 5 minutes.
 type freezerdb struct {
 	ethdb.KeyValueStore
 	ethdb.AncientStore
+	stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh chan bool
 }
 
 // Close implements io.Closer, closing both the fast key-value store as well as
 // the slow ancient tables.
 func (frdb *freezerdb) Close() error {
 	var errs []error
+	frdb.stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh <- true
+	PopUncleanShutdownMarker(frdb.KeyValueStore)
 	if err := frdb.AncientStore.Close(); err != nil {
 		errs = append(errs, err)
 	}
@@ -75,8 +80,24 @@ func (frdb *freezerdb) Freeze(threshold uint64) error {
 }
 
 // nofreezedb is a database wrapper that disables freezer data retrievals.
+// stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh is used to stop the unclean shutdown marker
+// that updates every 5 minutes.
 type nofreezedb struct {
 	ethdb.KeyValueStore
+	stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh chan bool
+	isChainDb                 bool
+}
+
+func (db *nofreezedb) Close() error {
+	if db.isChainDb {
+		db.stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh <- true
+		PopUncleanShutdownMarker(db.KeyValueStore)
+	}
+	if err := db.KeyValueStore.Close(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+
 }
 
 // HasAncient returns an error as we don't have a backing chain freezer.
@@ -117,9 +138,11 @@ func (db *nofreezedb) Sync() error {
 // NewDatabase creates a high level database on top of a given key-value data
 // store without a freezer moving immutable chain segments into cold storage.
 func NewDatabase(db ethdb.KeyValueStore) ethdb.Database {
-	return &nofreezedb{
-		KeyValueStore: db,
+	frdb := &nofreezedb{
+		KeyValueStore:             db,
+		stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh: make(chan bool),
 	}
+	return frdb
 }
 
 // NewDatabaseWithFreezer creates a high level database on top of a given key-
@@ -204,8 +227,9 @@ func NewDatabaseWithFreezer(db ethdb.KeyValueStore, freezer string, namespace st
 		}()
 	}
 	return &freezerdb{
-		KeyValueStore: db,
-		AncientStore:  frdb,
+		KeyValueStore:             db,
+		AncientStore:              frdb,
+		stopUncleanMarkerUpdateCh: make(chan bool),
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index 3e770fe83d92..6d41d246a8bc 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -258,19 +258,6 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 	stack.RegisterAPIs(eth.APIs())
 	stack.RegisterProtocols(eth.Protocols())
 	stack.RegisterLifecycle(eth)
-	// Check for unclean shutdown
-	if uncleanShutdowns, discards, err := rawdb.PushUncleanShutdownMarker(chainDb); err != nil {
-		log.Error("Could not update unclean-shutdown-marker list", "error", err)
-	} else {
-		if discards > 0 {
-			log.Warn("Old unclean shutdowns found", "count", discards)
-		}
-		for _, tstamp := range uncleanShutdowns {
-			t := time.Unix(int64(tstamp), 0)
-			log.Warn("Unclean shutdown detected", "booted", t,
-				"age", common.PrettyAge(t))
-		}
-	}
 	return eth, nil
 }
 
@@ -559,7 +546,6 @@ func (s *Ethereum) Stop() error {
 	s.miner.Stop()
 	s.blockchain.Stop()
 	s.engine.Close()
-	rawdb.PopUncleanShutdownMarker(s.chainDb)
 	s.chainDb.Close()
 	s.eventMux.Stop()
 
diff --git a/les/client.go b/les/client.go
index 1d8a2c6f9a07..519a6b0fb16b 100644
--- a/les/client.go
+++ b/les/client.go
@@ -181,20 +181,6 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*LightEthereum, error) {
 	stack.RegisterAPIs(leth.APIs())
 	stack.RegisterProtocols(leth.Protocols())
 	stack.RegisterLifecycle(leth)
-
-	// Check for unclean shutdown
-	if uncleanShutdowns, discards, err := rawdb.PushUncleanShutdownMarker(chainDb); err != nil {
-		log.Error("Could not update unclean-shutdown-marker list", "error", err)
-	} else {
-		if discards > 0 {
-			log.Warn("Old unclean shutdowns found", "count", discards)
-		}
-		for _, tstamp := range uncleanShutdowns {
-			t := time.Unix(int64(tstamp), 0)
-			log.Warn("Unclean shutdown detected", "booted", t,
-				"age", common.PrettyAge(t))
-		}
-	}
 	return leth, nil
 }
 
@@ -383,7 +369,6 @@ func (s *LightEthereum) Stop() error {
 	s.engine.Close()
 	s.pruner.close()
 	s.eventMux.Stop()
-	rawdb.PopUncleanShutdownMarker(s.chainDb)
 	s.chainDb.Close()
 	s.lesDb.Close()
 	s.wg.Wait()
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 1e65fff1c271..ec81d97718eb 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -556,12 +556,13 @@ func (n *Node) OpenDatabase(name string, cache, handles int, namespace string, r
 
 	var db ethdb.Database
 	var err error
+	fmt.Println(n.config.DataDir)
 	if n.config.DataDir == "" {
 		db = rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase()
 	} else {
 		db, err = rawdb.NewLevelDBDatabase(n.ResolvePath(name), cache, handles, namespace, readonly)
 	}
-
+	rawdb.StartUncleanShutdownMarker(name, db)
 	if err == nil {
 		db = n.wrapDatabase(db)
 	}
@@ -584,6 +585,7 @@ func (n *Node) OpenDatabaseWithFreezer(name string, cache, handles int, freezer,
 	var err error
 	if n.config.DataDir == "" {
 		db = rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase()
+		rawdb.StartUncleanShutdownMarker("", db)
 	} else {
 		root := n.ResolvePath(name)
 		switch {
@@ -593,8 +595,8 @@ func (n *Node) OpenDatabaseWithFreezer(name string, cache, handles int, freezer,
 			freezer = n.ResolvePath(freezer)
 		}
 		db, err = rawdb.NewLevelDBDatabaseWithFreezer(root, cache, handles, freezer, namespace, readonly)
+		rawdb.StartUncleanShutdownMarker(name, db)
 	}
-
 	if err == nil {
 		db = n.wrapDatabase(db)
 	}