diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 706381d5793..5cb502a81af 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 - Serf commands executed by a running Kong node are now logged in the Nginx
   error logs with a `DEBUG` level.
   [#2410](https://github.com/Mashape/kong/pull/2410)
+- Checking that core Lua shared dictionaries are declared in the configuration.
+  [#2466](https://github.com/Mashape/kong/pull/2466)
 - Plugins:
   - :fireworks: **New Request termination plugin**. This plugin allows to
     temporarily disable an API and return a pre-configured response status and
diff --git a/kong/constants.lua b/kong/constants.lua
index a66cc7d4253..4cdcf76c4f2 100644
--- a/kong/constants.lua
+++ b/kong/constants.lua
@@ -69,5 +69,6 @@ return {
   },
   CACHE = {
     CLUSTER = "cluster"
-  }
+  },
+  DICTS = { "kong", "cache", "cache_locks", "process_events", "cassandra"}
 }
diff --git a/kong/kong.lua b/kong/kong.lua
index fd59612dcdc..1a614a20fa4 100644
--- a/kong/kong.lua
+++ b/kong/kong.lua
@@ -121,6 +121,15 @@ end
 local Kong = {}
 
 function Kong.init()
+  -- Check shared dictionaries
+  for _, dict in ipairs(constants.DICTS) do
+    if not ngx.shared[dict] then
+      error("missing shared dict in Nginx configuration, are you "..
+            "using a custom template? Make sure the 'lua_shared_dict "..
+            dict.." [SIZE];' directive is defined.")
+    end
+  end
+
   local pl_path = require "pl.path"
   local conf_loader = require "kong.conf_loader"
 
diff --git a/spec/02-integration/01-cmd/02-start_stop_spec.lua b/spec/02-integration/01-cmd/02-start_stop_spec.lua
index 4babf82f108..f85dfa6ecb6 100644
--- a/spec/02-integration/01-cmd/02-start_stop_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/02-integration/01-cmd/02-start_stop_spec.lua
@@ -199,5 +199,28 @@ describe("kong start/stop", function()
 
       assert(kill.is_running(helpers.test_conf.nginx_pid))
     end)
+    it("checks that the shared dictionaries exist", function()
+      local constants = require "kong.constants"
+      local pl_file = require "pl.file"
+
+      local templ_fixture = "spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template"
+      local new_templ_fixture = "spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template.tmp"
+
+      for _, dict in ipairs(constants.DICTS) do
+        -- Remove shared dictionary entry
+        assert(os.execute(
+          "sed '/lua_shared_dict "..dict.." .*;/d' "..templ_fixture.." > "
+          ..new_templ_fixture))
+
+        local _, stderr = helpers.kong_exec("start --nginx-conf "
+                                            ..new_templ_fixture)
+        assert.matches(
+          "missing shared dict in Nginx configuration, "..
+          "are you using a custom template? Make sure the 'lua_shared_dict "
+          ..dict.." [SIZE];' directive is defined.", stderr, nil, true)
+      end
+
+      pl_file.delete(new_templ_fixture)
+    end)
   end)
 end)