diff --git a/src/janitor_agent.erl b/src/janitor_agent.erl
index ee36d456e..7cd0327cb 100644
--- a/src/janitor_agent.erl
+++ b/src/janitor_agent.erl
@@ -551,8 +551,7 @@ handle_call({apply_new_config, Caller, NewBucketConfig, IgnoredVBuckets}, _From,
             #state{bucket_name = BucketName,
                    rebalance_pid = Rebalancer} = State) ->
     %% ?log_debug("handling apply_new_config:~n~p", [NewBucketConfig]),
-    {ok, CurrentVBucketsList} = ns_memcached:list_vbuckets(BucketName),
-    CurrentVBuckets = dict:from_list(CurrentVBucketsList),
+    {ok, VBDetails} = get_state_topology(BucketName),
     Map = proplists:get_value(map, NewBucketConfig),
     true = (Map =/= undefined),
     %% TODO: unignore ignored vbuckets
@@ -569,20 +568,33 @@ handle_call({apply_new_config, Caller, NewBucketConfig, IgnoredVBuckets}, _From,
                                       [] ->
                                           missing
                                   end,
-                    ActualState = case dict:find(VBucket, CurrentVBuckets) of
-                                      {ok, S} -> S;
-                                      _ -> missing
-                                  end,
+                    {ActualState, ActualTopology} =
+                        case dict:find(VBucket, VBDetails) of
+                            {ok, Val} ->
+                                StateVal = proplists:get_value("state", Val),
+                                %% Always expect "state" to be present.
+                                false = StateVal =:= undefined,
+                                {StateVal, proplists:get_value("topology", Val)};
+                            _ ->
+                                {missing, undefined}
+                        end,
                     NewWanted = [WantedState | PrevWanted],
-                    case WantedState =:= ActualState of
+                    case WantedState =:= ActualState andalso
+                         is_topology_same(WantedState, Chain, ActualTopology) of
                         true ->
                             {VBucket + 1, ToSet, ToDelete, NewWanted};
                         false ->
                             case WantedState of
                                 missing ->
                                     {VBucket + 1, ToSet, [VBucket | ToDelete], NewWanted};
+                                active ->
+                                    {VBucket + 1,
+                                     [{VBucket, WantedState, [Chain]} | ToSet],
+                                     ToDelete, NewWanted};
                                 _ ->
-                                    {VBucket + 1, [{VBucket, WantedState} | ToSet], ToDelete, NewWanted}
+                                    {VBucket + 1,
+                                     [{VBucket, WantedState, undefined} | ToSet],
+                                     ToDelete, NewWanted}
                             end
                     end
             end, {0, [], [], []}, Map),
@@ -608,9 +620,17 @@ handle_call({apply_new_config, Caller, NewBucketConfig, IgnoredVBuckets}, _From,
                           || {Src, Pairs} <- misc:keygroup(1, lists:sort(WantedReplicas))],
     ok = replication_manager:remove_undesired_replications(BucketName, WantedReplications),
 
+    SetTopology = cluster_compat_mode:is_cluster_madhatter(),
     %% then we're ok to change vbucket states
-    [ns_memcached:set_vbucket(BucketName, VBucket, StateToSet)
-     || {VBucket, StateToSet} <- ToSet],
+    [begin
+         case SetTopology of
+             true ->
+                 ns_memcached:set_vbucket(BucketName, VBucket, StateToSet,
+                                          Topology);
+             false ->
+                 ns_memcached:set_vbucket(BucketName, VBucket, StateToSet)
+         end
+     end || {VBucket, StateToSet, Topology} <- ToSet],
 
     %% and ok to delete vbuckets we want to delete
     [ns_memcached:delete_vbucket(BucketName, VBucket) || VBucket <- ToDelete],
@@ -977,3 +997,46 @@ handle_apply_vbucket_state({delete_vbucket, VBucket},
                             #state{bucket_name = BucketName} = AgentState) ->
     pass_vbucket_states_to_set_view_manager(AgentState),
     ok = ns_memcached:delete_vbucket(BucketName, VBucket).
+
+decode_topology("null") ->
+    undefined;
+decode_topology(Topology) ->
+    [lists:map(fun (null) ->
+                       undefined;
+                   (Node) ->
+                       binary_to_existing_atom(Node, latin1)
+               end, Chain) || Chain <- ejson:decode(Topology)].
+
+is_topology_same(active, Chain, MemcachedTopology) ->
+    cluster_compat_mode:is_cluster_madhatter() =:= false orelse
+        [Chain] =:= MemcachedTopology;
+is_topology_same(_, _, _) ->
+    true.
+
+get_state_topology(BucketName) ->
+    DecodeTable = [{"state", fun erlang:list_to_existing_atom/1},
+                   {"topology", fun decode_topology/1}],
+    get_decoded_vbucket_details(BucketName, DecodeTable).
+
+get_decoded_vbucket_details(BucketName, DecodeTable) ->
+    Keys = [Key || {Key, _DecodeFun} <- DecodeTable],
+    case ns_memcached:get_vbucket_details_stats(BucketName, Keys) of
+        {ok, VBDetails} ->
+            {ok, decode_vbucket_details(VBDetails, DecodeTable)};
+        Error ->
+            Error
+    end.
+
+decode_vbucket_details(VBDetails, DecodeTable) ->
+    dict:map(
+      fun (_VB, List) ->
+              lists:map(
+                fun ({Key, Value}) ->
+                        case lists:keyfind(Key, 1, DecodeTable) of
+                            {Key, DecodeFun} ->
+                                {Key, DecodeFun(Value)};
+                            _ ->
+                                {Key, Value}
+                        end
+                end, List)
+      end, VBDetails).