diff --git a/puppet/files/puppet-check b/puppet/files/puppet-check
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..22958fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/puppet/files/puppet-check
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+PID="`pgrep -f 'puppetd'`"
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "puppetd not running on host `hostname`"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+MEMUSAGE=`ps -p ${PID} -o rss | tail -1`
+if [ ${MEMUSAGE} -gt 262144 ]; then
+    echo "puppetd process size is over 256 MB (${MEMUSAGE} KB), restart recommended"
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/puppet/manifests/init.pp b/puppet/manifests/init.pp
index 16aeb97..6cd3c27 100644
--- a/puppet/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/puppet/manifests/init.pp
@@ -60,12 +60,23 @@ class puppet::client {
         }
     }
 
+    file { "/usr/local/sbin/puppet-check":
+        ensure => present,
+        source => "puppet:///puppet/puppet-check",
+        mode   => 0755,
+        owner  => root,
+        group  => $operatingsystem ? {
+            openbsd => wheel,
+            default => root,
+        },
+    }
     cron { "puppet-check":
         ensure  => present,
-        command => "pgrep -f 'puppetd' > /dev/null || echo 'puppetd not running on host ${fqdn}'",
+        command => "/usr/local/sbin/puppet-check",
         user    => root,
         hour    => 5,
         minute  => 0,
+        require => File["/usr/local/sbin/puppet-check"],
     }
 
 }