diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 0fcb59e05a..4ea36a781c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 devel
 -----
 
+* fixed issue #2835: UI detection of JWT token in case of server restart or upgrade
+
 * upgrade jemalloc version to 5.0.1
 
 * fixed docs for issue #2968
diff --git a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/arango/arango.js b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/arango/arango.js
index f27d40a0d5..c530b68373 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/arango/arango.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/arango/arango.js
@@ -95,6 +95,22 @@
       localStorage.setItem('jwtUser', username);
     },
 
+    checkJwt: function () {
+      $.ajax({
+        type: 'GET',
+        cache: false,
+        url: arangoHelper.databaseUrl('/_api/version'),
+        contentType: 'application/json',
+        processData: false,
+        async: true,
+        error: function (jqXHR) {
+          if (jqXHR.status === 401) {
+            window.App.navigate('login', {trigger: true});
+          }
+        }
+      });
+    },
+
     getCoordinatorShortName: function (id) {
       var shortName;
       if (window.clusterHealth) {
diff --git a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/routers/startApp.js b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/routers/startApp.js
index f8c5086ab8..1d831ade00 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/routers/startApp.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/routers/startApp.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* jshint unused: false */
-/* global window, $, Backbone, document */
+/* global window, $, Backbone, document, arangoHelper */
 
 (function () {
   'use strict';
@@ -12,6 +12,15 @@
       }
     });
 
+    $.ajaxSetup({
+      error: function (x, status, error) {
+        if (x.status === 401) {
+          // session might be expired. check if jwt is still valid
+          arangoHelper.checkJwt();
+        }
+      }
+    });
+
     $(document).ready(function () {
       window.App = new window.Router();
       Backbone.history.start();
diff --git a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/views/loginView.js b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/views/loginView.js
index 547172aaf1..e7ce263dc7 100644
--- a/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/views/loginView.js
+++ b/js/apps/system/_admin/aardvark/APP/frontend/js/views/loginView.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /* jshint browser: true */
 /* jshint unused: false */
-/* global Backbone, document, _, arangoHelper, window, setTimeout, $, templateEngine, frontendConfig */
+/* global Backbone, location, document, _, arangoHelper, window, setTimeout, $, templateEngine, frontendConfig */
 
 (function () {
   'use strict';
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@
           if (errCallback) {
             errCallback();
           } else {
-            console.log('could not fetch user db data');
+            // existing jwt login is not valid anymore => reload
+            location.reload(true);
           }
         });
       };