diff --git a/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.cpp b/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.cpp
index 78f9f94f3b..bd0cefe4fa 100644
--- a/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.cpp
@@ -2653,3 +2653,13 @@ void FollowerInfo::remove(ServerID const& sid) {
              << path;
   }
 }
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief clear follower list, no changes in agency necesary
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+void FollowerInfo::clear() {
+  MUTEX_LOCKER(locker, _mutex);
+  auto v = std::make_shared<std::vector<ServerID>>();
+  _followers = v;  // will cast to std::vector<ServerID> const
+}
diff --git a/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.h b/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.h
index d4b7a5c27c..211c082410 100644
--- a/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.h
+++ b/arangod/Cluster/ClusterInfo.h
@@ -1036,6 +1036,12 @@ class FollowerInfo {
 
   void remove(ServerID const& s);
 
+  //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+  /// @brief clear follower list, no changes in agency necesary
+  //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+  void clear();
+
 };
 
 }  // end namespace arangodb
diff --git a/arangod/V8Server/v8-collection.cpp b/arangod/V8Server/v8-collection.cpp
index 667bc19030..efa422c3da 100644
--- a/arangod/V8Server/v8-collection.cpp
+++ b/arangod/V8Server/v8-collection.cpp
@@ -1074,6 +1074,50 @@ static void JS_FiguresVocbaseCol(
 /// @brief was docuBlock collectionLoad
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+static void JS_LeaderResign(v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value> const& args) {
+  TRI_V8_TRY_CATCH_BEGIN(isolate);
+  v8::HandleScope scope(isolate);
+
+  TRI_vocbase_t* vocbase = GetContextVocBase(isolate);
+
+  if (vocbase == nullptr) {
+    TRI_V8_THROW_EXCEPTION(TRI_ERROR_ARANGO_DATABASE_NOT_FOUND);
+  }
+
+  if (ServerState::instance()->isDBServer()) {
+    TRI_vocbase_col_t const* collection =
+        TRI_UnwrapClass<TRI_vocbase_col_t>(args.Holder(), WRP_VOCBASE_COL_TYPE);
+
+    if (collection == nullptr) {
+      TRI_V8_THROW_EXCEPTION_INTERNAL("cannot extract collection");
+    }
+
+    TRI_vocbase_t* vocbase = collection->_vocbase;
+    std::string collectionName = collection->name();
+    if (vocbase == nullptr) {
+      TRI_V8_THROW_EXCEPTION(TRI_ERROR_ARANGO_DATABASE_NOT_FOUND);
+    }
+
+    auto transactionContext = std::make_shared<V8TransactionContext>(vocbase, true);
+
+    SingleCollectionTransaction trx(transactionContext, collectionName, 
+                                    TRI_TRANSACTION_READ);
+    int res = trx.begin();
+    if (res != TRI_ERROR_NO_ERROR) {
+      TRI_V8_THROW_EXCEPTION(res);
+    }
+    TRI_document_collection_t* docColl = trx.documentCollection();
+    docColl->followers()->clear();
+  }
+
+  TRI_V8_RETURN_UNDEFINED();
+  TRI_V8_TRY_CATCH_END
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief was docuBlock collectionLoad
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 static void JS_LoadVocbaseCol(v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value> const& args) {
   TRI_V8_TRY_CATCH_BEGIN(isolate);
   v8::HandleScope scope(isolate);
@@ -3092,6 +3136,8 @@ void TRI_InitV8collection(v8::Handle<v8::Context> context, TRI_server_t* server,
                        JS_FiguresVocbaseCol);
   TRI_AddMethodVocbase(isolate, rt, TRI_V8_ASCII_STRING("insert"),
                        JS_InsertVocbaseCol);
+  TRI_AddMethodVocbase(isolate, rt, TRI_V8_ASCII_STRING("leaderResign"),
+                       JS_LeaderResign, true);
   TRI_AddMethodVocbase(isolate, rt, TRI_V8_ASCII_STRING("load"),
                        JS_LoadVocbaseCol);
   TRI_AddMethodVocbase(isolate, rt, TRI_V8_ASCII_STRING("name"),
diff --git a/js/server/modules/@arangodb/cluster.js b/js/server/modules/@arangodb/cluster.js
index b898b286e0..667bf02726 100644
--- a/js/server/modules/@arangodb/cluster.js
+++ b/js/server/modules/@arangodb/cluster.js
@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ function handleDatabaseChanges (plan, current, writeLocked) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 function createLocalCollections (plannedCollections, planVersion,
+                                 currentCollections,
                                  takeOverResponsibility, writeLocked) {
   var ourselves = global.ArangoServerState.id();
   
@@ -506,6 +507,15 @@ function createLocalCollections (plannedCollections, planVersion,
                   var didWrite = false;
                   if (shards[shard].indexOf(ourselves) >= 0) {
                     var isLeader = shards[shard][0] === ourselves;
+                    var wasLeader = isLeader;
+                    try {
+                      var currentServers = currentCollections[database][collection][shard].servers;
+                      wasLeader = currentServers[0] === ourselves;
+                    }
+                    catch(err) {
+                    }
+                    console.error("Fuxxen:", shard, isLeader, wasLeader);
+
                     // found a shard we are responsible for
 
                     var error = { error: false, errorNum: 0,
@@ -546,6 +556,10 @@ function createLocalCollections (plannedCollections, planVersion,
                       }
                     }
                     else {
+                      if (!isLeader && wasLeader) {
+                        db._collection(shard).leaderResign();
+                      }
+
                       if (localCollections[shard].status !== collInfo.status) {
                         console.info("detected status change for local shard '%s/%s'",
                             database,
@@ -695,7 +709,8 @@ function createLocalCollections (plannedCollections, planVersion,
                       }
                     }
 
-                    if (takeOverResponsibility && !didWrite && isLeader) {
+                    if ((takeOverResponsibility && !didWrite && isLeader) ||
+                        (!didWrite && isLeader && !wasLeader)) {
                       writeLocked({ part: "Current" },
                           takeOver,
                           [ database, shard, collInfo, error ]);
@@ -1130,10 +1145,11 @@ function handleCollectionChanges (plan, current, takeOverResponsibility,
   var ok = true;
 
   try {
-    // Note that createLocalCollections and dropLocalCollections do not 
+    createLocalCollections(plannedCollections, plan.Version, currentCollections,
+                           takeOverResponsibility, writeLocked);
+    // Note that dropLocalCollections does not 
     // need the currentCollections, since they compare the plan with
     // the local situation.
-    createLocalCollections(plannedCollections, plan.Version, takeOverResponsibility, writeLocked);
     dropLocalCollections(plannedCollections, writeLocked);
     cleanupCurrentCollections(plannedCollections, currentCollections,
                               writeLocked);