diff --git a/serve.go b/serve.go
index de09dd6d..d3abb42b 100644
--- a/serve.go
+++ b/serve.go
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ func (vs *version) serveProxied(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request,
 
 	// Shuffle the peers, so we try them in a random order.
 	// TODO: We don't want to blacklist nodes, but we can weight them lower
-	peers := shuffle(vs.partitions.FindPeers(partition))
+	rawPeers, disapperedNodes := vs.partitions.FindPeers(partition)
+	if len(rawPeers) < vs.sequins.config.Sharding.Replication {
+		rawPeers = append(rawPeers, disapperedNodes...)
+	}
+	peers := shuffle(rawPeers)
 	if len(peers) == 0 {
 		log.Printf("No peers available for /%s/%s (version %s)", vs.db.name, key, vs.name)
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadGateway)
@@ -70,7 +74,12 @@ func (vs *version) serveProxied(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request,
 		log.Println("Trying alternate partition for pathological key", key)
 
 		resp.Body.Close()
-		alternatePeers := shuffle(vs.partitions.FindPeers(alternatePartition))
+		rawPeers, disapperedNodes = vs.partitions.FindPeers(alternatePartition)
+		if len(rawPeers) < vs.sequins.config.Sharding.Replication {
+			rawPeers = append(rawPeers, disapperedNodes...)
+		}
+
+		alternatePeers := shuffle(rawPeers)
 		resp, peer, err = vs.proxy(r, alternatePeers)
 	}
 
diff --git a/sharding/partitions.go b/sharding/partitions.go
index cc9e3d6c..526592c9 100644
--- a/sharding/partitions.go
+++ b/sharding/partitions.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type Partitions struct {
 	selected        map[int]bool
 	local           map[int]bool
 	remote          map[int][]string
+	disappeared     map[int][]string
 	numMissing      int
 	readyClosed     bool
 	shouldAdvertise bool
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ func WatchPartitions(zkWatcher *zk.Watcher, peers *Peers, db, version string, nu
 		replication:   replication,
 		local:         make(map[int]bool),
 		remote:        make(map[int][]string),
+		disappeared:   make(map[int][]string, 1024),
 	}
 
 	p.pickLocal()
@@ -69,6 +71,19 @@ func WatchPartitions(zkWatcher *zk.Watcher, peers *Peers, db, version string, nu
 	return p
 }
 
+// dedupe dedupelicates elements in a slice of strings.
+func dedupe(nodes []string) []string {
+	found := map[string]bool{}
+	dedupedNodes := make([]string, 0, len(nodes))
+	for _, node := range nodes {
+		if !found[node] {
+			found[node] = true
+			dedupedNodes = append(dedupedNodes, node)
+		}
+	}
+	return dedupedNodes
+}
+
 // pickLocal selects which partitions are local by iterating through
 // them all, and checking the hashring to see if this peer is one of the
 // replicas.
@@ -106,18 +121,23 @@ func (p *Partitions) sync(updates chan []string) {
 	}
 }
 
-// FindPeers returns the list of peers who have the given partition available.
-func (p *Partitions) FindPeers(partition int) []string {
-	if p.peers == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-
+// FindPeers returns the list of peers who have the given partition available,
+// It also returns a list of disappeared peers,
+// that are no longer in Zookeeper
+func (p *Partitions) FindPeers(partition int) ([]string, []string) {
 	p.lock.RLock()
 	defer p.lock.RUnlock()
 
+	disappearedPeers := make([]string, 1024)
+	copy(disappearedPeers, p.disappeared[partition])
+
+	if p.peers == nil {
+		return nil, disappearedPeers
+	}
+
 	peers := make([]string, len(p.remote[partition]))
 	copy(peers, p.remote[partition])
-	return peers
+	return peers, disappearedPeers
 }
 
 // Update updates the list of local partitions to the given list.
@@ -228,6 +248,25 @@ func (p *Partitions) updateRemote(nodes []string) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	for partitionId, partition := range p.remote {
+		disappearedPeers := make([]string, len(partition))
+		for _, oldPeer := range partition {
+			found := false
+			for _, newPeer := range remote[partitionId] {
+				if newPeer == oldPeer {
+					found = true
+				}
+			}
+			if !found {
+				disappearedPeers = append(disappearedPeers, oldPeer)
+			}
+		}
+		p.disappeared[partitionId] = dedupe(append(disappearedPeers, p.disappeared[partitionId]...))
+		if len(p.disappeared[partitionId]) >= 1024 {
+			p.disappeared[partitionId] = p.disappeared[partitionId][:1024]
+		}
+	}
+
 	p.remote = remote
 	p.updateMissing()
 }
diff --git a/sharding/partitions_test.go b/sharding/partitions_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1225164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sharding/partitions_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package sharding
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestDedupeRandom(t *testing.T) {
+	dupe := []string{"4", "1", "2", "1", "3", "2"}
+	expected := []string{"4", "1", "2", "3"}
+
+	deduped := dedupe(dupe)
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, deduped)
+}
+
+func TestDedupe(t *testing.T) {
+	dupe := []string{"1", "1", "1", "2", "2", "3", "3", "3", "4", "5", "5"}
+	expected := []string{"1", "2", "3", "4", "5"}
+
+	deduped := dedupe(dupe)
+	assert.Equal(t, expected, deduped)
+}