diff --git a/cmd/bleve/cmd/check.go b/cmd/bleve/cmd/check.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a71def80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bleve/cmd/check.go
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+// Copyright © 2016 Couchbase, Inc.
+//
+// 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 cmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+var checkFieldName string
+var checkCount int
+
+// checkCmd represents the check command
+var checkCmd = &cobra.Command{
+	Use:   "check [index path]",
+	Short: "checks the contents of the index",
+	Long:  `The check command will perform consistency checks on the index.`,
+	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+
+		var fieldNames []string
+		var err error
+		if checkFieldName == "" {
+			fieldNames, err = idx.Fields()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		} else {
+			fieldNames = []string{checkFieldName}
+		}
+		fmt.Printf("checking fields: %v\n", fieldNames)
+
+		totalProblems := 0
+		for _, fieldName := range fieldNames {
+			fmt.Printf("checking field: '%s'\n", fieldName)
+			problems, err := checkField(idx, fieldName)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			totalProblems += problems
+		}
+
+		if totalProblems != 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("found %d total problems\n", totalProblems)
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	},
+}
+
+func checkField(index bleve.Index, fieldName string) (int, error) {
+	termDictionary, err := getDictionary(index, fieldName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("field contains %d terms\n", len(termDictionary))
+
+	numTested := 0
+	numProblems := 0
+	for term, count := range termDictionary {
+		fmt.Printf("checked %d terms\r", numTested)
+		if checkCount > 0 && numTested >= checkCount {
+			break
+		}
+
+		tq := bleve.NewTermQuery(term)
+		tq.SetField(fieldName)
+		req := bleve.NewSearchRequest(tq)
+		req.Size = 0
+		res, err := index.Search(req)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+
+		if res.Total != count {
+			fmt.Printf("unexpected mismatch for term '%s', dictionary %d, search hits %d\n", term, count, res.Total)
+			numProblems++
+		}
+
+		numTested++
+	}
+	fmt.Printf("done checking %d terms, found %d problems\n", numTested, numProblems)
+
+	return numProblems, nil
+}
+
+func getDictionary(index bleve.Index, field string) (map[string]uint64, error) {
+	rv := make(map[string]uint64)
+	i, _, err := index.Advanced()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	r, err := i.Reader()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d, err := r.FieldDict(field)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	de, err := d.Next()
+	for err == nil && de != nil {
+		rv[de.Term] = de.Count
+		de, err = d.Next()
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return rv, nil
+}
+
+func init() {
+	RootCmd.AddCommand(checkCmd)
+	checkCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&checkFieldName, "field", "f", "", "Restrict check to the specified field name, by default check all fields.")
+	checkCmd.Flags().IntVarP(&checkCount, "count", "c", 100, "Check this many terms, default 100.")
+}