diff --git a/arangod/CMakeLists.txt b/arangod/CMakeLists.txt
index f9c93fede2..75878f825c 100644
--- a/arangod/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/arangod/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ add_library(${LIB_ARANGO_IRESEARCH}
   IResearch/ApplicationServerHelper.h IResearch/ApplicationServerHelper.cpp
   IResearch/Containers.cpp IResearch/Containers.h
   IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerFeature.cpp IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerFeature.h
+  IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.cpp
   IResearch/IResearchCommon.cpp IResearch/IResearchCommon.h
   IResearch/IResearchKludge.cpp IResearch/IResearchKludge.h
   IResearch/IResearchLink.cpp IResearch/IResearchLink.h
diff --git a/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.cpp b/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9a0c0071a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// DISCLAIMER
+///
+/// Copyright 2017 ArangoDB GmbH, Cologne, Germany
+///
+/// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+/// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+/// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+///
+///     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+///
+/// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+/// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+/// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+/// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+/// limitations under the License.
+///
+/// Copyright holder is ArangoDB GmbH, Cologne, Germany
+///
+/// @author Jan Steemann
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#include "ApplicationServerHelper.h"
+#include "Basics/StaticStrings.h"
+#include "Cluster/ServerState.h"
+#include "IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.h"
+#include "IResearch/IResearchCommon.h"
+#include "Logger/Logger.h"
+#include "RestServer/DatabaseFeature.h"
+#include "VocBase/Methods/Collections.h"
+
+using namespace arangodb;
+
+IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature::IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature(application_features::ApplicationServer& server)
+    : ApplicationFeature(server, "ArangoSearchAnalyzerCollection") {
+  setOptional(true);
+  startsAfter("DatabasePhase");
+  // should be relatively late in startup sequence
+  startsAfter("ClusterPhase");
+  startsAfter("ServerPhase");
+  startsAfter("Bootstrap");
+}
+
+void IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature::start() {
+  if (ServerState::instance()->isDBServer()) {
+    // no need to execute this in DB server
+    return;
+  }
+
+  DatabaseFeature* databaseFeature = DatabaseFeature::DATABASE;
+  TRI_ASSERT(databaseFeature != nullptr);
+
+  databaseFeature->enumerateDatabases([](TRI_vocbase_t& vocbase) {
+    Result res = methods::Collections::lookup(vocbase, StaticStrings::AnalyzersCollection, [](std::shared_ptr<LogicalCollection> const&) {
+    });
+
+    if (res.is(TRI_ERROR_ARANGO_DATA_SOURCE_NOT_FOUND)) {
+      // collection does not yet exist, so let's create it now
+    auto res =  methods::Collections::createSystem(vocbase, StaticStrings::AnalyzersCollection, false);
+      if (res.first.ok()) {
+	        LOG_TOPIC("c2e33", DEBUG, arangodb::iresearch::TOPIC) << "successfully created '" << StaticStrings::AnalyzersCollection << "' collection in database '" << vocbase.name() << "'";
+      } else if (res.first.fail() && !res.first.is(TRI_ERROR_ARANGO_CONFLICT)) {
+      LOG_TOPIC("ecc23", WARN, arangodb::iresearch::TOPIC) << "unable to create '" << StaticStrings::AnalyzersCollection << "' collection: " << res.first.errorMessage();
+        // don't abort startup here. the next startup may fix this
+      }
+    }
+  });
+}
diff --git a/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.h b/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..572522b9da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arangod/IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.h
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// DISCLAIMER
+///
+/// Copyright 2017 ArangoDB GmbH, Cologne, Germany
+///
+/// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+/// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+/// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+///
+///     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+///
+/// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+/// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+/// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+/// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+/// limitations under the License.
+///
+/// Copyright holder is ArangoDB GmbH, Cologne, Germany
+///
+/// @author Jan Steemann
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#ifndef ARANGOD_IRESEARCH__IRESEARCH_ANALYZER_COLLECTION_FEATURE_H
+#define ARANGOD_IRESEARCH__IRESEARCH_ANALYZER_COLLECTION_FEATURE_H 1
+
+#include "ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationFeature.h"
+
+namespace arangodb {
+
+/// @brief the sole purpose of this feature is to create potentially
+/// missing `_analyzers` collection after startup. It can be removed
+/// eventually once the entire upgrading logic has been revised
+class IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature final : public arangodb::application_features::ApplicationFeature {
+ public:
+  explicit IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature(arangodb::application_features::ApplicationServer& server);
+
+  void start() override;
+};
+
+}  // namespace arangodb
+
+#endif
diff --git a/arangod/RestServer/arangod.cpp b/arangod/RestServer/arangod.cpp
index 07534bd9c1..5409c51db6 100644
--- a/arangod/RestServer/arangod.cpp
+++ b/arangod/RestServer/arangod.cpp
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerFeature.h"
+#include "IResearch/IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature.h"
 #include "IResearch/IResearchFeature.h"
 
 // storage engines
@@ -245,6 +246,7 @@ static int runServer(int argc, char** argv, ArangoGlobalContext& context) {
 
     server.addFeature(new arangodb::iresearch::IResearchAnalyzerFeature(server));
     server.addFeature(new arangodb::iresearch::IResearchFeature(server));
+    server.addFeature(new arangodb::IResearchAnalyzerCollectionFeature(server));
 
     // storage engines
     server.addFeature(new ClusterEngine(server));