diff --git a/etc/neutron.conf b/etc/neutron.conf
index eadcf5e1f93..f552c4325d0 100644
--- a/etc/neutron.conf
+++ b/etc/neutron.conf
@@ -160,6 +160,10 @@ lock_path = $state_path/lock
 # routers to first L3 agent which sends sync_routers message to neutron server
 # router_auto_schedule = True
 
+# Allow automatic rescheduling of routers from dead L3 agents with
+# admin_state_up set to True to alive agents.
+# allow_automatic_l3agent_failover = False
+
 # Number of DHCP agents scheduled to host a network. This enables redundant
 # DHCP agents for configured networks.
 # dhcp_agents_per_network = 1
diff --git a/neutron/db/l3_agentschedulers_db.py b/neutron/db/l3_agentschedulers_db.py
index 3d6927218ee..fe9f6734c9c 100644
--- a/neutron/db/l3_agentschedulers_db.py
+++ b/neutron/db/l3_agentschedulers_db.py
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 #    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
+import datetime
+import random
+import time
 
 from oslo.config import cfg
 import sqlalchemy as sa
@@ -21,11 +24,19 @@ from sqlalchemy.orm import exc
 from sqlalchemy.orm import joinedload
 
 from neutron.common import constants
+from neutron import context as n_ctx
 from neutron.db import agents_db
 from neutron.db import agentschedulers_db
 from neutron.db import model_base
 from neutron.extensions import l3agentscheduler
 from neutron import manager
+from neutron.openstack.common.gettextutils import _LI, _LW
+from neutron.openstack.common import log as logging
+from neutron.openstack.common import loopingcall
+from neutron.openstack.common import timeutils
+
+
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 L3_AGENTS_SCHEDULER_OPTS = [
     cfg.StrOpt('router_scheduler_driver',
@@ -34,6 +45,9 @@ L3_AGENTS_SCHEDULER_OPTS = [
                       'router to a default L3 agent')),
     cfg.BoolOpt('router_auto_schedule', default=True,
                 help=_('Allow auto scheduling of routers to L3 agent.')),
+    cfg.BoolOpt('allow_automatic_l3agent_failover', default=False,
+                help=_('Automatically reschedule routers from offline L3 '
+                       'agents to online L3 agents.')),
 ]
 
 cfg.CONF.register_opts(L3_AGENTS_SCHEDULER_OPTS)
@@ -59,6 +73,54 @@ class L3AgentSchedulerDbMixin(l3agentscheduler.L3AgentSchedulerPluginBase,
 
     router_scheduler = None
 
+    def start_periodic_agent_status_check(self):
+        if not cfg.CONF.allow_automatic_l3agent_failover:
+            LOG.info(_LI("Skipping period L3 agent status check because "
+                         "automatic router rescheduling is disabled."))
+            return
+
+        self.periodic_agent_loop = loopingcall.FixedIntervalLoopingCall(
+            self.reschedule_routers_from_down_agents)
+        interval = max(cfg.CONF.agent_down_time / 2, 1)
+        # add random initial delay to allow agents to check in after the
+        # neutron server first starts. random to offset multiple servers
+        self.periodic_agent_loop.start(interval=interval,
+            initial_delay=random.randint(interval, interval * 2))
+
+    def reschedule_routers_from_down_agents(self):
+        """Reschedule routers from down l3 agents if admin state is up."""
+
+        # give agents extra time to handle transient failures
+        agent_dead_limit = cfg.CONF.agent_down_time * 2
+
+        # check for an abrupt clock change since last check. if a change is
+        # detected, sleep for a while to let the agents check in.
+        tdelta = timeutils.utcnow() - getattr(self, '_clock_jump_canary',
+                                              timeutils.utcnow())
+        if timeutils.total_seconds(tdelta) > cfg.CONF.agent_down_time:
+            LOG.warn(_LW("Time since last L3 agent reschedule check has "
+                         "exceeded the interval between checks. Waiting "
+                         "before check to allow agents to send a heartbeat "
+                         "in case there was a clock adjustment."))
+            time.sleep(agent_dead_limit)
+        self._clock_jump_canary = timeutils.utcnow()
+
+        context = n_ctx.get_admin_context()
+        cutoff = timeutils.utcnow() - datetime.timedelta(
+            seconds=agent_dead_limit)
+        down_bindings = (
+            context.session.query(RouterL3AgentBinding).
+            filter(agents_db.Agent.heartbeat_timestamp < cutoff,
+                   agents_db.Agent.admin_state_up))
+        for binding in down_bindings:
+            LOG.warn(_LW("Rescheduling router %(router)s from agent %(agent)s "
+                         "because the agent did not report to the server in "
+                         "the last %(dead_time)s seconds."),
+                     {'router': binding.router_id,
+                      'agent': binding.l3_agent_id,
+                      'dead_time': agent_dead_limit})
+            self.reschedule_router(context, binding.router_id)
+
     def add_router_to_l3_agent(self, context, agent_id, router_id):
         """Add a l3 agent to host a router."""
         router = self.get_router(context, router_id)
diff --git a/neutron/services/l3_router/l3_router_plugin.py b/neutron/services/l3_router/l3_router_plugin.py
index 61614d684a0..f4f4b779a26 100644
--- a/neutron/services/l3_router/l3_router_plugin.py
+++ b/neutron/services/l3_router/l3_router_plugin.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ class L3RouterPlugin(common_db_mixin.CommonDbMixin,
         self.setup_rpc()
         self.router_scheduler = importutils.import_object(
             cfg.CONF.router_scheduler_driver)
+        self.start_periodic_agent_status_check()
 
