diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2c453077d33..263aa886c23 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 - [#2869](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/issues/2869): Adding field to existing measurement causes panic
 - [#2849](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/issues/2849): RC32: Frequent write errors
 - [#2700](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/issues/2700): Incorrect error message in database EncodeFields
-
+- [#2897](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/pull/2897): Ensure target Graphite database exists
 
 ## v0.9.0-rc33 [2015-06-09]
 
diff --git a/cmd/influxd/run/server.go b/cmd/influxd/run/server.go
index db4516bb640..4965e19a427 100644
--- a/cmd/influxd/run/server.go
+++ b/cmd/influxd/run/server.go
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ func (s *Server) appendGraphiteService(c graphite.Config) error {
 	}
 
 	srv.PointsWriter = s.PointsWriter
+	srv.MetaStore = s.MetaStore
 	s.Services = append(s.Services, srv)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/services/graphite/service.go b/services/graphite/service.go
index 779798c883a..dea166a554f 100644
--- a/services/graphite/service.go
+++ b/services/graphite/service.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/cluster"
+	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/meta"
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/tsdb"
 )
 
@@ -41,6 +42,9 @@ type Service struct {
 	PointsWriter interface {
 		WritePoints(p *cluster.WritePointsRequest) error
 	}
+	MetaStore interface {
+		CreateDatabaseIfNotExists(name string) (*meta.DatabaseInfo, error)
+	}
 }
 
 // NewService returns an instance of the Graphite service.
@@ -73,6 +77,12 @@ func NewService(c Config) (*Service, error) {
 func (s *Service) Open() error {
 	var err error
 
+	if _, err := s.MetaStore.CreateDatabaseIfNotExists(s.database); err != nil {
+		s.logger.Printf("failed to ensure target database %s exists: %s", s.database, err.Error())
+		return err
+	}
+	s.logger.Printf("ensured target database %s exists", s.database)
+
 	if strings.ToLower(s.protocol) == "tcp" {
 		s.addr, err = s.openTCPServer()
 	} else if strings.ToLower(s.protocol) == "udp" {
@@ -80,7 +90,6 @@ func (s *Service) Open() error {
 	} else {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unrecognized Graphite input protocol %s", s.protocol)
 	}
-
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/services/graphite/service_test.go b/services/graphite/service_test.go
index 4c9eaa68243..a08ae451dd5 100644
--- a/services/graphite/service_test.go
+++ b/services/graphite/service_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/cluster"
+	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/meta"
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/services/graphite"
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/toml"
 	"github.com/influxdb/influxdb/tsdb"
@@ -272,11 +273,17 @@ func Test_ServerGraphiteTCP(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	service.PointsWriter = &pointsWriter
+	dbCreator := DatabaseCreator{}
+	service.MetaStore = &dbCreator
 
 	if err := service.Open(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to open Graphite service: %s", err.Error())
 	}
 
+	if !dbCreator.Created {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create target database")
+	}
+
 	// Connect to the graphite endpoint we just spun up
 	_, port, _ := net.SplitHostPort(service.Addr().String())
 	conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", "127.0.0.1:"+port)
@@ -339,11 +346,17 @@ func Test_ServerGraphiteUDP(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	service.PointsWriter = &pointsWriter
+	dbCreator := DatabaseCreator{}
+	service.MetaStore = &dbCreator
 
 	if err := service.Open(); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to open Graphite service: %s", err.Error())
 	}
 
+	if !dbCreator.Created {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create target database")
+	}
+
 	// Connect to the graphite endpoint we just spun up
 	_, port, _ := net.SplitHostPort(service.Addr().String())
 	conn, err := net.Dial("udp", "127.0.0.1:"+port)
@@ -371,6 +384,15 @@ func (w *PointsWriter) WritePoints(p *cluster.WritePointsRequest) error {
 	return w.WritePointsFn(p)
 }
 
+type DatabaseCreator struct {
+	Created bool
+}
+
+func (d *DatabaseCreator) CreateDatabaseIfNotExists(name string) (*meta.DatabaseInfo, error) {
+	d.Created = true
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
 // Test Helpers
 func errstr(err error) string {
 	if err != nil {