diff --git a/cmd/promtool/main.go b/cmd/promtool/main.go
index 0a708d40a..c5b4efac9 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/main.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/main.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/config"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/promql"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/local"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/util/cli"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/version"
 )
@@ -184,6 +185,19 @@ func checkRules(t cli.Term, filename string) (int, error) {
 	return len(rules), nil
 }
 
+// DumpHeadsCmd dumps metadata of a heads.db file.
+func DumpHeadsCmd(t cli.Term, args ...string) int {
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		t.Infof("usage: promtool dump-heads <file>")
+		return 2
+	}
+	if err := local.DumpHeads(args[0], t.Out()); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("  FAILED: %s", err)
+		return 1
+	}
+	return 0
+}
+
 var versionInfoTmpl = `
 prometheus, version {{.version}} (branch: {{.branch}}, revision: {{.revision}})
   build user:       {{.buildUser}}
@@ -199,7 +213,7 @@ func VersionCmd(t cli.Term, _ ...string) int {
 	if err := tmpl.ExecuteTemplate(&buf, "version", version.Map); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	t.Out(strings.TrimSpace(buf.String()))
+	fmt.Fprintln(t.Out(), strings.TrimSpace(buf.String()))
 	return 0
 }
 
@@ -216,6 +230,11 @@ func main() {
 		Run:  CheckRulesCmd,
 	})
 