     def setup_rpc(self):
         # RPC support
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/openvswitch/test_agent_scheduler.py b/neutron/tests/unit/openvswitch/test_agent_scheduler.py
index c9057ed3363..ab855b61c93 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/openvswitch/test_agent_scheduler.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/openvswitch/test_agent_scheduler.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import contextlib
 import copy
+import datetime
 
 import mock
 from oslo.config import cfg
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ from neutron.common import constants
 from neutron import context
 from neutron.db import agents_db
 from neutron.db import dhcp_rpc_base
+from neutron.db import l3_agentschedulers_db
 from neutron.db import l3_rpc_base
 from neutron.extensions import agent
 from neutron.extensions import dhcpagentscheduler
@@ -231,6 +233,9 @@ class OvsAgentSchedulerTestCaseBase(test_l3_plugin.L3NatTestCaseMixin,
         self.l3_notify_p = mock.patch(
             'neutron.extensions.l3agentscheduler.notify')
         self.patched_l3_notify = self.l3_notify_p.start()
+        self.l3_periodic_p = mock.patch('neutron.db.L3AgentSchedulerDbMixin.'
+                                        'start_periodic_agent_status_check')
+        self.patched_l3_periodic = self.l3_notify_p.start()
         self.dhcp_notify_p = mock.patch(
             'neutron.extensions.dhcpagentscheduler.notify')
         self.patched_dhcp_notify = self.dhcp_notify_p.start()
@@ -617,6 +622,61 @@ class OvsAgentSchedulerTestCase(OvsAgentSchedulerTestCaseBase):
             self.assertEqual(port_list['ports'][0]['device_id'],
                              constants.DEVICE_ID_RESERVED_DHCP_PORT)
 
+    def _take_down_agent_and_run_reschedule(self, host):
+        # take down the agent on host A and ensure B is alive
+        self.adminContext.session.begin(subtransactions=True)
+        query = self.adminContext.session.query(agents_db.Agent)
+        agt = query.filter_by(host=host).first()
+        agt.heartbeat_timestamp = (
+            agt.heartbeat_timestamp - datetime.timedelta(hours=1))
+        self.adminContext.session.commit()
+
+        plugin = manager.NeutronManager.get_service_plugins().get(
+            service_constants.L3_ROUTER_NAT)
+
+        plugin.reschedule_routers_from_down_agents()
+
+    def _set_agent_admin_state_up(self, host, state):
+        self.adminContext.session.begin(subtransactions=True)
+        query = self.adminContext.session.query(agents_db.Agent)
+        agt_db = query.filter_by(host=host).first()
+        agt_db.admin_state_up = state
+        self.adminContext.session.commit()
+
+    def test_router_reschedule_from_dead_agent(self):
+        with self.router():
+            l3_rpc = l3_rpc_base.L3RpcCallbackMixin()
+            self._register_agent_states()
+
+            # schedule the router to host A
+            ret_a = l3_rpc.sync_routers(self.adminContext, host=L3_HOSTA)
+            self._take_down_agent_and_run_reschedule(L3_HOSTA)
+
+            # B should now pick up the router
+            ret_b = l3_rpc.sync_routers(self.adminContext, host=L3_HOSTB)
+        self.assertEqual(ret_b, ret_a)
+
+    def test_router_no_reschedule_from_dead_admin_down_agent(self):
+        with self.router() as r:
+            l3_rpc = l3_rpc_base.L3RpcCallbackMixin()
+            self._register_agent_states()
+
+            # schedule the router to host A
+            l3_rpc.sync_routers(self.adminContext, host=L3_HOSTA)
+            self._set_agent_admin_state_up(L3_HOSTA, False)
+            self._take_down_agent_and_run_reschedule(L3_HOSTA)
+
+            # A should still have it even though it was inactive due to the
+            # admin_state being down
+            rab = l3_agentschedulers_db.RouterL3AgentBinding
+            binding = (self.adminContext.session.query(rab).
+                       filter(rab.router_id == r['router']['id']).first())
+            self.assertEqual(binding.l3_agent.host, L3_HOSTA)
+
+            # B should not pick up the router
+            ret_b = l3_rpc.sync_routers(self.adminContext, host=L3_HOSTB)
+            self.assertFalse(ret_b)
+
     def test_router_auto_schedule_with_invalid_router(self):
         with self.router() as router:
             l3_rpc = l3_rpc_base.L3RpcCallbackMixin()