diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
index fabca79c5e1..ce8cc8def72 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ import java.io.IOException;
  */
 public class NodeStats extends NodeOperationResponse {
 
+    private long timestamp;
+
     @Nullable
     private String hostname;
 
@@ -74,10 +76,11 @@ public class NodeStats extends NodeOperationResponse {
     NodeStats() {
     }
 
-    public NodeStats(DiscoveryNode node, @Nullable String hostname, @Nullable NodeIndicesStats indices,
+    public NodeStats(DiscoveryNode node, long timestamp, @Nullable String hostname, @Nullable NodeIndicesStats indices,
                      @Nullable OsStats os, @Nullable ProcessStats process, @Nullable JvmStats jvm, @Nullable ThreadPoolStats threadPool, @Nullable NetworkStats network,
                      @Nullable FsStats fs, @Nullable TransportStats transport, @Nullable HttpStats http) {
         super(node);
+        this.timestamp = timestamp;
         this.hostname = hostname;
         this.indices = indices;
         this.os = os;
@@ -90,6 +93,14 @@ public class NodeStats extends NodeOperationResponse {
         this.http = http;
     }
 
+    public long timestamp() {
+        return this.timestamp;
+    }
+
+    public long getTimestamp() {
+        return this.timestamp;
+    }
+
     @Nullable
     public String hostname() {
         return this.hostname;
@@ -241,6 +252,7 @@ public class NodeStats extends NodeOperationResponse {
     @Override
     public void readFrom(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
         super.readFrom(in);
+        timestamp = in.readVLong();
         if (in.readBoolean()) {
             hostname = in.readUTF();
         }
@@ -276,6 +288,7 @@ public class NodeStats extends NodeOperationResponse {
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         super.writeTo(out);
+        out.writeVLong(timestamp);
         if (hostname == null) {
             out.writeBoolean(false);
         } else {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodesStatsResponse.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodesStatsResponse.java
index 6ed8d1ef5b0..3725d072527 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodesStatsResponse.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodesStatsResponse.java
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ public class NodesStatsResponse extends NodesOperationResponse<NodeStats> implem
         for (NodeStats nodeStats : this) {
             builder.startObject(nodeStats.node().id(), XContentBuilder.FieldCaseConversion.NONE);
 
+            builder.field("timestamp", nodeStats.timestamp());
             builder.field("name", nodeStats.node().name(), XContentBuilder.FieldCaseConversion.NONE);
             builder.field("transport_address", nodeStats.node().address().toString());
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/service/NodeService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/service/NodeService.java
index c4b06980fcc..05660f7cf30 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/service/NodeService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/service/NodeService.java
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ public class NodeService extends AbstractComponent {
     public NodeStats stats() {
         // for indices stats we want to include previous allocated shards stats as well (it will
         // only be applied to the sensible ones to use, like refresh/merge/flush/indexing stats)
-        return new NodeStats(clusterService.state().nodes().localNode(), hostname,
+        return new NodeStats(clusterService.state().nodes().localNode(), System.currentTimeMillis(), hostname,
                 indicesService.stats(true),
                 monitorService.osService().stats(),
                 monitorService.processService().stats(),
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public class NodeService extends AbstractComponent {
     public NodeStats stats(boolean indices, boolean os, boolean process, boolean jvm, boolean threadPool, boolean network, boolean fs, boolean transport, boolean http) {
         // for indices stats we want to include previous allocated shards stats as well (it will
         // only be applied to the sensible ones to use, like refresh/merge/flush/indexing stats)
-        return new NodeStats(clusterService.state().nodes().localNode(), hostname,
+        return new NodeStats(clusterService.state().nodes().localNode(), System.currentTimeMillis(), hostname,
                 indices ? indicesService.stats(true) : null,
                 os ? monitorService.osService().stats() : null,
                 process ? monitorService.processService().stats() : null,