diff --git a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.go b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.go
index 05a3b8e34ca3..a0cbbda85097 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.go
@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ func (s *streamIterator) Next() bool {
 
 	s.current.To = stream.lastLine.ts
 	s.current.LastLine = stream.lastLine.content
+	s.current.EntryCt = stream.entryCt
 
 	return true
 }
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.pb.go b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.pb.go
index 4d8c8f7ac5b6..bcb0871cee87 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.pb.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.pb.go
@@ -144,6 +144,9 @@ type Series struct {
 	// Last timestamp of the last chunk.
 	To       time.Time `protobuf:"bytes,5,opt,name=to,proto3,stdtime" json:"to"`
 	LastLine string    `protobuf:"bytes,6,opt,name=lastLine,proto3" json:"lastLine,omitempty"`
+	// highest counter value for pushes to this stream.
+	// Used to skip already applied entries during WAL replay.
+	EntryCt int64 `protobuf:"varint,7,opt,name=entryCt,proto3" json:"entryCt,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (m *Series) Reset()      { *m = Series{} }
@@ -213,6 +216,13 @@ func (m *Series) GetLastLine() string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+func (m *Series) GetEntryCt() int64 {
+	if m != nil {
+		return m.EntryCt
+	}
+	return 0
+}
+
 func init() {
 	proto.RegisterType((*Chunk)(nil), "loki_ingester.Chunk")
 	proto.RegisterType((*Series)(nil), "loki_ingester.Series")
@@ -221,38 +231,39 @@ func init() {
 func init() { proto.RegisterFile("pkg/ingester/checkpoint.proto", fileDescriptor_00f4b7152db9bdb5) }
 
