diff --git a/configdb/db/schema.py b/configdb/db/schema.py
index fe6c097256f9c699e065153f95ffbc0fce31c39a..e7f6a38f77568a7384a5fd1aad53da5a90266a14 100644
--- a/configdb/db/schema.py
+++ b/configdb/db/schema.py
@@ -169,10 +169,15 @@ class Schema(object):
                 raise exceptions.SchemaError(
                     'invalid entity name "%s"' % tname)
             self.entities[tname] = Entity(tname, tdata)
+        self._add_timestamp()
         self._relation_check()
         self.default_acl = acl.AclMixin()
         self.default_acl.set_acl(DEFAULT_ACL)
 
+    def _add_timestamp(self):
+        ts_schema = {'name': { 'type': 'string', 'size': 16}, 'ts': {'type': 'int', 'nullable': False } }
+        self.entities['__timestamp__'] = Entity('__timestamp__', ts_schema)
+
     def _relation_check(self):
         """Verify that all relations reference existing entities."""
         seen = set()