diff --git a/lib/astute.rb b/lib/astute.rb
index 6cff68dd..5ac81d00 100644
--- a/lib/astute.rb
+++ b/lib/astute.rb
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ require 'astute/deploy_actions'
 require 'astute/nailgun_hooks'
 require 'astute/puppet_task'
 require 'astute/task_manager'
+require 'astute/pre_delete'
 
 ['/astute/pre_deployment_actions/*.rb',
  '/astute/pre_deploy_actions/*.rb',
diff --git a/lib/astute/orchestrator.rb b/lib/astute/orchestrator.rb
index d16ac3c1..35c94667 100644
--- a/lib/astute/orchestrator.rb
+++ b/lib/astute/orchestrator.rb
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ module Astute
       Network.multicast_verification(ctx, nodes)
     end
 
+    def check_ceph_osds(reporter, task_id, nodes)
+      PreDelete.check_ceph_osds(Context.new(task_id, reporter), nodes)
+    end
+
     private
 
     def deploy_cluster(up_reporter, task_id, deployment_info, deploy_engine, pre_deployment, post_deployment)
diff --git a/lib/astute/pre_delete.rb b/lib/astute/pre_delete.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..239b8fa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/astute/pre_delete.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#    Copyright 2015 Mirantis, Inc.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+module Astute
+  module PreDelete
+
+    def self.check_ceph_osds(ctx, nodes)
+      answer = {"status" => "ready"}
+      ceph_nodes = nodes.select { |n| n["roles"].include? "ceph-osd" }
+      ceph_osds = ceph_nodes.collect{ |n| n["slave_name"] }
+      return answer if ceph_osds.empty?
+
+      cmd = "ceph -f json osd tree"
+      shell = MClient.new(ctx, "execute_shell_command", [ceph_nodes[0]["id"]], timeout=60, retries=1)
+      result = shell.execute(:cmd => cmd).first.results
+
+      osds = {}
+      tree = JSON.parse(result[:data][:stdout])
+
+      tree["nodes"].each do |osd|
+        osds[osd["name"]] = osd["children"] if ceph_osds.include? osd["name"]
+      end
+
+      # pg dump lists all pgs in the cluster and where they are located.
+      # $14 is the 'up set' (the list of OSDs responsible for a particular
+      # pg for an epoch) and $16 is the 'acting set' (list of OSDs who
+      # are [or were at some point] responsible for a pg). These sets
+      # will generally be the same.
+      osd_list = osds.values.flatten.join("|")
+      cmd = "ceph pg dump 2>/dev/null | " \
+            "awk '//{print $14, $16}' | " \
+            "egrep -o '\\<(#{osd_list})\\>' | " \
+            "sort -un"
+
+      result = shell.execute(:cmd => cmd).first.results
+      rs = result[:data][:stdout].split("\n")
+
+      # JSON.parse returns the children as integers, so the result from the
+      # shell command needs to be converted for the set operations to work.
+      rs.map! { |x| x.to_i }
+
+      error_nodes = []
+      osds.each do |name, children|
+        error_nodes << name if rs & children != []
+      end
+
+      if not error_nodes.empty?
+        msg = "Ceph data still exists on: #{error_nodes.join(', ')}. " \
+              "You must manually remove the OSDs from the cluster " \
+              "and allow Ceph to rebalance before deleting these nodes."
+        answer = {"status" => "error", "error" => msg}
+      end
+
+      answer
+    end
+
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/lib/astute/server/dispatcher.rb b/lib/astute/server/dispatcher.rb
index e029bb0b..99442337 100644
--- a/lib/astute/server/dispatcher.rb
+++ b/lib/astute/server/dispatcher.rb
@@ -148,11 +148,15 @@ module Astute
         nodes = data['args']['nodes']
         engine = data['args']['engine']
 
