diff --git a/app/models/global_setting.rb b/app/models/global_setting.rb
index b1bf927f2f0..dd1c04820ef 100644
--- a/app/models/global_setting.rb
+++ b/app/models/global_setting.rb
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ class GlobalSetting
         c = {}
         c[:host] = redis_host if redis_host
         c[:port] = redis_port if redis_port
+        c[:slave_host] = redis_slave_host if redis_slave_host
+        c[:slave_port] = redis_slave_port if redis_slave_port
         c[:password] = redis_password if redis_password.present?
         c[:db] = redis_db if redis_db != 0
         c[:db] = 1 if Rails.env == "test"
@@ -52,6 +54,7 @@ class GlobalSetting
             {host: host, port: port}
           end.to_a
         end
+        c[:connector] = DiscourseRedis::Connector
         c.freeze
       end
   end
diff --git a/config/discourse_defaults.conf b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
index 0ff3b8af814..d251d30efb2 100644
--- a/config/discourse_defaults.conf
+++ b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
@@ -95,6 +95,12 @@ redis_host = localhost
 # redis server port
 redis_port = 6379
 
+# redis slave server address
+redis_slave_host =
+
+# redis slave server port
+redis_slave_port =
+
 # redis database
 redis_db = 0
 
diff --git a/config/initializers/001-redis.rb b/config/initializers/001-redis.rb
index 73340cc49da..0d1e2c6b038 100644
--- a/config/initializers/001-redis.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/001-redis.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
+# https://github.com/redis/redis-rb/pull/591
+class Redis
+  class Client
+    alias_method :old_initialize, :initialize
+
+    def initialize(options = {})
+      old_initialize(options)
+
+      if options.include?(:connector) && options[:connector].is_a?(Class)
+        @connector = options[:connector].new(@options)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
 if Rails.env.development? && ENV['DISCOURSE_FLUSH_REDIS']
   puts "Flushing redis (development mode)"
   $redis.flushall
diff --git a/lib/discourse_redis.rb b/lib/discourse_redis.rb
index 560d5912f0d..86dcb6de3c8 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_redis.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_redis.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,93 @@
 #
 require_dependency 'cache'
 class DiscourseRedis
+  class FallbackHandler
+    include Singleton
+
+    MASTER_LINK_STATUS = "master_link_status:up".freeze
+
+    def initialize
+      @master = true
+      @running = false
+      @mutex = Mutex.new
+      @slave_config = DiscourseRedis.slave_config
+    end
+
+    def verify_master
+      synchronize do
+        return if @running && !recently_checked?
+        @running = true
+      end
+
+      Thread.new { initiate_fallback_to_master }
+    end
+
+    def initiate_fallback_to_master
+      begin
+        slave_client = ::Redis::Client.new(@slave_config)
+
+        if slave_client.call([:info]).split("\r\n").include?(MASTER_LINK_STATUS)
+          slave_client.call([:client, [:kill, 'type', 'normal']])
+          Discourse.clear_readonly!
+          Discourse.request_refresh!
+          @master = true
+        end
+      ensure
+        @running = false
+        @last_checked = Time.zone.now
+        slave_client.disconnect
+      end
+    end
+
+    def master
+      synchronize { @master }
+    end
+
+    def master=(args)
+      synchronize { @master = args }
+    end
+
+    def recently_checked?
+      if @last_checked
+        Time.zone.now > (@last_checked + 5.seconds)
+      else
+        false
+      end
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def synchronize
+      @mutex.synchronize { yield }
+    end
+  end
+
+  class Connector < Redis::Client::Connector
+    MASTER = 'master'.freeze
+    SLAVE = 'slave'.freeze
+
+    def initialize(options)
+      super(options)
+      @slave_options = DiscourseRedis.slave_config(options)
+      @fallback_handler = DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler.instance
+    end
+
+    def resolve
+      begin
+        options = @options.dup
+        options.delete(:connector)
+        client = ::Redis::Client.new(options)
+        client.call([:role])[0]
+        @options
+      rescue Redis::ConnectionError, Redis::CannotConnectError => ex
+        return @slave_options if !@fallback_handler.master
+        @fallback_handler.master = false
+        raise ex
+      ensure
+        client.disconnect
+      end
+    end
+  end
 
   def self.raw_connection(config = nil)
     config ||= self.config
@@ -13,11 +100,19 @@ class DiscourseRedis
     GlobalSetting.redis_config
   end
 
+  def self.slave_config(options = config)
+    options.dup.merge!({ host: options[:slave_host], port: options[:slave_port] })
+  end
+
   def initialize(config=nil)
     @config = config || DiscourseRedis.config
     @redis = DiscourseRedis.raw_connection(@config)
   end
 
+  def self.fallback_handler
+    @fallback_handler ||= DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler.instance
+  end
+
   def without_namespace
     # Only use this if you want to store and fetch data that's shared between sites
     @redis
@@ -30,6 +125,8 @@ class DiscourseRedis
       unless Discourse.recently_readonly?
         STDERR.puts "WARN: Redis is in a readonly state. Performed a noop"
       end
+
+      fallback_handler.verify_master if !fallback_handler.master
       Discourse.received_readonly!
     else
       raise ex
diff --git a/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb b/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..77d9bc6e569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/components/discourse_redis_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+describe DiscourseRedis do
+  let(:slave_host) { 'testhost' }
+  let(:slave_port) { 1234 }
+
+  let(:config) do
+    DiscourseRedis.config.dup.merge({
+      slave_host: 'testhost', slave_port: 1234, connector: DiscourseRedis::Connector
+    })
+  end
+
+  let(:fallback_handler) { DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler.instance }
+
+  context '.slave_host' do
+    it 'should return the right config' do
+      slave_config = DiscourseRedis.slave_config(config)
+      expect(slave_config[:host]).to eq(slave_host)
+      expect(slave_config[:port]).to eq(slave_port)
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'when redis connection is to a slave redis server' do
+    it 'should check the status of the master server' do
+      begin
+        fallback_handler.master = false
+        $redis.without_namespace.expects(:get).raises(Redis::CommandError.new("READONLY"))
+        fallback_handler.expects(:verify_master).once
+        $redis.get('test')
+      ensure
+        fallback_handler.master = true
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe DiscourseRedis::Connector do
+    let(:connector) { DiscourseRedis::Connector.new(config) }
+
+    it 'should return the master config when master is up' do
+      expect(connector.resolve).to eq(config)
+    end
+
+    it 'should return the slave config when master is down' do
+      begin
+        Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).raises(Redis::CannotConnectError).twice
+        expect { connector.resolve }.to raise_error(Redis::CannotConnectError)
+
+        config = connector.resolve
+
+        expect(config[:host]).to eq(slave_host)
+        expect(config[:port]).to eq(slave_port)
+      ensure
+        fallback_handler.master = true
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler do
+    describe '#initiate_fallback_to_master' do
+      it 'should fallback to the master server once it is up' do
+        begin
+          fallback_handler.master = false
+          Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:info]).returns(DiscourseRedis::FallbackHandler::MASTER_LINK_STATUS)
+          Redis::Client.any_instance.expects(:call).with([:client, [:kill, 'type', 'normal']])
+
+          fallback_handler.initiate_fallback_to_master
+
+          expect(fallback_handler.master).to eq(true)
+          expect(Discourse.recently_readonly?).to eq(false)
+        ensure
+          fallback_handler.master = true
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end