diff --git a/lib/puppet/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record.rb b/lib/puppet/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record.rb
index 30cb88ea0..5b8606839 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record.rb
@@ -1,67 +1,95 @@
 require 'puppet/rails/inventory_host'
 require 'puppet/rails/inventory_fact'
 require 'puppet/indirector/active_record'
 
 class Puppet::Node::Facts::InventoryActiveRecord < Puppet::Indirector::ActiveRecord
   def find(request)
     host = Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.find_by_name(request.key)
     return nil unless host
     facts = Puppet::Node::Facts.new(host.name, host.facts_to_hash)
     facts.timestamp = host.timestamp
     facts.values.each do |key,value|
       facts.values[key] = value.first if value.is_a?(Array) && value.length == 1
     end
     facts
   end
 
   def save(request)
     facts = request.instance
     host = Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.find_by_name(request.key) || Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.create(:name => request.key, :timestamp => facts.timestamp)
     host.timestamp = facts.timestamp
 
     ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryFact.delete_all(:inventory_host_id => host.id)
       # We don't want to save internal values as facts, because those are
       # metadata that belong on the host
       facts.values.each do |name,value|
         next if name.to_s =~ /^_/
         host.facts.build(:name => name, :value => value)
       end
       host.save
     end
   end
 
   def search(request)
     return [] unless request.options
     fact_names = []
-    filters = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = []}
+    fact_filters = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = []}
+    meta_filters = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = []}
     request.options.each do |key,value|
       type, name, operator = key.to_s.split(".")
       operator ||= "eq"
-      filters[operator] << [name,value]
+      if type == "facts"
+        fact_filters[operator] << [name,value]
+      elsif type == "meta" and name == "timestamp"
+        meta_filters[operator] << [name,value]
+      end
     end
 
+    matching_hosts = hosts_matching_fact_filters(fact_filters) + hosts_matching_meta_filters(meta_filters)
+
+    # to_a because [].inject == nil
+    matching_hosts.inject {|hosts,this_set| hosts & this_set}.to_a.sort
+  end
+
+  private
 
+  def hosts_matching_fact_filters(fact_filters)
     host_sets = []
-    filters['eq'].each do |name,value|
+    fact_filters['eq'].each do |name,value|
       host_sets << Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.has_fact_with_value(name,value).map {|host| host.name}
     end
-    filters['ne'].each do |name,value|
+    fact_filters['ne'].each do |name,value|
       host_sets << Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.has_fact_without_value(name,value).map {|host| host.name}
     end
     {
       'gt' => '>',
       'lt' => '<',
       'ge' => '>=',
       'le' => '<='
     }.each do |operator_name,operator|
-      filters[operator_name].each do |name,value|
+      fact_filters[operator_name].each do |name,value|
         hosts_with_fact = Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.has_fact(name)
         host_sets << hosts_with_fact.select {|h| h.value_for(name).to_f.send(operator, value.to_f)}.map {|host| host.name}
       end
     end
+    host_sets
+  end
 
-    # to_a because [].inject == nil
-    host_sets.inject {|hosts,this_set| hosts & this_set}.to_a
+  def hosts_matching_meta_filters(meta_filters)
+    host_sets = []
+    {
+      'eq' => '=',
+      'ne' => '!=',
+      'gt' => '>',
+      'lt' => '<',
+      'ge' => '>=',
+      'le' => '<='
+    }.each do |operator_name,operator|
+      meta_filters[operator_name].each do |name,value|
+        host_sets << Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.find(:all, :conditions => ["timestamp #{operator} ?", value]).map {|host| host.name}
+      end
+    end
+    host_sets
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record_spec.rb b/spec/unit/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record_spec.rb
index 7fb55561d..69d614023 100644
--- a/spec/unit/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record_spec.rb
@@ -1,151 +1,172 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../../spec_helper'
 require 'sqlite3' rescue nil
 require 'tempfile'
 require 'puppet/rails'
 
 describe "Puppet::Node::Facts::InventoryActiveRecord", :if => (Puppet.features.rails? and defined? SQLite3) do
   let(:terminus) { Puppet::Node::Facts::InventoryActiveRecord.new }
 
   before :all do
     require 'puppet/indirector/facts/inventory_active_record'
     @dbfile = Tempfile.new("testdb")
     @dbfile.close
   end
 
   after :all do
     Puppet::Node::Facts.indirection.reset_terminus_class
     @dbfile.unlink
   end
 
   before :each do
     Puppet::Node::Facts.terminus_class = :inventory_active_record
     Puppet[:dbadapter]  = 'sqlite3'
     Puppet[:dblocation] = @dbfile.path
     Puppet[:railslog] = "/dev/null"
     Puppet::Rails.init
   end
 
   after :each do
     Puppet::Rails.teardown
   end
 
   describe "#save" do
     it "should use an existing host if possible" do
       host = Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.new(:name => "foo", :timestamp => Time.now)
       host.save
       Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "60", "kernel" => "Darwin").save
 
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.count.should == 1
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.first.should == host
     end
 
     it "should create a new host if one can't be found" do
       # This test isn't valid if there are hosts to begin with
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.count.should == 0
 
       Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "60", "kernel" => "Darwin").save
 
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.count.should == 1
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryHost.first.name.should == "foo"
     end
 
     it "should save the facts" do
       Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "60", "kernel" => "Darwin").save
 