 var fileDescriptor_00f4b7152db9bdb5 = []byte{
-	// 492 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
-	0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0xff, 0x94, 0x52, 0xbd, 0x8e, 0xd3, 0x4c,
-	0x14, 0xf5, 0x24, 0x8e, 0x3f, 0x67, 0xf2, 0xd1, 0x0c, 0x08, 0x8d, 0x22, 0x31, 0xb1, 0xb6, 0x4a,
-	0x83, 0x2d, 0x05, 0x0a, 0x68, 0x90, 0x62, 0x10, 0x12, 0xd2, 0x16, 0xc8, 0x40, 0x43, 0x83, 0xfc,
-	0x33, 0xb1, 0x4d, 0x1c, 0x8f, 0x35, 0x33, 0x96, 0xa0, 0xe3, 0x11, 0xf6, 0x31, 0x78, 0x04, 0x1e,
-	0x61, 0xcb, 0x94, 0x2b, 0x90, 0x16, 0xe2, 0x34, 0x94, 0xfb, 0x08, 0x68, 0xc6, 0x36, 0x1b, 0x4a,
-	0x77, 0xf7, 0x9c, 0x7b, 0x8f, 0xcf, 0xf5, 0x9d, 0x03, 0x1f, 0x54, 0xdb, 0xd4, 0xcb, 0xcb, 0x94,
-	0x0a, 0x49, 0xb9, 0x17, 0x67, 0x34, 0xde, 0x56, 0x2c, 0x2f, 0xa5, 0x5b, 0x71, 0x26, 0x19, 0xba,
-	0x53, 0xb0, 0x6d, 0xfe, 0xa1, 0xef, 0xcf, 0x17, 0x29, 0x63, 0x69, 0x41, 0x3d, 0xdd, 0x8c, 0xea,
-	0x8d, 0x27, 0xf3, 0x1d, 0x15, 0x32, 0xdc, 0x55, 0xed, 0xfc, 0xfc, 0x61, 0x9a, 0xcb, 0xac, 0x8e,
-	0xdc, 0x98, 0xed, 0xbc, 0x94, 0xa5, 0xec, 0x76, 0x52, 0x21, 0x0d, 0x74, 0xd5, 0x8d, 0x3f, 0x3d,
-	0x19, 0x8f, 0x19, 0x97, 0xf4, 0x53, 0xc5, 0xd9, 0x47, 0x1a, 0xcb, 0x0e, 0x79, 0x6a, 0xbb, 0xae,
-	0x11, 0x75, 0x45, 0x2b, 0x3d, 0xfb, 0x31, 0x82, 0x93, 0xe7, 0x59, 0x5d, 0x6e, 0xd1, 0x13, 0x68,
-	0x6e, 0x38, 0xdb, 0x61, 0xe0, 0x80, 0xe5, 0x6c, 0x35, 0x77, 0xdb, 0x1d, 0xdd, 0xde, 0xd9, 0x7d,
-	0xdb, 0xef, 0xe8, 0xdb, 0x97, 0xd7, 0x0b, 0xe3, 0xe2, 0xe7, 0x02, 0x04, 0x5a, 0x81, 0x1e, 0xc3,
-	0x91, 0x64, 0x78, 0x34, 0x40, 0x37, 0x92, 0x0c, 0xf9, 0x70, 0xba, 0x29, 0x6a, 0x91, 0xd1, 0x64,
-	0x2d, 0xf1, 0x78, 0x80, 0xf8, 0x56, 0x86, 0x5e, 0xc2, 0x59, 0x11, 0x0a, 0xf9, 0xae, 0x4a, 0x42,
-	0x49, 0x13, 0x6c, 0x0e, 0xf8, 0xca, 0xa9, 0x10, 0xdd, 0x87, 0x56, 0x5c, 0x30, 0x41, 0x13, 0x3c,
-	0x71, 0xc0, 0xd2, 0x0e, 0x3a, 0xa4, 0x78, 0xf1, 0xb9, 0x8c, 0x69, 0x82, 0xad, 0x96, 0x6f, 0x11,
-	0x42, 0xd0, 0x4c, 0x42, 0x19, 0xe2, 0xff, 0x1c, 0xb0, 0xfc, 0x3f, 0xd0, 0xb5, 0xe2, 0x32, 0x1a,
-	0x26, 0xd8, 0x6e, 0x39, 0x55, 0x9f, 0x7d, 0x1b, 0x41, 0xeb, 0x0d, 0xe5, 0x39, 0x15, 0xea, 0x53,
-	0xb5, 0xa0, 0xfc, 0xd5, 0x0b, 0x7d, 0xe0, 0x69, 0xd0, 0x21, 0xe4, 0xc0, 0xd9, 0x46, 0x05, 0x83,
-	0x57, 0x3c, 0x2f, 0xa5, 0xbe, 0xa2, 0x19, 0x9c, 0x52, 0xa8, 0x84, 0x56, 0x11, 0x46, 0xb4, 0x10,
-	0x78, 0xec, 0x8c, 0x97, 0xb3, 0xd5, 0x5d, 0xb7, 0x7f, 0x4a, 0xf7, 0x5c, 0xf1, 0xaf, 0xc3, 0x9c,
-	0xfb, 0x6b, 0xf5, 0x63, 0xdf, 0xaf, 0x17, 0x83, 0xa2, 0xd0, 0xea, 0xd7, 0x49, 0x58, 0x49, 0xca,
-	0x83, 0xce, 0x05, 0xad, 0xa0, 0x15, 0xab, 0x44, 0x08, 0x6c, 0x6a, 0xbf, 0x7b, 0xee, 0x3f, 0xe9,
-	0x75, 0x75, 0x5c, 0x7c, 0x53, 0x19, 0x06, 0xdd, 0x64, 0x17, 0x81, 0xc9, 0xc0, 0x08, 0xcc, 0xa1,
-	0xad, 0x5e, 0xe1, 0x3c, 0x2f, 0xa9, 0x3e, 0xf0, 0x34, 0xf8, 0x8b, 0xfd, 0x67, 0xfb, 0x03, 0x31,
-	0xae, 0x0e, 0xc4, 0xb8, 0x39, 0x10, 0xf0, 0xa5, 0x21, 0xe0, 0x6b, 0x43, 0xc0, 0x65, 0x43, 0xc0,
-	0xbe, 0x21, 0xe0, 0x57, 0x43, 0xc0, 0xef, 0x86, 0x18, 0x37, 0x0d, 0x01, 0x17, 0x47, 0x62, 0xec,
-	0x8f, 0xc4, 0xb8, 0x3a, 0x12, 0xe3, 0xbd, 0xdd, 0x6f, 0x19, 0x59, 0xda, 0xfd, 0xd1, 0x9f, 0x00,
-	0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xae, 0x13, 0x93, 0xc4, 0x9a, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00,
