diff --git a/lib/puppet/node/facts.rb b/lib/puppet/node/facts.rb
index b77ad22d5..562690026 100755
--- a/lib/puppet/node/facts.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/node/facts.rb
@@ -1,70 +1,78 @@
 require 'puppet/node'
 require 'puppet/indirector'
 
 # Manage a given node's facts.  This either accepts facts and stores them, or
 # returns facts for a given node.
 class Puppet::Node::Facts
   # Set up indirection, so that nodes can be looked for in
   # the node sources.
   extend Puppet::Indirector
 
   # We want to expire any cached nodes if the facts are saved.
   module NodeExpirer
     def save(key, instance)
       Puppet::Node.expire(instance.name)
       super
     end
   end
 
   indirects :facts, :terminus_setting => :facts_terminus, :extend => NodeExpirer
 
   attr_accessor :name, :values
 
   def add_local_facts
     values["clientcert"] = Puppet.settings[:certname]
     values["clientversion"] = Puppet.version.to_s
     values["environment"] ||= Puppet.settings[:environment]
   end
 
   def initialize(name, values = {})
     @name = name
     @values = values
 
     add_internal
   end
 
   def downcase_if_necessary
     return unless Puppet.settings[:downcasefacts]
 
     Puppet.warning "DEPRECATION NOTICE: Fact downcasing is deprecated; please disable (20080122)"
     values.each do |fact, value|
       values[fact] = value.downcase if value.is_a?(String)
     end
   end
 
   # Convert all fact values into strings.
   def stringify
     values.each do |fact, value|
       values[fact] = value.to_s
     end
   end
 
   def ==(other)
     return false unless self.name == other.name
     strip_internal == other.send(:strip_internal)
   end
 
+  def timestamp=(time)
+    self.values[:_timestamp] = time
+  end
+
+  def timestamp
+    self.values[:_timestamp]
+  end
+
   private
 
   # Add internal data to the facts for storage.
   def add_internal
     self.values[:_timestamp] = Time.now
   end
 
   # Strip out that internal data.
   def strip_internal
     newvals = values.dup
     newvals.find_all { |name, value| name.to_s =~ /^_/ }.each { |name, value| newvals.delete(name) }
     newvals
   end
 end