+	app.Register("dump-heads", &cli.Command{
+		Desc: "dump metadata of a heads.db checkpoint file",
+		Run:  DumpHeadsCmd,
+	})
+
 	app.Register("version", &cli.Command{
 		Desc: "print the version of this binary",
 		Run:  VersionCmd,
diff --git a/storage/local/heads.go b/storage/local/heads.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49a142fbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/storage/local/heads.go
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+// Copyright 2016 The Prometheus Authors
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package local
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/local/codable"
+)
+
+const (
+	headsFileName            = "heads.db"
+	headsTempFileName        = "heads.db.tmp"
+	headsFormatVersion       = 2
+	headsFormatLegacyVersion = 1 // Can read, but will never write.
+	headsMagicString         = "PrometheusHeads"
+)
+
+// headsScanner is a scanner to read time series with their heads from a
+// heads.db file. It follows a similar semantics as the bufio.Scanner.
+// It is not safe to use a headsScanner concurrently.
+type headsScanner struct {
+	f                    *os.File
+	r                    *bufio.Reader
+	fp                   model.Fingerprint // Read after each scan() call that has returned true.
+	series               *memorySeries     // Read after each scan() call that has returned true.
+	version              int64             // Read after newHeadsScanner has returned.
+	seriesTotal          uint64            // Read after newHeadsScanner has returned.
+	seriesCurrent        uint64
+	chunksToPersistTotal int64 // Read after scan() has returned false.
+	err                  error // Read after scan() has returned false.
+}
+
+func newHeadsScanner(filename string) *headsScanner {
+	hs := &headsScanner{}
+	defer func() {
+		if hs.f != nil && hs.err != nil {
+			hs.f.Close()
+		}
+	}()
+
+	if hs.f, hs.err = os.Open(filename); hs.err != nil {
+		return hs
+	}
+	hs.r = bufio.NewReaderSize(hs.f, fileBufSize)
+
+	buf := make([]byte, len(headsMagicString))
+	if _, hs.err = io.ReadFull(hs.r, buf); hs.err != nil {
+		return hs
+	}
+	magic := string(buf)
+	if magic != headsMagicString {
+		hs.err = fmt.Errorf(
+			"unexpected magic string, want %q, got %q",
+			headsMagicString, magic,
+		)
+		return hs
+	}
+	hs.version, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r)
+	if (hs.version != headsFormatVersion && hs.version != headsFormatLegacyVersion) || hs.err != nil {
+		hs.err = fmt.Errorf(
+			"unknown or unreadable heads format version, want %d, got %d, error: %s",
+			headsFormatVersion, hs.version, hs.err,
+		)
+		return hs
+	}
+	if hs.seriesTotal, hs.err = codable.DecodeUint64(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return hs
+	}
+	return hs
+}
+
+// scan works like bufio.Scanner.Scan.
+func (hs *headsScanner) scan() bool {
+	if hs.seriesCurrent == hs.seriesTotal || hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	var (
+		seriesFlags      byte
+		fpAsInt          uint64
+		metric           codable.Metric
+		persistWatermark int64
+		modTimeNano      int64
+		modTime          time.Time
+		chunkDescsOffset int64
+		savedFirstTime   int64
+		numChunkDescs    int64
+		firstTime        int64
+		lastTime         int64
+		encoding         byte
+	)
+	if seriesFlags, hs.err = hs.r.ReadByte(); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	headChunkPersisted := seriesFlags&flagHeadChunkPersisted != 0
+	if fpAsInt, hs.err = codable.DecodeUint64(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	hs.fp = model.Fingerprint(fpAsInt)
+
+	if hs.err = metric.UnmarshalFromReader(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if hs.version != headsFormatLegacyVersion {
+		// persistWatermark only present in v2.
+		persistWatermark, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r)
+		if hs.err != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+		modTimeNano, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r)
+		if hs.err != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+		if modTimeNano != -1 {
+			modTime = time.Unix(0, modTimeNano)
+		}
+	}
+	if chunkDescsOffset, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if savedFirstTime, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	if numChunkDescs, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	chunkDescs := make([]*chunkDesc, numChunkDescs)
+	if hs.version == headsFormatLegacyVersion {
+		if headChunkPersisted {
+			persistWatermark = numChunkDescs
+		} else {
+			persistWatermark = numChunkDescs - 1
+		}
+	}
+	headChunkClosed := true // Initial assumption.
+	for i := int64(0); i < numChunkDescs; i++ {
+		if i < persistWatermark {
+			if firstTime, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+				return false
+			}
+			if lastTime, hs.err = binary.ReadVarint(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+				return false
+			}
+			chunkDescs[i] = &chunkDesc{
+				chunkFirstTime: model.Time(firstTime),
+				chunkLastTime:  model.Time(lastTime),
+			}
+			numMemChunkDescs.Inc()
+		} else {
+			// Non-persisted chunk.
+			// If there are non-persisted chunks at all, we consider
+			// the head chunk not to be closed yet.
+			headChunkClosed = false
+			if encoding, hs.err = hs.r.ReadByte(); hs.err != nil {
+				return false
+			}
+			chunk := newChunkForEncoding(chunkEncoding(encoding))
+			if hs.err = chunk.unmarshal(hs.r); hs.err != nil {
+				return false
+			}
+			cd := newChunkDesc(chunk, chunk.firstTime())
+			if i < numChunkDescs-1 {
+				// This is NOT the head chunk. So it's a chunk
+				// to be persisted, and we need to populate lastTime.
+				hs.chunksToPersistTotal++
+				cd.maybePopulateLastTime()
+			}
+			chunkDescs[i] = cd
+		}
+	}
+
+	hs.series = &memorySeries{
+		metric:           model.Metric(metric),
+		chunkDescs:       chunkDescs,
+		persistWatermark: int(persistWatermark),
+		modTime:          modTime,
+		chunkDescsOffset: int(chunkDescsOffset),
+		savedFirstTime:   model.Time(savedFirstTime),
+		lastTime:         chunkDescs[len(chunkDescs)-1].lastTime(),
+		headChunkClosed:  headChunkClosed,
+	}
+	hs.seriesCurrent++
+	return true
+}
+
+// close closes the underlying file if required.
+func (hs *headsScanner) close() {
+	if hs.f != nil {
+		hs.f.Close()
+	}
+}
+
+// DumpHeads writes the metadata of the provided heads file in a human-readable
+// form.
+func DumpHeads(filename string, out io.Writer) error {
+	hs := newHeadsScanner(filename)
+	defer hs.close()
+
+	if hs.err == nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(
+			out,
+			">>> Dumping %d series from heads file %q with format version %d. <<<\n",
+			hs.seriesTotal, filename, hs.version,
+		)
+	}
+	for hs.scan() {
+		s := hs.series
+		fmt.Fprintf(
+			out,
+			"FP=%v\tMETRIC=%s\tlen(chunkDescs)=%d\tpersistWatermark=%d\tchunkDescOffset=%d\tsavedFirstTime=%v\tlastTime=%v\theadChunkClosed=%t\n",
+			hs.fp, s.metric, len(s.chunkDescs), s.persistWatermark, s.chunkDescsOffset, s.savedFirstTime, s.lastTime, s.headChunkClosed,
+		)
+	}
+	if hs.err == nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(
+			out,
+			">>> Dump complete. %d chunks to persist. <<<\n",
+			hs.chunksToPersistTotal,
+		)
+	}
+	return hs.err
+}
diff --git a/storage/local/persistence.go b/storage/local/persistence.go
index 22c16eccd..725673cb1 100644
--- a/storage/local/persistence.go
+++ b/storage/local/persistence.go
@@ -47,12 +47,6 @@ const (
 	seriesTempFileSuffix = ".db.tmp"
 	seriesDirNameLen     = 2 // How many bytes of the fingerprint in dir name.
 
