diff --git a/storage/local/persistence_test.go b/storage/local/persistence_test.go
index 1206aea1f..f214749dc 100644
--- a/storage/local/persistence_test.go
+++ b/storage/local/persistence_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -92,16 +93,19 @@ var (
 	}
 )
 
+func newTestPersistence(t *testing.T) (Persistence, test.Closer) {
+	dir := test.NewTemporaryDirectory("test_persistence", t)
+	p, err := NewDiskPersistence(dir.Path(), 1024)
+	if err != nil {
+		dir.Close()
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return p, dir
+}
+
 func TestIndexPersistence(t *testing.T) {
-	basePath, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "test_index_persistence")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer os.RemoveAll(basePath)
-	p, err := NewDiskPersistence(basePath, 1024)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	p, closer := newTestPersistence(t)
+	defer closer.Close()
 
 	if err := p.PersistIndexes(&indexes); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
@@ -186,3 +190,71 @@ func BenchmarkLoadIndexes(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 	b.StopTimer()
 }
+
+func buildTestChunks() map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]chunks {
+	fps := clientmodel.Fingerprints{
+		clientmodel.Metric{
+			"label": "value1",
+		}.Fingerprint(),
+		clientmodel.Metric{
+			"label": "value2",
+		}.Fingerprint(),
+		clientmodel.Metric{
+			"label": "value3",
+		}.Fingerprint(),
+	}
+	fpToChunks := map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]chunks{}
+
+	for _, fp := range fps {
+		fpToChunks[fp] = make(chunks, 0, 10)
+		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+			fpToChunks[fp] = append(fpToChunks[fp], newDeltaEncodedChunk(d1, d1, true).add(&metric.SamplePair{
+				Timestamp: clientmodel.Timestamp(i),
+				Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(fp),
+			})[0])
+		}
+	}
+	return fpToChunks
+}
+
+func chunksEqual(c1, c2 chunk) bool {
+	values2 := c2.values()
+	for v1 := range c1.values() {
+		v2 := <-values2
+		if !v1.Equal(v2) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+func TestPersistChunk(t *testing.T) {
+	p, closer := newTestPersistence(t)
+	defer closer.Close()
+
+	fpToChunks := buildTestChunks()
+
+	for fp, chunks := range fpToChunks {
+		for _, c := range chunks {
+			if err := p.PersistChunk(fp, c); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	for fp, expectedChunks := range fpToChunks {
+		indexes := make([]int, 0, len(expectedChunks))
+		for i, _ := range expectedChunks {
+			indexes = append(indexes, i)
+		}
+		actualChunks, err := p.LoadChunks(fp, indexes)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		for _, i := range indexes {
+			if !chunksEqual(expectedChunks[i], actualChunks[i]) {
+				t.Fatalf("%d. Chunks not equal.", i)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/storage/local/test_helpers.go b/storage/local/test_helpers.go
index 703974266..f65718850 100644
--- a/storage/local/test_helpers.go
+++ b/storage/local/test_helpers.go
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ func NewTestStorage(t testing.TB) (Storage, test.Closer) {
 		t.Fatal("Error opening disk persistence: ", err)
 	}
 	o := &MemorySeriesStorageOptions{
-		Persistence:            persistence,
-		MemoryEvictionInterval: time.Minute,
-		MemoryRetentionPeriod:  time.Hour,
+		Persistence:                persistence,
+		MemoryEvictionInterval:     time.Minute,
+		MemoryRetentionPeriod:      time.Hour,
+		PersistencePurgeInterval:   time.Hour,
+		PersistenceRetentionPeriod: 24 * 7 * time.Hour,
 	}
 	storage, err := NewMemorySeriesStorage(o)
 	if err != nil {