diff --git a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
index e79536c6eae5..080527909d8c 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
@@ -2707,14 +2707,62 @@ static void process_args (struct kvs_ctx *ctx, int ac, char **av)
     }
 }
 
+static int checkpoint_get_version0 (const char *value, char *buf, size_t len)
+{
+    /* if value is a blobref, its verison 0 checkpoint */
+    if (blobref_validate (value) == 0) {
+        if (strlen (value) >= len)
+            return -1;
+        strcpy (buf, value);
+        return 0;
+    }
+    return -1;
+}
+
+static int checkpoint_get_version1 (const char *value,
+                                    char *buf, size_t len,
+                                    double *timestamp)
+{
+    const char *rootref = NULL;
+    json_t *o = NULL;
+    int version;
+    int rv = -1;
+
+    if (!(o = json_loads (value, 0, NULL)))
+        goto error;
+
+    if (json_unpack (o, "{s:i}", "version", &version) < 0)
+        goto error;
+    /* only can handle version 1 right now */
+    if (version == 1) {
+        if (json_unpack (o, "{s:s s:f}",
+                         "rootref", &rootref,
+                         "timestamp", timestamp) < 0)
+            goto error;
+        if (strlen (rootref) >= len)
+            goto error;
+        strcpy (buf, rootref);
+    }
+    else
+        goto error;
+
+    rv = 0;
+error:
+    json_decref (o);
+    return rv;
+}
+
 /* Synchronously get string value by key from checkpoint service.
  * Copy value to buf with '\0' termination.
  * Return 0 on success, -1 on failure,
  */
 static int checkpoint_get (flux_t *h, const char *key, char *buf, size_t len)
 {
-    flux_future_t *f;
-    const char *value;
+    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
+    const char *value = NULL;
+    double timestamp = 0.;
+    char datestr[128];
+    int rv = -1;
 
     if (!(f = flux_rpc_pack (h,
                              "kvs-checkpoint.get",
@@ -2726,24 +2774,59 @@ static int checkpoint_get (flux_t *h, const char *key, char *buf, size_t len)
         return -1;
     if (flux_rpc_get_unpack (f, "{s:s}", "value", &value) < 0)
         goto error;
-    if (strlen (value) >= len) {
+
+    if (checkpoint_get_version1 (value, buf, len, &timestamp) < 0
+        && checkpoint_get_version0 (value, buf, len) < 0) {
         errno = EINVAL;
         goto error;
     }
-    strcpy (buf, value);
-    flux_future_destroy (f);
-    return 0;
+
+    if (timestamp > 0.) {
+        time_t sec = timestamp;
+        struct tm tm;
+        gmtime_r (&sec, &tm);
+        strftime (datestr, sizeof (datestr), "%FT%T", &tm);
+    }
+    else
+        snprintf (datestr, sizeof (datestr), "N/A");
+
+    flux_log (h, LOG_INFO,
+              "restored kvs-primary from checkpoint on %s", datestr);
+    rv = 0;
 error:
     flux_future_destroy (f);
-    return -1;
+    return rv;
 }
 
 /* Synchronously store key-value pair to checkpoint service.
  * Returns 0 on success, -1 on failure.
  */
-static int checkpoint_put (flux_t *h, const char *key, const char *value)
+static int checkpoint_put (flux_t *h, const char *key, const char *rootref)
 {
-    flux_future_t *f;
+    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
+    double timestamp;
+    json_t *o = NULL;
+    char *value = NULL;
+    int save_errno, rv = -1;
+
+    timestamp = flux_reactor_now (flux_get_reactor (h));
+
+    /* version 0 checkpoint
+     * - blobref string only
+     * version 1 checkpoint object
+     * - {"version":1 "rootref":s "timestamp":f}
+     */
+    if (!(o = json_pack ("{s:i s:s s:f}",
+                         "version", 1,
+                         "rootref", rootref,
+                         "timestamp", timestamp))) {
+        errno = ENOMEM;
+        goto error;
+    }
+    if (!(value = json_dumps (o, JSON_COMPACT))) {
+        errno = ENOMEM;
+        goto error;
+    }
 
     if (!(f = flux_rpc_pack (h,
                              "kvs-checkpoint.put",
@@ -2754,13 +2837,17 @@ static int checkpoint_put (flux_t *h, const char *key, const char *value)
                              key,
                              "value",
                              value)))
-        return -1;
-    if (flux_rpc_get (f, NULL) < 0) {
-        flux_future_destroy (f);
-        return -1;
-    }
+        goto error;
+    if (flux_rpc_get (f, NULL) < 0)
+        goto error;
+    rv = 0;
+error:
+    save_errno = errno;
     flux_future_destroy (f);
-    return 0;
+    json_decref (o);
+    free (value);
+    errno = save_errno;
+    return rv;
 }
 