+	// 503 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
+	0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0xff, 0x94, 0x52, 0x3d, 0x8f, 0xd3, 0x40,
+	0x10, 0xf5, 0x26, 0x8e, 0x2f, 0xd9, 0x40, 0xb3, 0x20, 0xb4, 0x8a, 0xc4, 0xc6, 0xba, 0x2a, 0x0d,
+	0xb6, 0x14, 0x28, 0xa0, 0x41, 0x8a, 0x0f, 0x21, 0x21, 0x5d, 0x81, 0x0c, 0x34, 0x34, 0xc8, 0x1f,
+	0x1b, 0xdb, 0xc4, 0xf1, 0x5a, 0xbb, 0x6b, 0x89, 0xeb, 0xf8, 0x09, 0xf7, 0x33, 0xf8, 0x29, 0x57,
+	0x46, 0x54, 0x27, 0x90, 0x0e, 0xe2, 0x34, 0x94, 0xf7, 0x13, 0xd0, 0xae, 0x6d, 0x2e, 0x94, 0xee,
+	0xe6, 0xbd, 0x99, 0xe7, 0x79, 0x9e, 0x7d, 0xf0, 0x71, 0xb9, 0x49, 0xdc, 0xac, 0x48, 0xa8, 0x90,
+	0x94, 0xbb, 0x51, 0x4a, 0xa3, 0x4d, 0xc9, 0xb2, 0x42, 0x3a, 0x25, 0x67, 0x92, 0xa1, 0xfb, 0x39,
+	0xdb, 0x64, 0x9f, 0xba, 0xfe, 0x6c, 0x9e, 0x30, 0x96, 0xe4, 0xd4, 0xd5, 0xcd, 0xb0, 0x5a, 0xbb,
+	0x32, 0xdb, 0x52, 0x21, 0x83, 0x6d, 0xd9, 0xcc, 0xcf, 0x9e, 0x24, 0x99, 0x4c, 0xab, 0xd0, 0x89,
+	0xd8, 0xd6, 0x4d, 0x58, 0xc2, 0xee, 0x26, 0x15, 0xd2, 0x40, 0x57, 0xed, 0xf8, 0x8b, 0xa3, 0xf1,
+	0x88, 0x71, 0x49, 0xbf, 0x94, 0x9c, 0x7d, 0xa6, 0x91, 0x6c, 0x91, 0xab, 0xdc, 0xb5, 0x8d, 0xb0,
+	0x2d, 0x1a, 0xe9, 0xe9, 0xcf, 0x01, 0x1c, 0x9d, 0xa5, 0x55, 0xb1, 0x41, 0xcf, 0xa1, 0xb9, 0xe6,
+	0x6c, 0x8b, 0x81, 0x0d, 0x16, 0xd3, 0xe5, 0xcc, 0x69, 0x3c, 0x3a, 0xdd, 0x66, 0xe7, 0x7d, 0xe7,
+	0xd1, 0x1b, 0x5f, 0xdd, 0xcc, 0x8d, 0xcb, 0x5f, 0x73, 0xe0, 0x6b, 0x05, 0x7a, 0x06, 0x07, 0x92,
+	0xe1, 0x41, 0x0f, 0xdd, 0x40, 0x32, 0xe4, 0xc1, 0xc9, 0x3a, 0xaf, 0x44, 0x4a, 0xe3, 0x95, 0xc4,
+	0xc3, 0x1e, 0xe2, 0x3b, 0x19, 0x7a, 0x0d, 0xa7, 0x79, 0x20, 0xe4, 0x87, 0x32, 0x0e, 0x24, 0x8d,
+	0xb1, 0xd9, 0xe3, 0x2b, 0xc7, 0x42, 0xf4, 0x08, 0x5a, 0x51, 0xce, 0x04, 0x8d, 0xf1, 0xc8, 0x06,
+	0x8b, 0xb1, 0xdf, 0x22, 0xc5, 0x8b, 0x8b, 0x22, 0xa2, 0x31, 0xb6, 0x1a, 0xbe, 0x41, 0x08, 0x41,
+	0x33, 0x0e, 0x64, 0x80, 0x4f, 0x6c, 0xb0, 0xb8, 0xe7, 0xeb, 0x5a, 0x71, 0x29, 0x0d, 0x62, 0x3c,
+	0x6e, 0x38, 0x55, 0x9f, 0x7e, 0x1f, 0x40, 0xeb, 0x1d, 0xe5, 0x19, 0x15, 0xea, 0x53, 0x95, 0xa0,
+	0xfc, 0xcd, 0x2b, 0x7d, 0xe0, 0x89, 0xdf, 0x22, 0x64, 0xc3, 0xe9, 0x5a, 0x05, 0x83, 0x97, 0x3c,
+	0x2b, 0xa4, 0xbe, 0xa2, 0xe9, 0x1f, 0x53, 0xa8, 0x80, 0x56, 0x1e, 0x84, 0x34, 0x17, 0x78, 0x68,
+	0x0f, 0x17, 0xd3, 0xe5, 0x03, 0xa7, 0x7b, 0x4a, 0xe7, 0x5c, 0xf1, 0x6f, 0x83, 0x8c, 0x7b, 0x2b,
+	0xf5, 0x63, 0x3f, 0x6e, 0xe6, 0xbd, 0xa2, 0xd0, 0xe8, 0x57, 0x71, 0x50, 0x4a, 0xca, 0xfd, 0x76,
+	0x0b, 0x5a, 0x42, 0x2b, 0x52, 0x89, 0x10, 0xd8, 0xd4, 0xfb, 0x1e, 0x3a, 0xff, 0xa5, 0xd7, 0xd1,
+	0x71, 0xf1, 0x4c, 0xb5, 0xd0, 0x6f, 0x27, 0xdb, 0x08, 0x8c, 0x7a, 0x46, 0x60, 0x06, 0xc7, 0xea,
+	0x15, 0xce, 0xb3, 0x82, 0xea, 0x03, 0x4f, 0xfc, 0x7f, 0x18, 0x61, 0x78, 0x42, 0x0b, 0xc9, 0x2f,
+	0xce, 0xa4, 0xbe, 0xf2, 0xd0, 0xef, 0xa0, 0xf7, 0x72, 0xb7, 0x27, 0xc6, 0xf5, 0x9e, 0x18, 0xb7,
+	0x7b, 0x02, 0xbe, 0xd6, 0x04, 0x7c, 0xab, 0x09, 0xb8, 0xaa, 0x09, 0xd8, 0xd5, 0x04, 0xfc, 0xae,
+	0x09, 0xf8, 0x53, 0x13, 0xe3, 0xb6, 0x26, 0xe0, 0xf2, 0x40, 0x8c, 0xdd, 0x81, 0x18, 0xd7, 0x07,
+	0x62, 0x7c, 0x1c, 0x77, 0xfe, 0x43, 0x4b, 0xfb, 0x7a, 0xfa, 0x37, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0x70,
+	0x87, 0xe1, 0x9b, 0xb4, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00,
 }
 
