diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
index d1acfb2790..c690d7479f 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
@@ -286,6 +286,12 @@ class Connection(base.Connection):
         if 'username' in opts:
             self.db.authenticate(opts['username'], opts['password'])
 
+        # NOTE(jd) Upgrading is just about creating index, so let's do this
+        # on connection to be sure at least the TTL is correcly updated if
+        # needed.
+        self.upgrade()
+
+    def upgrade(self, version=None):
         # Establish indexes
         #
         # We need variations for user_id vs. project_id because of the
@@ -341,10 +347,6 @@ class Connection(base.Connection):
         # Assume is not supported if we can get the version
         return self.conn.server_info().get('versionArray', []) >= [2, 2]
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def upgrade(version=None):
-        pass
-
     def clear(self):
         self.conn.drop_database(self.db)
 
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/db.py b/ceilometer/tests/db.py
index c8d8191741..4e5a385ae5 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/db.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/db.py
@@ -34,3 +34,4 @@ class TestBase(test_base.TestCase):
         self.conn = storage.get_connection(cfg.CONF)
         self.conn.upgrade()
         self.conn.clear()
+        self.conn.upgrade()