diff --git a/bolt.go b/bolt.go
index f258731..538c5a9 100644
--- a/bolt.go
+++ b/bolt.go
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@ func Open(path string, mode os.FileMode) (*DB, error) {
 	return db, nil
 }
 
+// ErrorList represents a slice of errors.
+type ErrorList []error
+
+// Error returns a readable count of the errors in the list.
+func (l ErrorList) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%d errors occurred", len(l))
+}
+
 // _assert will panic with a given formatted message if the given condition is false.
 func _assert(condition bool, msg string, v ...interface{}) {
 	if !condition {
diff --git a/bucket_test.go b/bucket_test.go
index 5f54b17..e2eb659 100644
--- a/bucket_test.go
+++ b/bucket_test.go
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ func TestBucketStat(t *testing.T) {
 
 			return nil
 		})
+		mustCheck(db)
 		db.View(func(tx *Tx) error {
 			b := tx.Bucket("widgets")
 			stat := b.Stat()
diff --git a/cmd/bolt/check.go b/cmd/bolt/check.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec2ea69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bolt/check.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/boltdb/bolt"
+)
+
+// Check performs a consistency check on the database and prints any errors found.
+func Check(path string) {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		fatal(err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	db, err := bolt.Open(path, 0600)
+	if err != nil {
+		fatal(err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	// Perform consistency check.
+	if err := db.Check(); err != nil {
+		if errors, ok := err.(bolt.ErrorList); ok {
+			for _, err := range errors {
+				println(err)
+			}
+		}
+		fatalln(err)
+		return
+	}
+	println("OK")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/bolt/main.go b/cmd/bolt/main.go
index 6b28060..bc5fadb 100644
--- a/cmd/bolt/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bolt/main.go
@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ func NewApp() *cli.App {
 				Pages(path)
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			Name:  "check",
+			Usage: "Performs a consistency check on the database",
+			Action: func(c *cli.Context) {
+				path := c.Args().Get(0)
+				Check(path)
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	return app
 }
diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index cbcc322..7ad9ca6 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -523,6 +523,63 @@ func (db *DB) Stat() (*Stat, error) {
 	return s, nil
 }
 
+// Check performs several consistency checks on the database.
+// An error is returned if any inconsistency is found.
+func (db *DB) Check() error {
+	return db.Update(func(tx *Tx) error {
+		var errors ErrorList
+
+		// Track every reachable page.
+		reachable := make(map[pgid]*page)
+		reachable[0] = tx.page(0) // meta0
+		reachable[1] = tx.page(1) // meta1
+		reachable[tx.meta.buckets] = tx.page(tx.meta.buckets)
+		reachable[tx.meta.freelist] = tx.page(tx.meta.freelist)
+
+		// Check each reachable page within each bucket.
+		for _, bucket := range tx.Buckets() {
+			// warnf("[bucket] %s", bucket.name)
+			tx.forEachPage(bucket.root, 0, func(p *page, _ int) {
+				// Ensure each page is only referenced once.
+				for i := pgid(0); i <= pgid(p.overflow); i++ {
+					var id = p.id + i
+					if _, ok := reachable[id]; ok {
+						errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("page %d: multiple references", int(id)))
+					}
+					reachable[id] = p
+				}
+
+				// Retrieve page info.
+				info, err := tx.Page(int(p.id))
+				// warnf("[page] %d + %d (%s)", p.id, p.overflow, info.Type)
+				if err != nil {
+					errors = append(errors, err)
+				} else if info == nil {
+					errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("page %d: out of bounds: %d", int(p.id), int(tx.meta.pgid)))
+				} else if info.Type != "branch" && info.Type != "leaf" {
+					errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("page %d: invalid type: %s", int(p.id), info.Type))
+				}
+			})
+		}
+
+		// Ensure all pages below high water mark are either reachable or freed.
+		for i := pgid(0); i < tx.meta.pgid; i++ {
+			_, isReachable := reachable[i]
+			if !isReachable && !db.freelist.isFree(i) {
+				errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("page %d: unreachable unfreed", int(i)))
+			}
+		}
+
+		// TODO(benbjohnson): Ensure that only one buckets page exists.
+
+		if len(errors) > 0 {
+			return errors
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
 // page retrieves a page reference from the mmap based on the current page size.
 func (db *DB) page(id pgid) *page {
 	pos := id * pgid(db.pageSize)
diff --git a/db_test.go b/db_test.go
index a2df9d3..487b968 100644
--- a/db_test.go
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ func TestDBMetaInitWriteError(t *testing.T) {
 
 // Ensure that a database that is too small returns an error.
 func TestDBFileTooSmall(t *testing.T) {
-	withOpenDB(func(db *DB, path string) {
+	withDB(func(db *DB, path string) {
+		assert.NoError(t, db.Open(path, 0666))
 		db.Close()
 
 		// corrupt the database
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ func TestDBBeginRW(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, tx.DB(), db)
 		assert.Equal(t, tx.Writable(), true)
+		assert.NoError(t, tx.Commit())
 	})
 }
 
@@ -382,9 +384,28 @@ func withOpenDB(fn func(*DB, string)) {
 		}
 		defer db.Close()
 		fn(db, path)
+
+		// Check database consistency after every test.
+		mustCheck(db)
 	})
 }
 
+// mustCheck runs a consistency check on the database and panics if any errors are found.
+func mustCheck(db *DB) {
+	if err := db.Check(); err != nil {
+		// Copy db off first.
+		db.CopyFile("/tmp/check.db", 0600)
+
+		if errors, ok := err.(ErrorList); ok {
+			for _, err := range errors {
+				warn(err)
+			}
+		}
+		warn(err)
+		panic("check failure: see /tmp/check.db")
+	}
+}
+
 func trunc(b []byte, length int) []byte {
 	if length < len(b) {
 		return b[:length]
diff --git a/node.go b/node.go
index 51be690..0a4c7af 100644
--- a/node.go
+++ b/node.go
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ func (n *node) rebalance() {
 			// Remove old child.
 			child.parent = nil
 			delete(n.tx.nodes, child.pgid)
+			child.free()
 		}
 
 		return
@@ -318,6 +319,7 @@ func (n *node) rebalance() {
 		n.inodes = append(n.inodes, target.inodes...)
 		n.parent.del(target.key)
 		delete(n.tx.nodes, target.pgid)
+		target.free()
 	} else {
 		// Reparent all child nodes being moved.
 		for _, inode := range n.inodes {
@@ -331,6 +333,7 @@ func (n *node) rebalance() {
 		n.parent.del(n.key)
 		n.parent.put(target.key, target.inodes[0].key, nil, target.pgid)
 		delete(n.tx.nodes, n.pgid)
+		n.free()
 	}
 
 	// Either this node or the target node was deleted from the parent so rebalance it.
@@ -357,6 +360,13 @@ func (n *node) dereference() {
 	}
 }
 
+// free adds the node's underlying page to the freelist.
+func (n *node) free() {
+	if n.pgid != 0 {
+		n.tx.db.freelist.free(n.tx.id(), n.tx.page(n.pgid))
+	}
+}
+
 // nodesByDepth sorts a list of branches by deepest first.
 type nodesByDepth []*node