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryFact.all.map{|f| [f.name,f.value]}.should =~ [["uptime_days","60"],["kernel","Darwin"]]
     end
 
     it "should remove the previous facts for an existing host" do
       Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "30", "kernel" => "Darwin").save
       bar_facts = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "uptime_days" => "35", "kernel" => "Linux")
       foo_facts = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "60", "is_virtual" => "false")
       bar_facts.save
       foo_facts.save
 
       Puppet::Node::Facts.find("bar").should == bar_facts
       Puppet::Node::Facts.find("foo").should == foo_facts
       Puppet::Rails::InventoryFact.all.map{|f| [f.name,f.value]}.should_not include(["uptime_days", "30"], ["kernel", "Darwin"])
     end
 
     it "should not replace the node's facts if something goes wrong" do
     end
   end
 
   describe "#find" do
     before do
       @foo_facts = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "60", "kernel" => "Darwin")
       @bar_facts = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "uptime_days" => "30", "kernel" => "Linux")
       @foo_facts.save
       @bar_facts.save
     end
 
     it "should identify facts by host name" do
       Puppet::Node::Facts.find("foo").should == @foo_facts
     end
 
     it "should return nil if no host instance can be found" do
       Puppet::Node::Facts.find("non-existent host").should == nil
     end
 
     it "should convert all single-member arrays into non-arrays" do
       Puppet::Node::Facts.new("array", "fact1" => ["value1"]).save
 
       Puppet::Node::Facts.find("array").values["fact1"].should == "value1"
     end
   end
 
   describe "#search" do
+    def search_request(conditions)
+      Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:facts, :search, nil, conditions)
+    end
 
-    it "should return node names that match 'equal' constraints" do
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value2", "fact3" => "value3").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "fact1" => "value2").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("baz", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value1", "fact3" => "value1").save
+    before :each do
+      @now = Time.now
+      @foo = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value2", "uptime_days" => "30")
+      @bar = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "fact1" => "value1", "uptime_days" => "60")
+      @baz = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("baz", "fact1" => "value2", "fact2" => "value1", "uptime_days" => "90")
+      @bat = Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bat")
+      @foo.timestamp = @now - 3600*1
+      @bar.timestamp = @now - 3600*3
+      @baz.timestamp = @now - 3600*5
+      @bat.timestamp = @now - 3600*7
+      @foo.save
+      @bar.save
+      @baz.save
+      @bat.save
+    end
 
-      request = Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:facts, :search, nil,
-                                                {'facts.fact1.eq' => 'value1',
-                                                 'facts.fact2.eq' => 'value2',
-                                                 'facts.fact3.eq' => 'value3'})
-      terminus.search(request).should =~ ["foo"]
+    it "should return node names that match 'equal' constraints" do
+      request = search_request('facts.fact1.eq' => 'value1',
+                               'facts.fact2.eq' => 'value2')
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["foo"]
     end
 
     it "should return node names that match 'not equal' constraints" do
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value2", "fact3" => "value3").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "fact1" => "value2").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("baz", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value1", "fact3" => "value1").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bang", "fact1" => "value1", "fact2" => "value2", "fact3" => "value1").save
-
-      request = Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:facts, :search, nil,
-                                                {'facts.fact1.ne' => 'value3',
-                                                 'facts.fact2.ne' => 'value1',
-                                                 'facts.fact3.ne' => 'value2'})
-      terminus.search(request).should =~ ["foo","bang"]
+      request = search_request('facts.fact1.ne' => 'value2')
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar","foo"]
     end
 
     it "should return node names that match strict inequality constraints" do
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "30").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "uptime_days" => "60").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("baz", "uptime_days" => "90").save
+      request = search_request('facts.uptime_days.gt' => '20',
+                               'facts.uptime_days.lt' => '70')
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar","foo"]
+    end
 
-      request = Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:facts, :search, nil,
-                                                {'facts.uptime_days.gt' => '20',
-                                                 'facts.uptime_days.lt' => '70'})
+    it "should return node names that match non-strict inequality constraints" do
+      request = search_request('facts.uptime_days.ge' => '30',
+                               'facts.uptime_days.le' => '60')
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar","foo"]
+    end
 
-      terminus.search(request).should =~ ["foo","bar"]
+    it "should return node names whose facts are within a given timeframe" do
+      request = search_request('meta.timestamp.ge' => @now - 3600*5,
+                               'meta.timestamp.le' => @now - 3600*1)
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar","baz","foo"]
     end
 
-    it "should return node names that match non-strict inequality constraints" do
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("foo", "uptime_days" => "30").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("bar", "uptime_days" => "60").save
-      Puppet::Node::Facts.new("baz", "uptime_days" => "90").save
+    it "should return node names whose facts are from a specific time" do
+      request = search_request('meta.timestamp.eq' => @now - 3600*3)
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar"]
+    end
 
-      request = Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:facts, :search, nil,
-                                                {'facts.uptime_days.ge' => '30',
-                                                 'facts.uptime_days.le' => '60'})
+    it "should return node names whose facts are not from a specific time" do
+      request = search_request('meta.timestamp.ne' => @now - 3600*1)
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar","bat","baz"]
+    end
+
+    it "should perform strict searches on nodes by timestamp" do
+      request = search_request('meta.timestamp.gt' => @now - 3600*5,
+                               'meta.timestamp.lt' => @now - 3600*1)
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["bar"]
+    end
 
-      terminus.search(request).should =~ ["foo","bar"]
+    it "should search nodes based on both facts and timestamp values" do
+      request = search_request('facts.uptime_days.gt' => '45',
+                               'meta.timestamp.lt'    => @now - 3600*4)
+      terminus.search(request).should == ["baz"]
     end
   end
 end