 func (this *Chunk) Equal(that interface{}) bool {
@@ -347,6 +358,9 @@ func (this *Series) Equal(that interface{}) bool {
 	if this.LastLine != that1.LastLine {
 		return false
 	}
+	if this.EntryCt != that1.EntryCt {
+		return false
+	}
 	return true
 }
 func (this *Chunk) GoString() string {
@@ -370,7 +384,7 @@ func (this *Series) GoString() string {
 	if this == nil {
 		return "nil"
 	}
-	s := make([]string, 0, 10)
+	s := make([]string, 0, 11)
 	s = append(s, "&ingester.Series{")
 	s = append(s, "UserID: "+fmt.Sprintf("%#v", this.UserID)+",\n")
 	s = append(s, "Fingerprint: "+fmt.Sprintf("%#v", this.Fingerprint)+",\n")
@@ -384,6 +398,7 @@ func (this *Series) GoString() string {
 	}
 	s = append(s, "To: "+fmt.Sprintf("%#v", this.To)+",\n")
 	s = append(s, "LastLine: "+fmt.Sprintf("%#v", this.LastLine)+",\n")
+	s = append(s, "EntryCt: "+fmt.Sprintf("%#v", this.EntryCt)+",\n")
 	s = append(s, "}")
 	return strings.Join(s, "")
 }
@@ -541,6 +556,11 @@ func (m *Series) MarshalTo(dAtA []byte) (int, error) {
 		i = encodeVarintCheckpoint(dAtA, i, uint64(len(m.LastLine)))
 		i += copy(dAtA[i:], m.LastLine)
 	}
+	if m.EntryCt != 0 {
+		dAtA[i] = 0x38
+		i++
+		i = encodeVarintCheckpoint(dAtA, i, uint64(m.EntryCt))
+	}
 	return i, nil
 }
 
