diff --git a/data/io.elementary.settings-daemon.gschema.xml b/data/io.elementary.settings-daemon.gschema.xml
index d22d0101..6beaca49 100644
--- a/data/io.elementary.settings-daemon.gschema.xml
+++ b/data/io.elementary.settings-daemon.gschema.xml
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@
   </schema>
 
   <schema path="/io/elementary/settings-daemon/system-updates/" id="io.elementary.settings-daemon.system-updates">
+    <key type="x" name="last-refresh-time">
+      <default>0</default>
+      <summary>When updates were last refreshed</summary>
+      <description>When the cache was last refreshed and checked for updates in unix utc.</description>
+    </key>
     <key type="x" name="refresh-interval">
       <default>86400</default>
       <summary>How often to check for updates</summary>
diff --git a/src/Backends/SystemUpdate.vala b/src/Backends/SystemUpdate.vala
index 7c80e488..0ea5f637 100644
--- a/src/Backends/SystemUpdate.vala
+++ b/src/Backends/SystemUpdate.vala
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ public class SettingsDaemon.Backends.SystemUpdate : Object {
         try {
             available_updates = (yield task.get_updates_async (Pk.Filter.NONE, null, progress_callback)).get_package_sack ();
 
+            settings.set_int64 ("last-refresh-time", new DateTime.now_utc ().to_unix ());
+
             if (available_updates == null || available_updates.get_size () == 0) {
                 update_state (UP_TO_DATE);
                 return;