diff --git a/zstor/src/actors/backends.rs b/zstor/src/actors/backends.rs
index 6a0431d..d9d2929 100644
--- a/zstor/src/actors/backends.rs
+++ b/zstor/src/actors/backends.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use crate::actors::{
 use crate::{
     config::{Encryption, Meta},
     encryption::AesGcm,
-    zdb::{SequentialZdb, UserKeyZdb, ZdbConnectionInfo, ZdbRunMode},
+    zdb::{NsInfo, SequentialZdb, UserKeyZdb, ZdbConnectionInfo, ZdbRunMode},
     zdb_meta::ZdbMetaStore,
     ZstorError,
 };
@@ -67,6 +67,45 @@ impl BackendManagerActor {
     fn check_backends(&mut self, ctx: &mut <Self as Actor>::Context) {
         ctx.notify(CheckBackends);
     }
+
+    /// check & returns new metadata backends if the cluster needs to be refreshed
+    fn check_new_metastore(
+        &self,
+        meta_info: Vec<(
+            ZdbConnectionInfo,
+            Option<UserKeyZdb>,
+            BackendState,
+            Option<NsInfo>,
+        )>,
+    ) -> Option<Vec<UserKeyZdb>> {
+        let mut need_refresh = false;
+        for (ci, _, new_state, _) in &meta_info {
+            if let Some((_, old_state)) = self.managed_meta_dbs.get(ci) {
+                if old_state.is_writeable() != new_state.is_writeable() {
+                    need_refresh = true;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if !need_refresh {
+            return None;
+        }
+        // get new backends:
+        // - new_db
+        // - old_db with state == writable
+        let mut backends = Vec::new();
+        let managed_db = self.managed_meta_dbs.clone();
+        for (ci, new_db, new_state, _) in &meta_info {
+            if let Some(new_db) = new_db {
+                backends.push(new_db.clone());
+            } else if new_state.is_writeable() {
+                if let Some((Some(db), _)) = managed_db.get(ci) {
+                    backends.push(db.clone());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        Some(backends)
+    }
 }
 
 /// Message requesting the actor checks the backends, and updates the state of all managed
@@ -120,6 +159,7 @@ impl Actor for BackendManagerActor {
         );
     }
 }
+
 impl Handler<ReloadConfig> for BackendManagerActor {
     type Result = Result<(), ZstorError>;
 
@@ -340,9 +380,51 @@ impl Handler<CheckBackends> for BackendManagerActor {
                             }
                         }
                     });
-                (data_info, join_all(futs).await)
+                let meta_info = join_all(futs).await;
+                (data_info, meta_info)
             }
             .into_actor(self)
+            .then(|(data_info, meta_info), actor, _| {
+                let new_meta_backends = actor.check_new_metastore(meta_info.clone());
+
+                let config_addr = actor.config_addr.clone();
+                let metastore = actor.metastore.clone();
+                async move {
+                    if let Some(backends) = new_meta_backends {
+                        let config = match config_addr.send(GetConfig).await {
+                            Ok(cfg) => cfg,
+                            Err(e) => {
+                                error!("Failed to get running config: {}", e);
+                                return (data_info, meta_info);
+                            }
+                        };
+                        let Meta::Zdb(meta_config) = config.meta();
+                        let encoder = meta_config.encoder();
+                        let encryptor = match config.encryption() {
+                            Encryption::Aes(key) => AesGcm::new(key.clone()),
+                        };
+                        let new_cluster = ZdbMetaStore::new(
+                            backends,
+                            encoder.clone(),
+                            encryptor.clone(),
+                            meta_config.prefix().to_owned(),
+                            config.virtual_root().clone(),
+                        );
+                        let writeable = new_cluster.writable();
+                        if let Err(e) = metastore
+                            .send(ReplaceMetaStore {
+                                new_store: Box::new(new_cluster),
+                                writeable,
+                            })
+                            .await
+                        {
+                            error!("Failed to send ReplaceMetaStore message: {}", e);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    (data_info, meta_info)
+                }
+                .into_actor(actor)
+            })
             .map(|res, actor, _ctx| {
                 for (ci, new_db, new_state, info) in res.0.into_iter() {
                     // update metrics
@@ -565,9 +647,11 @@ impl Handler<ReplaceBackends> for BackendManagerActor {
                         };
 
                         // TODO: send new nodes to config and save it
+                        let metastore_writeable = new_cluster.writable();
                         if let Err(e) = metastore
                             .send(ReplaceMetaStore {
                                 new_store: Box::new(new_cluster),
+                                writeable: metastore_writeable,
                             })
                             .await
                         {
diff --git a/zstor/src/actors/meta.rs b/zstor/src/actors/meta.rs
index 714ef86..fbd6d5b 100644
--- a/zstor/src/actors/meta.rs
+++ b/zstor/src/actors/meta.rs
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ pub struct MarkWriteable {
 pub struct ReplaceMetaStore {
     /// The new metastore to set
     pub new_store: Box<dyn MetaStore + Send>,
+
+    /// writeable flag
+    pub writeable: bool,
 }
 
 /// Actor for a metastore
@@ -272,6 +275,8 @@ impl Handler<ReplaceMetaStore> for MetaStoreActor {
     type Result = ();
 
     fn handle(&mut self, msg: ReplaceMetaStore, _: &mut Self::Context) -> Self::Result {
+        log::info!("ReplaceMetaStore writeable: {}", msg.writeable);
         self.meta_store = Arc::from(msg.new_store as Box<dyn MetaStore>);
+        self.writeable = msg.writeable;
     }
 }
diff --git a/zstor/src/zdb.rs b/zstor/src/zdb.rs
index 2c20b7a..9717e20 100644
--- a/zstor/src/zdb.rs
+++ b/zstor/src/zdb.rs
@@ -806,7 +806,7 @@ impl UserKeyZdb {
 }
 
 /// Information about a 0-db namespace, as reported by the db itself.
-#[derive(Debug)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct NsInfo {
     /// The name of the namespace.
     pub name: String,