-        result = if nodes.empty?
-          Astute.logger.debug("#{task_uuid} Node list is empty")
-          nil
-        else
-          @orchestrator.remove_nodes(reporter, task_uuid, engine, nodes)
+        result = @orchestrator.check_ceph_osds(reporter, task_uuid, nodes)
+
+        if result["status"] == "ready"
+          if nodes.empty?
+            Astute.logger.debug("#{task_uuid} Node list is empty")
+            result = nil
+          else
+            result = @orchestrator.remove_nodes(reporter, task_uuid, engine, nodes)
+          end
         end
 
         report_result(result, reporter)
diff --git a/spec/unit/pre_delete_spec.rb b/spec/unit/pre_delete_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3078b543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/pre_delete_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#    Copyright 2015 Mirantis, Inc.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '../spec_helper')
+
+describe '#check_ceph_osds' do
+  include SpecHelpers
+
+  let(:ctx) { mock_ctx }
+  let(:success_result) { {"status"=>"ready"} }
+
+  let(:mclient) do
+    mclient = mock_rpcclient
+    Astute::MClient.any_instance.stubs(:rpcclient).returns(mclient)
+    Astute::MClient.any_instance.stubs(:log_result).returns(mclient)
+    Astute::MClient.any_instance.stubs(:check_results_with_retries).returns(mclient)
+    mclient
+  end
+
+  def build_mcresult(stdout="", sender="1")
+    rs = {:sender => sender, :data => {:stdout => stdout}}
+    mcresult_mock = mock_mc_result(rs)
+    mock_result = mock
+    mock_result.stubs(:results).returns(rs)
+    mock_result.stubs(:each).returns(mcresult_mock)
+    [mock_result]
+  end
+
+  context "no ceph-osd nodes" do
+    let(:nodes) { [
+        {"id" => "1", "roles" => ["controller"]},
+        {"id" => "2", "roles" => ["compute"]}
+      ]
+    }
+
+    it "should do nothing if no nodes have ceph-osd role" do
+      expect(Astute::PreDelete.check_ceph_osds(ctx, nodes)).to eq(success_result)
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "nodes with ceph-osd role" do
+    let(:nodes) { [
+        {"id" => "1", "roles" => ["primary-controller"]},
+        {"id" => "2", "roles" => ["compute", "ceph-osd"],
+         "slave_name" => "node-2"}
+      ]
+    }
+    let(:pg_cmd) {
+      cmd = "ceph pg dump 2>/dev/null | " \
+            "awk '//{print $14, $16}' | " \
+            "egrep -o '\\<(1|2)\\>' | " \
+            "sort -un"
+    }
+    let(:osd_cmd) { "ceph -f json osd tree" }
+    let(:json_resp) { '{"nodes": [{"name": "node-2", "children": [1,2]}]}'}
+    let(:error_result) do
+      msg = "Ceph data still exists on: node-2. You must manually " \
+            "remove the OSDs from the cluster and allow Ceph to " \
+            "rebalance before deleting these nodes."
+      {"status" => "error", "error" => msg}
+    end
+
+    it "should raise error if OSDs contain data" do
+      mclient.expects(:execute).with({:cmd => osd_cmd})
+        .returns(build_mcresult(stdout=json_resp))
+
+      mclient.expects(:execute).with({:cmd => pg_cmd})
+        .returns(build_mcresult(stdout="1\n2"))
+
+      expect(Astute::PreDelete.check_ceph_osds(ctx, nodes)).to eq(error_result)
+    end
+
+    it "should succeed with no pgs placed on node" do
+      mclient.expects(:execute).with({:cmd => osd_cmd})
+        .returns(build_mcresult(stdout=json_resp))
+
+      mclient.expects(:execute).with({:cmd => pg_cmd})
+        .returns(build_mcresult(stdout="3\n4"))
+
+      expect(Astute::PreDelete.check_ceph_osds(ctx, nodes)).to eq(success_result)
+    end
+  end
+
+end # describe