 /* Store initial root in local cache, and flush to content cache
@@ -2855,9 +2942,7 @@ int mod_main (flux_t *h, int argc, char **argv)
         /* Look for a checkpoint and use it if found.
          * Otherwise start the primary root namespace with an empty directory.
          */
-        if (checkpoint_get (h, "kvs-primary", rootref, sizeof (rootref)) == 0)
-            flux_log (h, LOG_INFO, "restored kvs-primary from checkpoint");
-        else {
+        if (checkpoint_get (h, "kvs-primary", rootref, sizeof (rootref)) < 0) {
             if (store_initial_rootdir (ctx, rootref, sizeof (rootref)) < 0) {
                 flux_log_error (h, "storing initial root object");
                 goto done;
diff --git a/t/Makefile.am b/t/Makefile.am
index 3c5c1cf2b383..e0e85d03d45c 100644
--- a/t/Makefile.am
+++ b/t/Makefile.am
@@ -294,6 +294,7 @@ dist_check_SCRIPTS = \
 	valgrind/valgrind-workload.sh \
 	valgrind/workload.d/job \
 	kvs/kvs-helper.sh \
+	kvs/change-checkpoint.py \
 	job-manager/exec-service.lua \
 	job-manager/drain-cancel.py \
 	job-manager/bulk-state.py \
diff --git a/t/kvs/change-checkpoint.py b/t/kvs/change-checkpoint.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..275b16397e3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/kvs/change-checkpoint.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import sys
+import sqlite3
+
+if len(sys.argv) < 4:
+    print("change-checkpoint.py <file> <key> <value>")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+conn = sqlite3.connect(sys.argv[1])
+cursor = conn.cursor()
+s = (
+    'REPLACE INTO checkpt (key,value) values ("'
+    + sys.argv[2]
+    + '", "'
+    + sys.argv[3]
+    + '")'
+)
+cursor.execute(s)
+conn.commit()
+sys.exit(0)
diff --git a/t/t2010-kvs-snapshot-restore.t b/t/t2010-kvs-snapshot-restore.t
index 6f0959a32891..8ae1da220501 100755
--- a/t/t2010-kvs-snapshot-restore.t
+++ b/t/t2010-kvs-snapshot-restore.t
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ test -n "$FLUX_TESTS_LOGFILE" && set -- "$@" --logfile
 test_under_flux 1
 
 CHECKPOINT=${FLUX_BUILD_DIR}/t/kvs/checkpoint
+CHANGECHECKPOINT=${FLUX_SOURCE_DIR}/t/kvs/change-checkpoint.py
 
 test_expect_success 'store kvs-checkpoint key-val pairs' '
 	$CHECKPOINT put foo bar &&
@@ -59,4 +60,34 @@ test_expect_success 'content from previous instance survived' '
 	test_cmp get.exp get.out
 '
 
+test_expect_success 're-run instance, verify checkpoint date saved' '
+	flux start -o,--setattr=content.backing-path=$(pwd)/content.sqlite \
+	           flux dmesg >dmesg1.out
+'
+
+# just check for todays date, not time for obvious reasons
+test_expect_success 'verify date in flux logs' '
+	today=`date --iso-8601` &&
+	grep checkpoint dmesg1.out | grep ${today}
+'
+
+test_expect_success 're-run instance, get rootref' '
+	flux start -o,--setattr=content.backing-path=$(pwd)/content.sqlite \
+	           flux kvs getroot -b > getroot.out
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'write rootref to checkpoint path, emulating original checkpoint' '
+        rootref=$(cat getroot.out) &&
+        ${CHANGECHECKPOINT} $(pwd)/content.sqlite "kvs-primary" ${rootref}
+'
+
+test_expect_success 're-run instance, verify checkpoint correctly loaded' '
+	flux start -o,--setattr=content.backing-path=$(pwd)/content.sqlite \
+	           flux dmesg >dmesg2.out
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'verify checkpoint loaded with no date' '
+	grep checkpoint dmesg2.out | grep "N\/A"
+'
+
 test_done