@@ -615,6 +635,9 @@ func (m *Series) Size() (n int) {
 	if l > 0 {
 		n += 1 + l + sovCheckpoint(uint64(l))
 	}
+	if m.EntryCt != 0 {
+		n += 1 + sovCheckpoint(uint64(m.EntryCt))
+	}
 	return n
 }
 
@@ -659,6 +682,7 @@ func (this *Series) String() string {
 		`Chunks:` + strings.Replace(strings.Replace(fmt.Sprintf("%v", this.Chunks), "Chunk", "Chunk", 1), `&`, ``, 1) + `,`,
 		`To:` + strings.Replace(strings.Replace(this.To.String(), "Timestamp", "types.Timestamp", 1), `&`, ``, 1) + `,`,
 		`LastLine:` + fmt.Sprintf("%v", this.LastLine) + `,`,
+		`EntryCt:` + fmt.Sprintf("%v", this.EntryCt) + `,`,
 		`}`,
 	}, "")
 	return s
@@ -1177,6 +1201,25 @@ func (m *Series) Unmarshal(dAtA []byte) error {
 			}
 			m.LastLine = string(dAtA[iNdEx:postIndex])
 			iNdEx = postIndex
+		case 7:
+			if wireType != 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("proto: wrong wireType = %d for field EntryCt", wireType)
+			}
+			m.EntryCt = 0
+			for shift := uint(0); ; shift += 7 {
+				if shift >= 64 {
+					return ErrIntOverflowCheckpoint
+				}
+				if iNdEx >= l {
+					return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
+				}
+				b := dAtA[iNdEx]
+				iNdEx++
+				m.EntryCt |= int64(b&0x7F) << shift
+				if b < 0x80 {
+					break
+				}
+			}
 		default:
 			iNdEx = preIndex
 			skippy, err := skipCheckpoint(dAtA[iNdEx:])
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.proto b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.proto
index 60a9403428fd..5e3e9104ea3f 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.proto
+++ b/pkg/ingester/checkpoint.proto
@@ -33,4 +33,8 @@ message Series {
   // Last timestamp of the last chunk.
   google.protobuf.Timestamp to = 5 [(gogoproto.stdtime) = true, (gogoproto.nullable) = false];
   string lastLine = 6;
+  // highest counter value for pushes to this stream.
+  // Used to skip already applied entries during WAL replay.
+  int64 entryCt = 7;
+
 }
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/encoding.go b/pkg/ingester/encoding.go
index 9c3e4b991b68..cbbbeb1dbd8a 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/encoding.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/encoding.go
@@ -17,12 +17,19 @@ const (
 	_ = iota // ignore first value so the zero value doesn't look like a record type.
 	// WALRecordSeries is the type for the WAL record for series.
 	WALRecordSeries RecordType = iota
-	// WALRecordSamples is the type for the WAL record for samples.
-	WALRecordEntries
+	// WALRecordEntriesV1 is the type for the WAL record for samples.
+	WALRecordEntriesV1
 	// CheckpointRecord is the type for the Checkpoint record based on protos.
 	CheckpointRecord
+	// WALRecordEntriesV2 is the type for the WAL record for samples with an
+	// additional counter value for use in replaying without the ordering constraint.
+	WALRecordEntriesV2
 )
 
+// The current type of Entries that this distribution writes.
+// Loki can read in a backwards compatible manner, but will write the newest variant.
+const CurrentEntriesRec RecordType = WALRecordEntriesV2
+
 // WALRecord is a struct combining the series and samples record.
 type WALRecord struct {
 	UserID string
@@ -52,20 +59,23 @@ func (r *WALRecord) Reset() {
 	r.entryIndexMap = make(map[uint64]int)
 }
 
-func (r *WALRecord) AddEntries(fp uint64, entries ...logproto.Entry) {
+func (r *WALRecord) AddEntries(fp uint64, counter int64, entries ...logproto.Entry) {
 	if idx, ok := r.entryIndexMap[fp]; ok {
 		r.RefEntries[idx].Entries = append(r.RefEntries[idx].Entries, entries...)
+		r.RefEntries[idx].Counter = counter
 		return
 	}
 
 	r.entryIndexMap[fp] = len(r.RefEntries)
 	r.RefEntries = append(r.RefEntries, RefEntries{
+		Counter: counter,
 		Ref:     fp,
 		Entries: entries,
 	})
 }
 
 type RefEntries struct {
+	Counter int64
 	Ref     uint64
 	Entries []logproto.Entry
 }
@@ -84,9 +94,9 @@ func (r *WALRecord) encodeSeries(b []byte) []byte {
 	return encoded
 }
 
-func (r *WALRecord) encodeEntries(b []byte) []byte {
+func (r *WALRecord) encodeEntries(version RecordType, b []byte) []byte {
 	buf := EncWith(b)
-	buf.PutByte(byte(WALRecordEntries))
+	buf.PutByte(byte(version))
 	buf.PutUvarintStr(r.UserID)
 
 	// Placeholder for the first timestamp of any sample encountered.
@@ -108,7 +118,12 @@ outer:
 		if len(ref.Entries) < 1 {
 			continue
 		}
-		buf.PutBE64(ref.Ref)             // write fingerprint
+		buf.PutBE64(ref.Ref) // write fingerprint
+
+		if version >= WALRecordEntriesV2 {
+			buf.PutBE64int64(ref.Counter) // write highest counter value
+		}
+
 		buf.PutUvarint(len(ref.Entries)) // write number of entries
 
 		for _, s := range ref.Entries {
@@ -120,7 +135,7 @@ outer:
 	return buf.Get()
 }
 
-func decodeEntries(b []byte, rec *WALRecord) error {
+func decodeEntries(b []byte, version RecordType, rec *WALRecord) error {
 	if len(b) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -133,6 +148,10 @@ func decodeEntries(b []byte, rec *WALRecord) error {
 			Ref: dec.Be64(),
 		}
 
