diff --git a/gramps/gen/db/generic.py b/gramps/gen/db/generic.py
index 8a8635b9fa7..5c960d586ce 100644
--- a/gramps/gen/db/generic.py
+++ b/gramps/gen/db/generic.py
@@ -880,6 +880,7 @@ def _set_all_metadata(self):
         """
         # Save metadata
         self._set_metadata("version", str(self.VERSION[0]))
+        self._set_metadata("last_changed", time.time())
         self._set_metadata("name_formats", self.name_formats)
         self._set_metadata("researcher", self.owner)
 
@@ -2816,6 +2817,9 @@ def set_schema_version(self, value):
         """set the current schema version"""
         self._set_metadata("version", str(value))
 
+    def get_last_changed_time(self):
+        return self._get_metadata("last_changed", default=0)
+
     def set_serializer(self, serializer_name):
         """
         Set the serializer to 'blob' or 'json'