diff --git a/messaging/broker.go b/messaging/broker.go
index c79cf480e0..73f13f602b 100644
--- a/messaging/broker.go
+++ b/messaging/broker.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package messaging
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"hash/fnv"
 	"io"
@@ -32,6 +33,16 @@ const DefaultMaxTopicSize = 1024 * 1024 * 1024 // 1GB
 // DefaultMaxSegmentSize is the largest a segment can get before starting a new segment.
 const DefaultMaxSegmentSize = 10 * 1024 * 1024 // 10MB
 
+var (
+	// ErrTopicTruncated is returned when topic data is unavailable due to truncation.
+	ErrTopicTruncated = errors.New("topic truncated")
+
+	// ErrTopicNodesNotFound is returned when requested topic data has been truncated
+	// but there are no nodes in the cluster that can provide a replica. This is a system
+	// failure and should not occur on a healthy replicated system.
+	ErrTopicNodesNotFound = errors.New("topic nodes not found")
+)
+
 // Broker represents distributed messaging system segmented into topics.
 // Each topic represents a linear series of events.
 type Broker struct {
@@ -1126,14 +1137,30 @@ func ReadSegmentByIndex(path string, index uint64) (*Segment, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read segments: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	// If there are no segments then ignore.
-	// If index is zero then start from the first segment.
-	// If index is less than the first segment range then return error.
+	// Determine if this topic has been truncated.
+	var truncated bool
+	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(path, "tombstone")); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		truncated = true
+	}
+
+	// If the requested index is less than that available, one of two things will
+	// happen. If the topic has been truncated it means that topic data may exist
+	// somewhere on the cluster that is not available here. Therefore this broker
+	// cannot provide the data. If truncation has never taken place however, then
+	// this broker can safely provide whatever data it has.
+
 	if len(segments) == 0 {
+		if truncated {
+			return nil, ErrTopicTruncated
+		}
 		return nil, nil
-	} else if index == 0 {
-		return segments[0], nil
-	} else if index < segments[0].Index {
+	}
+
+	// Is requested index lower than the broker can provide?
+	if index < segments[0].Index {
+		if truncated {
+			return nil, ErrTopicTruncated
+		}
 		return segments[0], nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/messaging/handler.go b/messaging/handler.go
index bbba914130..8b47926cba 100644
--- a/messaging/handler.go
+++ b/messaging/handler.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type Handler struct {
 			io.ReadCloser
 			io.Seeker
 		}
+		DataURLsForTopic(id, index uint64) []url.URL
 		Publish(m *Message) (uint64, error)
 		SetTopicMaxIndex(topicID, index uint64, u url.URL) error
 	}
@@ -100,7 +101,14 @@ func (h *Handler) getMessages(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 
 	// Write out all data from the topic reader.
 	// Automatically flush as reads come in.
-	if _, err := CopyFlush(w, r); err != nil {
+	if _, err := CopyFlush(w, r); err == ErrTopicTruncated {
+		// Broker unable to provide data for the requested index, provide another URL.
+		urls := h.Broker.DataURLsForTopic(topicID, index)
+		if urls == nil {
+			h.error(w, ErrTopicNodesNotFound, http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+		http.Redirect(w, req, urls[0].String(), http.StatusTemporaryRedirect)
+	} else if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("message stream error: %s", err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/messaging/handler_test.go b/messaging/handler_test.go
index 03d6259812..e444c49646 100644
--- a/messaging/handler_test.go
+++ b/messaging/handler_test.go
@@ -296,6 +296,9 @@ func (b *HandlerBroker) TopicReader(topicID, index uint64, streaming bool) inter
 func (b *HandlerBroker) SetTopicMaxIndex(topicID, index uint64, dataURL url.URL) error {
 	return b.SetTopicMaxIndexFunc(topicID, index, dataURL)
 }
+func (b *HandlerBroker) DataURLsForTopic(id, index uint64) []url.URL {
+	return nil
+}
 
 // MustParseURL parses a string into a URL. Panic on error.
 func MustParseURL(s string) *url.URL {