+		if version >= WALRecordEntriesV2 {
+			refEntries.Counter = dec.Be64int64()
+		}
+
 		nEntries := dec.Uvarint()
 		refEntries.Entries = make([]logproto.Entry, 0, nEntries)
 		rem := nEntries
@@ -178,9 +197,9 @@ func decodeWALRecord(b []byte, walRec *WALRecord) (err error) {
 	case WALRecordSeries:
 		userID = decbuf.UvarintStr()
 		rSeries, err = dec.Series(decbuf.B, walRec.Series)
-	case WALRecordEntries:
+	case WALRecordEntriesV1, WALRecordEntriesV2:
 		userID = decbuf.UvarintStr()
-		err = decodeEntries(decbuf.B, walRec)
+		err = decodeEntries(decbuf.B, t, walRec)
 	default:
 		return errors.New("unknown record type")
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/encoding_test.go b/pkg/ingester/encoding_test.go
index ad17a63aeb37..accddddd63b9 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/encoding_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/encoding_test.go
@@ -51,46 +51,93 @@ func Test_Encoding_Series(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func Test_Encoding_Entries(t *testing.T) {
-	record := &WALRecord{
-		entryIndexMap: make(map[uint64]int),
-		UserID:        "123",
-		RefEntries: []RefEntries{
-			{
-				Ref: 456,
-				Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		desc    string
+		rec     *WALRecord
+		version RecordType
+	}{
+		{
+			desc: "v1",
+			rec: &WALRecord{
+				entryIndexMap: make(map[uint64]int),
+				UserID:        "123",
+				RefEntries: []RefEntries{
 					{
-						Timestamp: time.Unix(1000, 0),
-						Line:      "first",
+						Ref: 456,
+						Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(1000, 0),
+								Line:      "first",
+							},
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(2000, 0),
+								Line:      "second",
+							},
+						},
 					},
 					{
-						Timestamp: time.Unix(2000, 0),
-						Line:      "second",
+						Ref: 789,
+						Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(3000, 0),
+								Line:      "third",
+							},
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(4000, 0),
+								Line:      "fourth",
+							},
+						},
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			{
-				Ref: 789,
-				Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+			version: WALRecordEntriesV1,
+		},
+		{
+			desc: "v2",
+			rec: &WALRecord{
+				entryIndexMap: make(map[uint64]int),
+				UserID:        "123",
+				RefEntries: []RefEntries{
 					{
-						Timestamp: time.Unix(3000, 0),
-						Line:      "third",
+						Ref:     456,
+						Counter: 1, // v2 uses counter for WAL replay
+						Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(1000, 0),
+								Line:      "first",
+							},
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(2000, 0),
+								Line:      "second",
+							},
+						},
 					},
 					{
-						Timestamp: time.Unix(4000, 0),
-						Line:      "fourth",
+						Ref:     789,
+						Counter: 2, // v2 uses counter for WAL replay
+						Entries: []logproto.Entry{
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(3000, 0),
+								Line:      "third",
+							},
+							{
+								Timestamp: time.Unix(4000, 0),
+								Line:      "fourth",
+							},
+						},
 					},
 				},
 			},
+			version: WALRecordEntriesV2,
 		},
-	}
-
-	buf := record.encodeEntries(nil)
-
-	decoded := recordPool.GetRecord()
+	} {
+		decoded := recordPool.GetRecord()
+		buf := tc.rec.encodeEntries(tc.version, nil)
+		err := decodeWALRecord(buf, decoded)
+		require.Nil(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, tc.rec, decoded)
 
-	err := decodeWALRecord(buf, decoded)
-	require.Nil(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, record, decoded)
+	}
 }
 
 func Benchmark_EncodeEntries(b *testing.B) {
@@ -121,7 +168,7 @@ func Benchmark_EncodeEntries(b *testing.B) {
 	defer recordPool.PutBytes(buf)
 