-	headsFileName            = "heads.db"
-	headsTempFileName        = "heads.db.tmp"
-	headsFormatVersion       = 2
-	headsFormatLegacyVersion = 1 // Can read, but will never write.
-	headsMagicString         = "PrometheusHeads"
-
 	mappingsFileName      = "mappings.db"
 	mappingsTempFileName  = "mappings.db.tmp"
 	mappingsFormatVersion = 1
@@ -699,190 +693,36 @@ func (p *persistence) checkpointSeriesMapAndHeads(fingerprintToSeries *seriesMap
 // start-up while nothing else is running in storage land. This method is
 // utterly goroutine-unsafe.
 func (p *persistence) loadSeriesMapAndHeads() (sm *seriesMap, chunksToPersist int64, err error) {
-	var chunkDescsTotal int64
 	fingerprintToSeries := make(map[model.Fingerprint]*memorySeries)
 	sm = &seriesMap{m: fingerprintToSeries}
 
 	defer func() {
-		if sm != nil && p.dirty {
+		if p.dirty {
 			log.Warn("Persistence layer appears dirty.")
 			err = p.recoverFromCrash(fingerprintToSeries)
 			if err != nil {
 				sm = nil
 			}
 		}
-		if err == nil {
-			numMemChunkDescs.Add(float64(chunkDescsTotal))
-		}
 	}()
 
