diff --git a/doc/source/metastatic.rst b/doc/source/metastatic.rst
index dc0110f33..7412a9843 100644
--- a/doc/source/metastatic.rst
+++ b/doc/source/metastatic.rst
@@ -203,6 +203,18 @@ itself, which is "meta".
              used to ensure that the backing node is retained for at
              least the minimum billing interval.
 
+          .. attr:: max-age
+             :type: int
+
+             If this value is set, the backing node will be removed
+             from service after this amount of time (in seconds) has
+             passed since the backing node was launched.  After a
+             backing node reaches this point, any existing jobs will
+             be permitted to run to completion, but no new metastatic
+             nodes will be created with that backing node and once all
+             metastatic nodes using it have been deleted, then backing
+             node will be deleted.
+
           .. attr:: host-key-checking
              :type: bool
              :default: False
diff --git a/nodepool/driver/metastatic/adapter.py b/nodepool/driver/metastatic/adapter.py
index 7aefdac75..6c71cd024 100644
--- a/nodepool/driver/metastatic/adapter.py
+++ b/nodepool/driver/metastatic/adapter.py
@@ -298,6 +298,15 @@ class MetastaticAdapter(statemachine.Adapter):
                     if label_config:
                         grace_time = label_config.grace_time
                         min_time = label_config.min_retention_time
+                        if label_config.max_age:
+                            if now - bnr.launched > label_config.max_age:
+                                # Mark it as failed; even though it
+                                # hasn't really failed, the lifecycle
+                                # is the same: do not allocate any
+                                # more jobs to this node but let any
+                                # remaining ones finish, then delete
+                                # ASAP.
+                                bnr.failed = True
                     else:
                         # The label doesn't exist in our config any more,
                         # it must have been removed.
diff --git a/nodepool/driver/metastatic/config.py b/nodepool/driver/metastatic/config.py
index 4ab9ab88d..af1291576 100644
--- a/nodepool/driver/metastatic/config.py
+++ b/nodepool/driver/metastatic/config.py
@@ -46,8 +46,12 @@ class MetastaticLabel(ConfigValue):
         self.max_parallel_jobs = label.get('max-parallel-jobs', 1)
         self.grace_time = label.get('grace-time', 60)
         self.min_retention_time = label.get('min-retention-time', 0)
+        self.max_age = label.get('max-age', None)
         self.host_key_checking = label.get('host-key-checking',
                                            self.pool.host_key_checking)
+        if self.max_age and self.max_age < self.min_retention_time:
+            raise Exception("The max_age must be greater than or "
+                            "equal to the min_retention_time")
 
     @staticmethod
     def getSchema():
@@ -57,6 +61,7 @@ class MetastaticLabel(ConfigValue):
             'max-parallel-jobs': int,
             'grace-time': int,
             'min-retention-time': int,
+            'max-age': int,
             'host-key-checking': bool,
         }
 
@@ -66,7 +71,8 @@ class MetastaticLabel(ConfigValue):
             self.backing_label == other.backing_label and
             self.max_parallel_jobs == other.max_parallel_jobs and
             self.grace_time == other.grace_time and
-            self.min_retention_time == other.min_retention_time
+            self.min_retention_time == other.min_retention_time and
+            self.max_age == other.max_age
         )
 
 
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/fixtures/metastatic.yaml b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/metastatic.yaml
index 343562869..3a5b0e766 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/fixtures/metastatic.yaml
+++ b/nodepool/tests/fixtures/metastatic.yaml
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ providers:
             backing-label: backing-label
             max-parallel-jobs: 2
             grace-time: 2
+            max-age: 300
             host-key-checking: true
           - name: user-label-min-retention
             backing-label: backing-label-min-retention
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/unit/test_driver_metastatic.py b/nodepool/tests/unit/test_driver_metastatic.py
index feaa7358e..d53f57d2f 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/unit/test_driver_metastatic.py
+++ b/nodepool/tests/unit/test_driver_metastatic.py
@@ -372,3 +372,47 @@ class TestDriverMetastatic(tests.DBTestCase):
         meta_manager.adapter.listResources()
         nodes = self._getNodes()
         self.waitForNodeDeletion(bn1)
+
+    def test_metastatic_max_age(self):
+        # Test the max-age option
+        configfile = self.setup_config('metastatic.yaml')
+        pool = self.useNodepool(configfile, watermark_sleep=1)
+        self.startPool(pool)
+        manager = pool.getProviderManager('fake-provider')
+        manager.adapter._client.create_image(name="fake-image")
+
+        # Launch one metastatic node on a backing node
+        node1 = self._requestNode()
+        nodes = self._getNodes()
+        self.assertEqual(len(nodes), 2)
+        bn1 = nodes[1]
+        self.assertEqual(bn1.provider, 'fake-provider')
+        self.assertEqual(bn1.id, node1.driver_data['backing_node'])
+
+        # Create a second node and verify it uses the same backing node.
+        node2 = self._requestNode()
+        nodes = self._getNodes()
+        self.assertEqual(len(nodes), 3)
+        self.assertEqual(bn1.id, node2.driver_data['backing_node'])
+
+        # Delete the second node.
+        node2.state = zk.DELETING
+        self.zk.storeNode(node2)
+        self.waitForNodeDeletion(node2)
+        nodes = self._getNodes()
+        self.assertEqual(len(nodes), 2)
+
+        # Falsify the launch time so that the node is older than
+        # max_age (300).
+        meta_manager = pool.getProviderManager('meta-provider')
+        bnr = meta_manager.adapter.backing_node_records['user-label'][0]
+        bnr.launched = 0
+
+        # This has the side effect of marking the backing node as failed.
+        meta_manager.adapter.listResources()
+
+        # Create another node and verify it gets a new backing node.
+        node3 = self._requestNode()
+        nodes = self._getNodes()
+        self.assertEqual(len(nodes), 4)
+        self.assertNotEqual(bn1.id, node3.driver_data['backing_node'])