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
-		record.encodeEntries(buf)
+		record.encodeEntries(CurrentEntriesRec, buf)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -148,7 +195,7 @@ func Benchmark_DecodeWAL(b *testing.B) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	buf := record.encodeEntries(nil)
+	buf := record.encodeEntries(CurrentEntriesRec, nil)
 	rec := recordPool.GetRecord()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	b.ResetTimer()
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/instance.go b/pkg/ingester/instance.go
index e98020d88d7f..2b952778948f 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/instance.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/instance.go
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ func (i *instance) Push(ctx context.Context, req *logproto.PushRequest) error {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if _, err := stream.Push(ctx, s.Entries, record); err != nil {
+		if _, err := stream.Push(ctx, s.Entries, record, 0); err != nil {
 			appendErr = err
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/metrics.go b/pkg/ingester/metrics.go
index d685d02dacc9..95164c1b7ada 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/metrics.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type ingesterMetrics struct {
 	recoveredStreamsTotal prometheus.Counter
 	recoveredChunksTotal  prometheus.Counter
 	recoveredEntriesTotal prometheus.Counter
+	duplicateEntriesTotal prometheus.Counter
 	recoveredBytesTotal   prometheus.Counter
 	recoveryBytesInUse    prometheus.Gauge
 	recoveryIsFlushing    prometheus.Gauge
@@ -100,6 +101,10 @@ func newIngesterMetrics(r prometheus.Registerer) *ingesterMetrics {
 			Name: "loki_ingester_wal_recovered_entries_total",
 			Help: "Total number of entries recovered from the WAL.",
 		}),
+		duplicateEntriesTotal: promauto.With(r).NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
+			Name: "loki_ingester_wal_duplicate_entries_total",
+			Help: "Entries discarded during WAL replay due to existing in checkpoints.",
+		}),
 		recoveredBytesTotal: promauto.With(r).NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
 			Name: "loki_ingester_wal_recovered_bytes_total",
 			Help: "Total number of bytes recovered from the WAL.",
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/recovery.go b/pkg/ingester/recovery.go
index e81dbafae8bd..908bffb312f0 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/recovery.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/recovery.go
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ func (r *ingesterRecoverer) Series(series *Series) error {
 		bytesAdded, entriesAdded, err := stream.setChunks(series.Chunks)
 		stream.lastLine.ts = series.To
 		stream.lastLine.content = series.LastLine
+		stream.entryCt = series.EntryCt
 
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -190,13 +191,23 @@ func (r *ingesterRecoverer) Push(userID string, entries RefEntries) error {
 		}
 
 		// ignore out of order errors here (it's possible for a checkpoint to already have data from the wal segments)
-		bytesAdded, _ := s.(*stream).Push(context.Background(), entries.Entries, nil)
+		bytesAdded, err := s.(*stream).Push(context.Background(), entries.Entries, nil, entries.Counter)
 		r.ing.replayController.Add(int64(bytesAdded))
+		if err != nil && err == ErrEntriesExist {
+			r.ing.metrics.duplicateEntriesTotal.Add(float64(len(entries.Entries)))
+		}
 		return nil
 	})
 }
 
 func (r *ingesterRecoverer) Close() {
+	// reset all the incrementing stream counters after a successful WAL replay.
+	for _, inst := range r.ing.getInstances() {
+		inst.forAllStreams(context.Background(), func(s *stream) error {
+			s.resetCounter()
+			return nil
+		})
+	}
 	close(r.done)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/recovery_test.go b/pkg/ingester/recovery_test.go
index 8448294c5684..b93050851aa5 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/recovery_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/recovery_test.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func buildMemoryReader(users, totalStreams, entriesPerStream int) (*MemoryWALRea
 		}
 
 		if len(rec.RefEntries) > 0 {
-			reader.xs = append(reader.xs, rec.encodeEntries(nil))
+			reader.xs = append(reader.xs, rec.encodeEntries(CurrentEntriesRec, nil))
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/stream.go b/pkg/ingester/stream.go
index 12d7e01cc71b..657708416d2b 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/stream.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/stream.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 	util_log "github.com/cortexproject/cortex/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log/level"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/pkg/labels"
@@ -46,6 +47,10 @@ var (
 	})
 )
 
+var (
+	ErrEntriesExist = errors.New("duplicate push - entries already exist")
+)
+
 func init() {
 	prometheus.MustRegister(chunksCreatedTotal)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(samplesPerChunk)
@@ -72,6 +77,13 @@ type stream struct {
 
 	tailers   map[uint32]*tailer
 	tailerMtx sync.RWMutex
+
+	// entryCt is a counter which is incremented on each accepted entry.
+	// This allows us to discard WAL entries during replays which were
+	// already recovered via checkpoints. Historically out of order
+	// errors were used to detect this, but this counter has been
+	// introduced to facilitate removing the ordering constraint.
+	entryCt int64
 }
 
 type chunkDesc struct {
@@ -139,10 +151,22 @@ func (s *stream) NewChunk() *chunkenc.MemChunk {
 func (s *stream) Push(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	entries []logproto.Entry,
+	// WAL record to add push contents to.
+	// May be nil to disable this functionality.
 	record *WALRecord,
+	// Counter used in WAL replay to avoid duplicates.
+	// If this is non-zero, the stream will reject entries
+	// with a counter value less than or equal to it's own.
+	// It is set to zero and thus bypassed outside of WAL replays.
+	counter int64,
 ) (int, error) {
 	s.chunkMtx.Lock()
 	defer s.chunkMtx.Unlock()
+
+	if counter > 0 && counter <= s.entryCt {
+		return 0, ErrEntriesExist
+	}
+
 	var bytesAdded int
 	prevNumChunks := len(s.chunks)
 	var lastChunkTimestamp time.Time
@@ -201,6 +225,7 @@ func (s *stream) Push(
 			lastChunkTimestamp = entries[i].Timestamp
 			s.lastLine.ts = lastChunkTimestamp
 			s.lastLine.content = entries[i].Line
+			s.entryCt++
 
