diff --git a/core/dnsserver/zdirectives.go b/core/dnsserver/zdirectives.go
index ab1fb6488..7be013e17 100644
--- a/core/dnsserver/zdirectives.go
+++ b/core/dnsserver/zdirectives.go
@@ -34,4 +34,6 @@ var directives = []string{
 	"proxy",
 	"whoami",
 	"erratic",
+	"startup",
+	"shutdown",
 }
diff --git a/core/zmiddleware.go b/core/zmiddleware.go
index 3c4b5edc9..baef13304 100644
--- a/core/zmiddleware.go
+++ b/core/zmiddleware.go
@@ -27,4 +27,5 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware/tls"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware/trace"
 	_ "github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware/whoami"
+	_ "github.com/mholt/caddy/startupshutdown"
 )
diff --git a/middleware.cfg b/middleware.cfg
index 75985cf22..6695718a2 100644
--- a/middleware.cfg
+++ b/middleware.cfg
@@ -42,3 +42,5 @@
 200:proxy:proxy
 210:whoami:whoami
 220:erratic:erratic
+500:startup:github.com/mholt/caddy/startupshutdown
+510:shutdown:github.com/mholt/caddy/startupshutdown