diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/java/com/nitorcreations/nflow/engine/internal/dao/WorkflowDefinitionDao.java b/nflow-engine/src/main/java/com/nitorcreations/nflow/engine/internal/dao/WorkflowDefinitionDao.java
index 076b09589..2d35b6343 100644
--- a/nflow-engine/src/main/java/com/nitorcreations/nflow/engine/internal/dao/WorkflowDefinitionDao.java
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/java/com/nitorcreations/nflow/engine/internal/dao/WorkflowDefinitionDao.java
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 package com.nitorcreations.nflow.engine.internal.dao;
 
+import static java.lang.String.format;
+import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
 import static java.util.Collections.sort;
 import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 import static org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils.isEmpty;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.math.BigInteger;
+import java.security.MessageDigest;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 import java.sql.ResultSet;
 import java.sql.SQLException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -57,16 +62,19 @@ public void storeWorkflowDefinition(WorkflowDefinition<? extends WorkflowState>
     StoredWorkflowDefinition storedDefinition = convert(definition);
     MapSqlParameterSource params = new MapSqlParameterSource();
     params.addValue("type", definition.getType());
-    params.addValue("definition", serializeDefinition(storedDefinition));
+    String serializedDefinition = serializeDefinition(storedDefinition);
+    params.addValue("definition_sha1", sha1(serializedDefinition));
+    params.addValue("definition", serializedDefinition);
     params.addValue("modified_by", executorInfo.getExecutorId());
     params.addValue("executor_group", executorInfo.getExecutorGroup());
+
     String sql = "update nflow_workflow_definition "
-        + "set definition = :definition, modified_by = :modified_by "
-        + "where type = :type and executor_group = :executor_group and definition <> :definition";
+        + "set definition = :definition, modified_by = :modified_by, definition_sha1 = :definition_sha1 "
+        + "where type = :type and executor_group = :executor_group and definition_sha1 <> :definition_sha1";
     int updatedRows = namedJdbc.update(sql, params);
     if (updatedRows == 0) {
-      sql = "insert into nflow_workflow_definition(type, definition, modified_by, executor_group) "
-          + "values (:type, :definition, :modified_by, :executor_group)";
+      sql = "insert into nflow_workflow_definition(type, definition_sha1, definition, modified_by, executor_group) "
+          + "values (:type, :definition_sha1, :definition, :modified_by, :executor_group)";
       try {
         namedJdbc.update(sql, params);
       } catch (DataIntegrityViolationException dex) {
@@ -75,6 +83,16 @@ public void storeWorkflowDefinition(WorkflowDefinition<? extends WorkflowState>
     }
   }
 
+  private String sha1(String serializedDefinition) {
+    try {
+      MessageDigest digest = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-1");
+      digest.update(serializedDefinition.getBytes(UTF_8));
+      return format("%040x", new BigInteger(1, digest.digest()));
+    } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("SHA1 not supported");
+    }
+  }
+
   public List<StoredWorkflowDefinition> queryStoredWorkflowDefinitions(Collection<String> types) {
     String sql = "select definition from nflow_workflow_definition where " + executorInfo.getExecutorGroupCondition();
     MapSqlParameterSource params = new MapSqlParameterSource();
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/h2.create.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/h2.create.ddl.sql
index 875a597a2..b176876d7 100644
--- a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/h2.create.ddl.sql
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/h2.create.ddl.sql
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ create table if not exists nflow_executor (
 
 create table if not exists nflow_workflow_definition (
   type varchar(64) not null,
+  definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a',
   definition text not null,
   created timestamp not null default current_timestamp,
   modified timestamp not null default current_timestamp,
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.create.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.create.ddl.sql
index 70ddf88f6..75d964d1d 100644
--- a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.create.ddl.sql
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.create.ddl.sql
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ create table if not exists nflow_executor (
 
 create table if not exists nflow_workflow_definition (
   type varchar(64) not null,
+  definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a',
   definition text not null,
   created timestamp(3) not null default current_timestamp(3),
   modified timestamp(3) not null default current_timestamp(3) on update current_timestamp(3),
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.legacy.create.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.legacy.create.ddl.sql
index 8f9c0fac9..686715f7f 100644
--- a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.legacy.create.ddl.sql
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/mysql.legacy.create.ddl.sql
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ create table if not exists nflow_executor (
 
 create table if not exists nflow_workflow_definition (
   type varchar(64) not null,
+  definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a',
   definition text not null,
   modified timestamp not null default current_timestamp on update current_timestamp,
   modified_by int not null,
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/postgresql.create.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/postgresql.create.ddl.sql
index c25803a68..daa762908 100644
--- a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/postgresql.create.ddl.sql
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/postgresql.create.ddl.sql
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ create table if not exists nflow_executor (
 
 create table if not exists nflow_workflow_definition (
   type varchar(64) not null,
+  definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a',
   definition text not null,
   created timestamptz not null default current_timestamp,
   modified timestamptz not null default current_timestamp,
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/h2.update.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/h2.update.ddl.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f96d7ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/h2.update.ddl.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+alter table nflow_workflow_definition add definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.legacy.update.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.legacy.update.ddl.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f96d7ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.legacy.update.ddl.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+alter table nflow_workflow_definition add definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.update.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.update.ddl.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f96d7ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/mysql.update.ddl.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+alter table nflow_workflow_definition add definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/postgresql.update.ddl.sql b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/postgresql.update.ddl.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f96d7ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nflow-engine/src/main/resources/scripts/db/update-1.2.0-x/postgresql.update.ddl.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+alter table nflow_workflow_definition add definition_sha1 varchar(40) not null default 'n/a';
\ No newline at end of file