diff --git a/src/app/config/or_state_st.h b/src/app/config/or_state_st.h
index d95df6236b..00968d3731 100644
--- a/src/app/config/or_state_st.h
+++ b/src/app/config/or_state_st.h
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ struct or_state_t {
 
   /** When did we last rotate our onion key?  "0" for 'no idea'. */
   time_t LastRotatedOnionKey;
+
+  /** Number of minutes since the last user-initiated request (as defined by
+   * the dormant net-status system.) Set to zero if we are dormant. */
+  int MinutesSinceUserActivity;
+  /** True if we were dormant when we last wrote the file; false if we
+   * weren't.  "auto" on initial startup. */
+  int Dormant;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/app/config/statefile.c b/src/app/config/statefile.c
index 4ba7be1519..97b96f1149 100644
--- a/src/app/config/statefile.c
+++ b/src/app/config/statefile.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include "app/config/config.h"
 #include "app/config/confparse.h"
 #include "core/mainloop/mainloop.h"
+#include "core/mainloop/netstatus.h"
 #include "core/mainloop/connection.h"
 #include "feature/control/control.h"
 #include "feature/client/entrynodes.h"
@@ -132,6 +133,9 @@ static config_var_t state_vars_[] = {
   VAR("CircuitBuildTimeBin",          LINELIST_S, BuildtimeHistogram, NULL),
   VAR("BuildtimeHistogram",           LINELIST_V, BuildtimeHistogram, NULL),
 
+  V(MinutesSinceUserActivity,         UINT,     NULL),
+  V(Dormant,                          AUTOBOOL, "auto"),
+
   END_OF_CONFIG_VARS
 };
 
@@ -309,6 +313,8 @@ or_state_set(or_state_t *new_state)
       get_circuit_build_times_mutable(),global_state) < 0) {
     ret = -1;
   }
+  netstatus_load_from_state(global_state, time(NULL));
+
   return ret;
 }
 
@@ -500,6 +506,8 @@ or_state_save(time_t now)
   entry_guards_update_state(global_state);
   rep_hist_update_state(global_state);
   circuit_build_times_update_state(get_circuit_build_times(), global_state);
+  netstatus_flush_to_state(global_state, now);
+
   if (accounting_is_enabled(get_options()))
     accounting_run_housekeeping(now);
 
diff --git a/src/core/mainloop/mainloop.c b/src/core/mainloop/mainloop.c
index 2e2ae876d4..cd955e0ca0 100644
--- a/src/core/mainloop/mainloop.c
+++ b/src/core/mainloop/mainloop.c
@@ -1627,6 +1627,7 @@ schedule_rescan_periodic_events,(void))
 void
 rescan_periodic_events(const or_options_t *options)
 {
+  puts("RESCAN");
   tor_assert(options);
 
   /* Avoid scanning the event list if we haven't initialized it yet. This is
@@ -2818,12 +2819,6 @@ initialize_mainloop_events(void)
 int
 do_main_loop(void)
 {
-  /* For now, starting Tor always counts as user activity. Later, we might
-   * have an option to control this.
-   */
-  reset_user_activity(approx_time());
-  set_network_participation(true);
-
   /* initialize the periodic events first, so that code that depends on the
    * events being present does not assert.
    */
diff --git a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
index ed7c952dcd..59fd8f8037 100644
--- a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
+++ b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.c
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #include "app/config/config.h"
 #include "feature/hibernate/hibernate.h"
 
+#include "app/config/or_state_st.h"
+
 /** Return true iff our network is in some sense disabled or shutting down:
  * either we're hibernating, entering hibernation, or the network is turned
  * off with DisableNetwork. */
@@ -31,6 +33,10 @@ net_is_completely_disabled(void)
 /**
  * The time at which we've last seen "user activity" -- that is, any activity
  * that should keep us as a participant on the network.
+ *
+ * This is not actually the true time.  We will adjust this forward if
+ * our clock jumps, or if Tor is shut down for a while, so that the time
+ * since our last activity remains as it was before the jump or shutdown.
  */
 static time_t last_user_activity_seen = 0;
 
@@ -99,3 +105,38 @@ is_participating_on_network(void)
 {
   return participating_on_network;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Update 'state' with the last time at which we were active on the network.
+ **/
+void
+netstatus_flush_to_state(or_state_t *state, time_t now)
+{
+  state->Dormant = ! participating_on_network;
+  if (participating_on_network) {
+    time_t sec_since_activity = MAX(0, now - last_user_activity_seen);
+    state->MinutesSinceUserActivity = (int)(sec_since_activity / 60);
+  } else {
+    state->MinutesSinceUserActivity = 0;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Update our current view of network participation from an or_state_t object.
+ **/
+void
+netstatus_load_from_state(const or_state_t *state, time_t now)
+{
+  time_t last_activity;
+  if (state->Dormant == -1) { // Initial setup.
+    last_activity = now;
+    participating_on_network = true;
+  } else if (state->Dormant) {
+    last_activity = 0;
+    participating_on_network = false;
+  } else {
+    last_activity = now - 60 * state->MinutesSinceUserActivity;
+    participating_on_network = true;
+  }
+  reset_user_activity(last_activity);
+}
diff --git a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.h b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.h
index 58c994fd14..4b008e4cfa 100644
--- a/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.h
+++ b/src/core/mainloop/netstatus.h
@@ -17,4 +17,7 @@ time_t get_last_user_activity_time(void);
 void set_network_participation(bool participation);
 bool is_participating_on_network(void);
 
+void netstatus_flush_to_state(or_state_t *state, time_t now);
+void netstatus_load_from_state(const or_state_t *state, time_t now);
+
 #endif