-	f, err := os.Open(p.headsFileName())
-	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+	hs := newHeadsScanner(p.headsFileName())
+	defer hs.close()
+	for hs.scan() {
+		fingerprintToSeries[hs.fp] = hs.series
+	}
+	if os.IsNotExist(hs.err) {
 		return sm, 0, nil
 	}
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Warn("Could not open heads file:", err)
+	if hs.err != nil {
 		p.dirty = true
-		return
+		log.
+			With("file", p.headsFileName()).
+			With("error", hs.err).
+			Error("Error reading heads file.")
+		return sm, 0, hs.err
 	}
-	defer f.Close()
-	r := bufio.NewReaderSize(f, fileBufSize)
-
-	buf := make([]byte, len(headsMagicString))
-	if _, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf); err != nil {
-		log.Warn("Could not read from heads file:", err)
-		p.dirty = true
-		return sm, 0, nil
-	}
-	magic := string(buf)
-	if magic != headsMagicString {
-		log.Warnf(
-			"unexpected magic string, want %q, got %q",
-			headsMagicString, magic,
-		)
-		p.dirty = true
-		return
-	}
-	version, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-	if (version != headsFormatVersion && version != headsFormatLegacyVersion) || err != nil {
-		log.Warnf("unknown heads format version, want %d", headsFormatVersion)
-		p.dirty = true
-		return sm, 0, nil
-	}
-	numSeries, err := codable.DecodeUint64(r)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Warn("Could not decode number of series:", err)
-		p.dirty = true
-		return sm, 0, nil
-	}
-
-	for ; numSeries > 0; numSeries-- {
-		seriesFlags, err := r.ReadByte()
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not read series flags:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		headChunkPersisted := seriesFlags&flagHeadChunkPersisted != 0
-		fp, err := codable.DecodeUint64(r)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not decode fingerprint:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		var metric codable.Metric
-		if err := metric.UnmarshalFromReader(r); err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not decode metric:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		var persistWatermark int64
-		var modTime time.Time
-		if version != headsFormatLegacyVersion {
-			// persistWatermark only present in v2.
-			persistWatermark, err = binary.ReadVarint(r)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Warn("Could not decode persist watermark:", err)
-				p.dirty = true
-				return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-			}
-			modTimeNano, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Warn("Could not decode modification time:", err)
-				p.dirty = true
-				return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-			}
-			if modTimeNano != -1 {
-				modTime = time.Unix(0, modTimeNano)
-			}
-		}
-		chunkDescsOffset, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not decode chunk descriptor offset:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		savedFirstTime, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not decode saved first time:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		numChunkDescs, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warn("Could not decode number of chunk descriptors:", err)
-			p.dirty = true
-			return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-		}
-		chunkDescs := make([]*chunkDesc, numChunkDescs)
-		if version == headsFormatLegacyVersion {
-			if headChunkPersisted {
-				persistWatermark = numChunkDescs
-			} else {
-				persistWatermark = numChunkDescs - 1
-			}
-		}
-
-		headChunkClosed := true // Initial assumption.
-		for i := int64(0); i < numChunkDescs; i++ {
-			if i < persistWatermark {
-				firstTime, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Warn("Could not decode first time:", err)
-					p.dirty = true
-					return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-				}
-				lastTime, err := binary.ReadVarint(r)
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Warn("Could not decode last time:", err)
-					p.dirty = true
-					return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-				}
-				chunkDescs[i] = &chunkDesc{
-					chunkFirstTime: model.Time(firstTime),
-					chunkLastTime:  model.Time(lastTime),
-				}
-				chunkDescsTotal++
-			} else {
-				// Non-persisted chunk.
-				// If there are non-persisted chunks at all, we consider
-				// the head chunk not to be closed yet.
-				headChunkClosed = false
-				encoding, err := r.ReadByte()
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Warn("Could not decode chunk type:", err)
-					p.dirty = true
-					return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-				}
-				chunk := newChunkForEncoding(chunkEncoding(encoding))
-				if err := chunk.unmarshal(r); err != nil {
-					log.Warn("Could not decode chunk:", err)
-					p.dirty = true
-					return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
-				}
-				cd := newChunkDesc(chunk, chunk.firstTime())
-				if i < numChunkDescs-1 {
-					// This is NOT the head chunk. So it's a chunk
-					// to be persisted, and we need to populate lastTime.
-					chunksToPersist++
-					cd.maybePopulateLastTime()
-				}
-				chunkDescs[i] = cd
-			}
-		}
-
-		fingerprintToSeries[model.Fingerprint(fp)] = &memorySeries{
-			metric:           model.Metric(metric),
-			chunkDescs:       chunkDescs,
-			persistWatermark: int(persistWatermark),
-			modTime:          modTime,
-			chunkDescsOffset: int(chunkDescsOffset),
-			savedFirstTime:   model.Time(savedFirstTime),
-			lastTime:         chunkDescs[len(chunkDescs)-1].lastTime(),
-			headChunkClosed:  headChunkClosed,
-		}
-	}
-	return sm, chunksToPersist, nil
+	return sm, hs.chunksToPersistTotal, nil
 }
 
 // dropAndPersistChunks deletes all chunks from a series file whose last sample
diff --git a/util/cli/cli.go b/util/cli/cli.go
index 065dfafe3..5df6dce63 100644
--- a/util/cli/cli.go
+++ b/util/cli/cli.go
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ type Command struct {
 type Term interface {
 	Infof(format string, v ...interface{})
 	Errorf(format string, v ...interface{})
-	Out(format string)
+	Out() io.Writer
+	Err() io.Writer
 }
 
 type basicTerm struct {
@@ -52,9 +53,13 @@ func (t *basicTerm) Errorf(format string, v ...interface{}) {
 }
 
 // Out implements Term.
-func (t *basicTerm) Out(msg string) {
-	fmt.Fprint(t.out, msg)
-	fmt.Fprint(t.out, "\n")
+func (t *basicTerm) Out() io.Writer {
+	return t.out
+}
+
+// Err implements Term.
+func (t *basicTerm) Err() io.Writer {
+	return t.err
 }
 
 // BasicTerm returns a Term writing Infof and Errorf to err and Out to out.