 			// length of string plus
 			bytesAdded += len(entries[i].Line)
@@ -211,7 +236,7 @@ func (s *stream) Push(
 	if len(storedEntries) != 0 {
 		// record will be nil when replaying the wal (we don't want to rewrite wal entries as we replay them).
 		if record != nil {
-			record.AddEntries(uint64(s.fp), storedEntries...)
+			record.AddEntries(uint64(s.fp), s.entryCt, storedEntries...)
 		} else {
 			// If record is nil, this is a WAL recovery.
 			s.metrics.recoveredEntriesTotal.Add(float64(len(storedEntries)))
@@ -368,3 +393,7 @@ func (s *stream) addTailer(t *tailer) {
 
 	s.tailers[t.getID()] = t
 }
+
+func (s *stream) resetCounter() {
+	s.entryCt = 0
+}
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/stream_test.go b/pkg/ingester/stream_test.go
index 113855ce55f9..f845f6b7f9d5 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/stream_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/stream_test.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func TestMaxReturnedStreamsErrors(t *testing.T) {
 
 			_, err := s.Push(context.Background(), []logproto.Entry{
 				{Timestamp: time.Unix(int64(numLogs), 0), Line: "log"},
-			}, recordPool.GetRecord())
+			}, recordPool.GetRecord(), 0)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			newLines := make([]logproto.Entry, numLogs)
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func TestMaxReturnedStreamsErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			fmt.Fprintf(&expected, "total ignored: %d out of %d", numLogs, numLogs)
 			expectErr := httpgrpc.Errorf(http.StatusBadRequest, expected.String())
 
-			_, err = s.Push(context.Background(), newLines, recordPool.GetRecord())
+			_, err = s.Push(context.Background(), newLines, recordPool.GetRecord(), 0)
 			require.Error(t, err)
 			require.Equal(t, expectErr.Error(), err.Error())
 		})
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestPushDeduplication(t *testing.T) {
 		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
 		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
 		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "newer, better test"},
-	}, recordPool.GetRecord())
+	}, recordPool.GetRecord(), 0)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Len(t, s.chunks, 1)
 	require.Equal(t, s.chunks[0].chunk.Size(), 2,
@@ -94,6 +94,41 @@ func TestPushDeduplication(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, len("test"+"newer, better test"), written)
 }
 
+func TestPushRejectOldCounter(t *testing.T) {
+	s := newStream(
+		defaultConfig(),
+		model.Fingerprint(0),
+		labels.Labels{
+			{Name: "foo", Value: "bar"},
+		},
+		NilMetrics,
+	)
+
+	// counter should be 2 now since the first line will be deduped
+	_, err := s.Push(context.Background(), []logproto.Entry{
+		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
+		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
+		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "newer, better test"},
+	}, recordPool.GetRecord(), 0)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, s.chunks, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, s.chunks[0].chunk.Size(), 2,
+		"expected exact duplicate to be dropped and newer content with same timestamp to be appended")
+
+	// fail to push with a counter <= the streams internal counter
+	_, err = s.Push(context.Background(), []logproto.Entry{
+		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
+	}, recordPool.GetRecord(), 2)
+	require.Equal(t, ErrEntriesExist, err)
+
+	// succeed with a greater counter
+	_, err = s.Push(context.Background(), []logproto.Entry{
+		{Timestamp: time.Unix(1, 0), Line: "test"},
+	}, recordPool.GetRecord(), 3)
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+
+}
+
 func TestStreamIterator(t *testing.T) {
 	const chunks = 3
 	const entries = 100
@@ -164,7 +199,7 @@ func Benchmark_PushStream(b *testing.B) {
 
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
 		rec := recordPool.GetRecord()
-		_, err := s.Push(ctx, e, rec)
+		_, err := s.Push(ctx, e, rec, 0)
 		require.NoError(b, err)
 		recordPool.PutRecord(rec)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/ingester/wal.go b/pkg/ingester/wal.go
index b1d0ada37678..86a7fa92abdc 100644
--- a/pkg/ingester/wal.go
+++ b/pkg/ingester/wal.go
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func (w *walWrapper) Log(record *WALRecord) error {
 			buf = buf[:0]
 		}
 		if len(record.RefEntries) > 0 {
-			buf = record.encodeEntries(buf)
+			buf = record.encodeEntries(CurrentEntriesRec, buf)
 			if err := w.wal.Log(buf); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}