diff --git a/doc/configuration.markdown b/doc/configuration.markdown
index 0925561..5db4793 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.markdown
+++ b/doc/configuration.markdown
@@ -124,4 +124,14 @@ which will act as the cache key generator:
 	end
 	
 For more options see the [Rack::Request documentation](http://rack.rubyforge.org/doc/classes/Rack/Request.html)
-	
+
+### `use_native_ttl`
+
+Passes on the expiration timestamp to cache stores that support it, like
+Memcache and Redis. This may be necessary with some stores to keep them from
+filling up, e.g. if using a Redis backend and the `volatile-ttl` expiration
+policy.
+
+If using `memcached`, it will speed up misses slightly as the middleware won't
+need to fetch metadata and check timestamps.
+
diff --git a/lib/rack/cache/meta_store.rb b/lib/rack/cache/meta_store.rb
index a06e02a..28f35b4 100644
--- a/lib/rack/cache/meta_store.rb
+++ b/lib/rack/cache/meta_store.rb
@@ -91,7 +91,11 @@ def store(request, response, entity_store)
       headers.delete 'Age'
 
       entries.unshift [stored_env, headers]
-      write key, entries
+      if request.env['rack-cache.use_native_ttl'] && response.fresh?
+        write key, entries, response.ttl
+      else
+        write key, entries
+      end
       key
     end
 
@@ -165,7 +169,7 @@ def read(key)
     # Store an Array of request/response pairs for the given key. Concrete
     # implementations should not attempt to filter or concatenate the
     # list in any way.
-    def write(key, negotiations)
+    def write(key, negotiations, ttl = nil)
       raise NotImplementedError
     end
 
@@ -198,7 +202,7 @@ def read(key)
         end
       end
 
-      def write(key, entries)
+      def write(key, entries, ttl = nil)
         @hash[key] = Marshal.dump(entries)
       end
 
@@ -236,7 +240,7 @@ def read(key)
         []
       end
 
-      def write(key, entries)
+      def write(key, entries, ttl = nil)
         tries = 0
         begin
           path = key_path(key)
@@ -335,9 +339,10 @@ def read(key)
         cache.get(key) || []
       end
 
-      def write(key, entries)
+      # Default TTL to zero, interpreted as "don't expire" by Memcached.
+      def write(key, entries, ttl = 0)
         key = hexdigest(key)
-        cache.set(key, entries)
+        cache.set(key, entries, ttl)
       end
 
       def purge(key)
@@ -369,9 +374,10 @@ def read(key)
         []
       end
 
-      def write(key, entries)
+      # Default TTL to zero, interpreted as "don't expire" by Memcached.
+      def write(key, entries, ttl = 0)
         key = hexdigest(key)
-        cache.set(key, entries)
+        cache.set(key, entries, ttl)
       end
 
       def purge(key)
diff --git a/test/meta_store_test.rb b/test/meta_store_test.rb
index c587a3e..7fa951a 100644
--- a/test/meta_store_test.rb
+++ b/test/meta_store_test.rb
@@ -116,6 +116,12 @@ def self.call(request); request.path_info.reverse end
         store_simple_entry('/bad', { 'SOME_THING' => Proc.new {} })
       end
 
+      it 'supports a ttl parameter for #write' do
+        @store.write('/test', [[{},{}],[{},{}]], 0)
+        tuples = @store.read('/test')
+        tuples.must_equal [ [{},{}], [{},{}] ]
+      end
+
       # Abstract methods ===========================================================
 
       it 'stores a cache entry' do
@@ -270,6 +276,32 @@ def purge(*args); nil end
 
         @store.read(key).length.must_equal 2
       end
+
+      # TTL ====================================================================
+
+      context 'logging writes' do
+        write_intercept = Module.new do
+          attr_reader :last_write
+
+          def write(*args)
+            @last_write = args
+            super
+          end
+        end
+
+        before do
+          @entity_store.extend(write_intercept)
+          @store.extend(write_intercept)
+        end
+
+        it 'passes a TTL to the stores is use_native_ttl is truthy' do
+          req1 = mock_request('/test', { 'rack-cache.use_native_ttl' => true })
+          res1 = mock_response(200, {'Cache-Control' => 'max-age=42'}, ['foo'])
+          @store.store(req1, res1, @entity_store)
+          @entity_store.last_write.must_equal [['foo'], 42]
+          @store.last_write[2].must_equal 42
+        end
+      end
     end
   end
 end