diff --git a/platform/core/bundle.json b/platform/core/bundle.json
index 952daf5570..330ac1c2b9 100644
--- a/platform/core/bundle.json
+++ b/platform/core/bundle.json
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
                 "depends": [
                     "persistenceService",
                     "$q",
+                    "now",
                     "PERSISTENCE_SPACE",
                     "ADDITIONAL_PERSISTENCE_SPACES"
                 ]
diff --git a/platform/core/src/models/PersistedModelProvider.js b/platform/core/src/models/PersistedModelProvider.js
index a10f818179..c5e2927a96 100644
--- a/platform/core/src/models/PersistedModelProvider.js
+++ b/platform/core/src/models/PersistedModelProvider.js
@@ -39,14 +39,16 @@ define(
          * @param {PersistenceService} persistenceService the service in which
          *        domain object models are persisted.
          * @param $q Angular's $q service, for working with promises
+         * @param {function} now a function which provides the current time
          * @param {string} space the name of the persistence space(s)
          *        from which models should be retrieved.
          * @param {string} spaces additional persistence spaces to use
          */
-        function PersistedModelProvider(persistenceService, $q, space, spaces) {
+        function PersistedModelProvider(persistenceService, $q, now, space, spaces) {
             this.persistenceService = persistenceService;
             this.$q = $q;
             this.spaces = [space].concat(spaces || []);
+            this.now = now;
         }
 
         // Take the most recently modified model, for cases where
@@ -61,7 +63,9 @@ define(
         PersistedModelProvider.prototype.getModels = function (ids) {
             var persistenceService = this.persistenceService,
                 $q = this.$q,
-                spaces = this.spaces;
+                spaces = this.spaces,
+                space = this.space,
+                now = this.now;
 
             // Load a single object model from any persistence spaces
             function loadModel(id) {
@@ -72,11 +76,24 @@ define(
                 });
             }
 
+            // Ensure that models read from persistence have some
+            // sensible timestamp indicating they've been persisted.
+            function addPersistedTimestamp(model) {
+                if (model && (model.persisted === undefined)) {
+                    model.persisted = model.modified !== undefined ?
+                            model.modified : now();
+                }
+
+                return model;
+            }
+
             // Package the result as id->model
             function packageResult(models) {
                 var result = {};
                 ids.forEach(function (id, index) {
-                    result[id] = models[index];
+                    if (models[index]) {
+                        result[id] = addPersistedTimestamp(models[index]);
+                    }
                 });
                 return result;
             }
diff --git a/platform/core/test/models/PersistedModelProviderSpec.js b/platform/core/test/models/PersistedModelProviderSpec.js
index 8dcb58a400..81769834bf 100644
--- a/platform/core/test/models/PersistedModelProviderSpec.js
+++ b/platform/core/test/models/PersistedModelProviderSpec.js
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ define(
                 SPACE = "space0",
                 spaces = [ "space1" ],
                 modTimes,
+                mockNow,
                 provider;
 
             function mockPromise(value) {
@@ -55,19 +56,33 @@ define(
             beforeEach(function () {
                 modTimes = {};
                 mockQ = { when: mockPromise, all: mockAll };
-                mockPersistenceService = {
-                    readObject: function (space, id) {
+                mockPersistenceService = jasmine.createSpyObj(
+                    'persistenceService',
+                    [
+                        'createObject',
+                        'readObject',
+                        'updateObject',
+                        'deleteObject',
+                        'listSpaces',
+                        'listObjects'
+                    ]
+                );
+                mockNow = jasmine.createSpy("now");
+
+                mockPersistenceService.readObject
+                    .andCallFake(function (space, id) {
                         return mockPromise({
                             space: space,
                             id: id,
-                            modified: (modTimes[space] || {})[id]
+                            modified: (modTimes[space] || {})[id],
+                            persisted: 0
                         });
-                    }
-                };
+                    });
 
                 provider = new PersistedModelProvider(
                     mockPersistenceService,
                     mockQ,
+                    mockNow,
                     SPACE,
                     spaces
                 );
@@ -81,12 +96,13 @@ define(
                 });
 
                 expect(models).toEqual({
-                    a: { space: SPACE, id: "a" },
-                    x: { space: SPACE, id: "x" },
-                    zz: { space: SPACE, id: "zz" }
+                    a: { space: SPACE, id: "a", persisted: 0 },
+                    x: { space: SPACE, id: "x", persisted: 0 },
+                    zz: { space: SPACE, id: "zz", persisted: 0 }
                 });
             });
 
+
             it("reads object models from multiple spaces", function () {
                 var models;
 
@@ -99,9 +115,36 @@ define(
                 });
 
                 expect(models).toEqual({
-                    a: { space: SPACE, id: "a" },
-                    x: { space: 'space1', id: "x", modified: 12321 },
-                    zz: { space: SPACE, id: "zz" }
+                    a: { space: SPACE, id: "a", persisted: 0 },
+                    x: { space: 'space1', id: "x", modified: 12321, persisted: 0 },
+                    zz: { space: SPACE, id: "zz", persisted: 0 }
+                });
+            });
+
+
+            it("ensures that persisted timestamps are present", function () {
+                var mockCallback = jasmine.createSpy("callback"),
+                    testModels = {
+                        a: { modified: 123, persisted: 1984, name: "A" },
+                        b: { persisted: 1977, name: "B" },
+                        c: { modified: 42, name: "C" },
+                        d: { name: "D" }
+                    };
+
+                mockPersistenceService.readObject.andCallFake(
+                    function (space, id) {
+                        return mockPromise(testModels[id]);
+                    }
+                );
+                mockNow.andReturn(12321);
+
+                provider.getModels(Object.keys(testModels)).then(mockCallback);
+
+                expect(mockCallback).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+                    a: { modified: 123, persisted: 1984, name: "A" },
+                    b: { persisted: 1977, name: "B" },
+                    c: { modified: 42, persisted: 42, name: "C" },
+                    d: { persisted: 12321, name: "D" }
                 });
             });