diff --git a/nsqd/http.go b/nsqd/http.go
index 714b74eef..2388f10ea 100644
--- a/nsqd/http.go
+++ b/nsqd/http.go
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ func (s *httpServer) doPUB(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, ps httprout
 
 	msg := NewMessage(topic.GenerateID(), body)
 	msg.deferred = deferred
+	msg.absTs = time.Now().Add(msg.deferred).UnixNano()
 	err = topic.PutMessage(msg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, http_api.Err{503, "EXITING"}
diff --git a/nsqd/message.go b/nsqd/message.go
index 77ee4c79d..a68aaf9e1 100644
--- a/nsqd/message.go
+++ b/nsqd/message.go
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ const (
 	minValidMsgLength = MsgIDLength + 8 + 2 // Timestamp + Attempts
 )
 
+var deferMsgMagicFlag = []byte("#DEFER_MSG#")
+
 type MessageID [MsgIDLength]byte
 
 type Message struct {
@@ -26,7 +28,10 @@ type Message struct {
 	clientID   int64
 	pri        int64
 	index      int
-	deferred   time.Duration
+
+	// for defer message handling
+	deferred time.Duration
+	absTs    int64
 }
 
 func NewMessage(id MessageID, body []byte) *Message {
@@ -65,6 +70,51 @@ func (m *Message) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
 	return total, nil
 }
 
+func (m *Message) WriteToBackend(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
+	var buf [10]byte
+	var total int64
+
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(buf[:8], uint64(m.Timestamp))
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(buf[8:10], uint16(m.Attempts))
+
+	n, err := w.Write(buf[:])
+	total += int64(n)
+	if err != nil {
+		return total, err
+	}
+
+	n, err = w.Write(m.ID[:])
+	total += int64(n)
+	if err != nil {
+		return total, err
+	}
+
+	n, err = w.Write(m.Body)
+	total += int64(n)
+	if err != nil {
+		return total, err
+	}
+
+	if m.deferred != 0 {
+		n, err = w.Write(deferMsgMagicFlag)
+		total += int64(n)
+		if err != nil {
+			return total, err
+		}
+
+		var deferBuf [8]byte
+		binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(deferBuf[:8], uint64(m.absTs))
+
+		n, err := w.Write(deferBuf[:])
+		total += int64(n)
+		if err != nil {
+			return total, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return total, nil
+}
+
 // decodeMessage deserializes data (as []byte) and creates a new Message
 // message format:
 // [x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x]...
@@ -85,14 +135,20 @@ func decodeMessage(b []byte) (*Message, error) {
 	msg.Timestamp = int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(b[:8]))
 	msg.Attempts = binary.BigEndian.Uint16(b[8:10])
 	copy(msg.ID[:], b[10:10+MsgIDLength])
-	msg.Body = b[10+MsgIDLength:]
+
+	if bytes.Equal(b[len(b)-8-len(deferMsgMagicFlag):len(b)-8], deferMsgMagicFlag) {
+		msg.absTs = int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(b[len(b)-8:]))
+		msg.Body = b[10+MsgIDLength : len(b)-8-len(deferMsgMagicFlag)]
+	} else {
+		msg.Body = b[10+MsgIDLength:]
+	}
 
 	return &msg, nil
 }
 
 func writeMessageToBackend(buf *bytes.Buffer, msg *Message, bq BackendQueue) error {
 	buf.Reset()
-	_, err := msg.WriteTo(buf)
+	_, err := msg.WriteToBackend(buf)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
index c2e7d7b42..c8832cadd 100644
--- a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
+++ b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
@@ -309,6 +309,17 @@ func (p *protocolV2) messagePump(client *clientV2, startedChan chan bool) {
 				p.ctx.nsqd.logf(LOG_ERROR, "failed to decode message - %s", err)
 				continue
 			}
+
+			nowInNano := time.Now().UnixNano()
+			if nowInNano-msg.absTs < 0 {
+				msg.deferred = time.Duration(msg.absTs - nowInNano)
+			}
+
+			if msg.deferred != 0 {
+				subChannel.PutMessageDeferred(msg, msg.deferred)
+				continue
+			}
+
 			msg.Attempts++
 
 			subChannel.StartInFlightTimeout(msg, client.ID, msgTimeout)
diff --git a/nsqd/topic.go b/nsqd/topic.go
index e41be2b0c..2455f9721 100644
--- a/nsqd/topic.go
+++ b/nsqd/topic.go
@@ -279,6 +279,11 @@ func (t *Topic) messagePump() {
 				t.ctx.nsqd.logf(LOG_ERROR, "failed to decode message - %s", err)
 				continue
 			}
+
+			nowInNano := time.Now().UnixNano()
+			if nowInNano-msg.absTs < 0 {
+				msg.deferred = time.Duration(msg.absTs - nowInNano)
+			}
 		case <-t.channelUpdateChan:
 			chans = chans[:0]
 			t.RLock()