diff --git a/etcdmain/etcd.go b/etcdmain/etcd.go
index 73328a73d52..98f95e28bbb 100644
--- a/etcdmain/etcd.go
+++ b/etcdmain/etcd.go
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 
 	var stopped <-chan struct{}
 	var errc <-chan error
-
+	var lerrc <-chan error
 	which := identifyDataDirOrDie(cfg.ec.GetLogger(), cfg.ec.Dir)
 	if which != dirEmpty {
 		if lg != nil {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 		}
 		switch which {
 		case dirMember:
-			stopped, errc, err = startEtcd(&cfg.ec)
+			stopped, errc, lerrc, err = startEtcd(&cfg.ec)
 		case dirProxy:
 			err = startProxy(cfg)
 		default:
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 	} else {
 		shouldProxy := cfg.isProxy()
 		if !shouldProxy {
-			stopped, errc, err = startEtcd(&cfg.ec)
+			stopped, errc, lerrc, err = startEtcd(&cfg.ec)
 			if derr, ok := err.(*etcdserver.DiscoveryError); ok && derr.Err == v2discovery.ErrFullCluster {
 				if cfg.shouldFallbackToProxy() {
 					if lg != nil {
@@ -284,7 +284,21 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 	notifySystemd(lg)
 
 	select {
-	case lerr := <-errc:
+	case err := <- errc:
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), etcdserver.ErrMemberRemoved.Error()) {
+			tombstoneFile := filepath.Join(cfg.ec.Dir, "tombstone")
+			if err := ioutil.WriteFile(tombstoneFile, []byte{}, 0600); err != nil {
+				if lg != nil {
+					lg.Fatal(
+						"failed to write tombstone file",
+						zap.String("tombstone-file", tombstoneFile),
+					)
+				} else {
+					plog.Fatalf("failed to write tombstone file %s", tombstoneFile)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	case lerr := <-lerrc:
 		// fatal out on listener errors
 		if lg != nil {
 			lg.Fatal("listener failed", zap.Error(lerr))
@@ -298,17 +312,18 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 }
 
 // startEtcd runs StartEtcd in addition to hooks needed for standalone etcd.
-func startEtcd(cfg *embed.Config) (<-chan struct{}, <-chan error, error) {
+func startEtcd(cfg *embed.Config) (<-chan struct{}, <-chan error, <-chan error, error) {
 	e, err := embed.StartEtcd(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
+		return nil, nil, nil, err
 	}
 	osutil.RegisterInterruptHandler(e.Close)
 	select {
 	case <-e.Server.ReadyNotify(): // wait for e.Server to join the cluster
+	case <-e.Server.ErrNotify(): // publish aborted errc channel
 	case <-e.Server.StopNotify(): // publish aborted from 'ErrStopped'
 	}
-	return e.Server.StopNotify(), e.Err(), nil
+	return e.Server.StopNotify(), e.Server.ErrNotify(), e.Err(), nil
 }
 
 // startProxy launches an HTTP proxy for client communication which proxies to other etcd nodes.
diff --git a/etcdserver/errors.go b/etcdserver/errors.go
index d0fe28970d1..73e89014d5b 100644
--- a/etcdserver/errors.go
+++ b/etcdserver/errors.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ var (
 	ErrKeyNotFound                = errors.New("etcdserver: key not found")
 	ErrCorrupt                    = errors.New("etcdserver: corrupt cluster")
 	ErrBadLeaderTransferee        = errors.New("etcdserver: bad leader transferee")
+	ErrMemberRemoved              = errors.New("the member has been permanently removed from the cluster")
 )
 
 type DiscoveryError struct {
diff --git a/etcdserver/server.go b/etcdserver/server.go
index a341625dccb..cd8d3a5bd29 100644
--- a/etcdserver/server.go
+++ b/etcdserver/server.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ var (
 	plog = capnslog.NewPackageLogger("go.etcd.io/etcd", "etcdserver")
 
 	storeMemberAttributeRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(path.Join(membership.StoreMembersPrefix, "[[:xdigit:]]{1,16}", "attributes"))
+
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -1388,7 +1390,7 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) applyEntries(ep *etcdProgress, apply *apply) {
 	}
 	var shouldstop bool
 	if ep.appliedt, ep.appliedi, shouldstop = s.apply(ents, &ep.confState); shouldstop {
-		go s.stopWithDelay(10*100*time.Millisecond, fmt.Errorf("the member has been permanently removed from the cluster"))
+		go s.stopWithDelay(10*100*time.Millisecond, ErrMemberRemoved)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1551,6 +1553,8 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) stopWithDelay(d time.Duration, err error) {
 // when the server is stopped.
 func (s *EtcdServer) StopNotify() <-chan struct{} { return s.done }
 
+func (s *EtcdServer) ErrNotify() <-chan error { return s.errorc }
+
 func (s *EtcdServer) SelfStats() []byte { return s.stats.JSON() }
 
 func (s *EtcdServer) LeaderStats() []byte {
@@ -2670,6 +2674,15 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) Logger() *zap.Logger {
 
 // IsLearner returns if the local member is raft learner
 func (s *EtcdServer) IsLearner() bool {
+	tombstoneFile := filepath.Join(s.Cfg.DataDir, "tombstone")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(tombstoneFile); err == nil {
+		if lg := s.getLogger(); lg != nil {
+			lg.Warn("this server has been removed from the cluster, to rejoin please restart the server")
+		} else {
+			plog.Warning("this server has been removed from the cluster, to rejoin please restart the server")
+		}
+		return false
+	}
 	return s.cluster.IsLocalMemberLearner()
 }