diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 3e23e901..3f77c541 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ function session(options) {
     // req.secret is passed from the cookie parser middleware
     var secrets = secret || [req.secret];
 
+    var originalCookieHash;
     var originalHash;
     var originalId;
     var savedHash;
@@ -383,6 +384,7 @@ function session(options) {
       store.generate(req);
       originalId = req.sessionID;
       originalHash = hash(req.session);
+      originalCookieHash = cookieHash(req.session.cookie);
       wrapmethods(req.session);
     }
 
@@ -391,6 +393,7 @@ function session(options) {
       store.createSession(req, sess)
       originalId = req.sessionID
       originalHash = hash(sess)
+      originalCookieHash = cookieHash(req.session.cookie)
 
       if (!resaveSession) {
         savedHash = originalHash
@@ -450,6 +453,11 @@ function session(options) {
       return originalId === sess.id && savedHash === hash(sess);
     }
 
+    // check if session cookie has been modified
+    function isCookieModified(sess) {
+      return originalCookieHash !== cookieHash(sess.cookie);
+    }
+
     // determine if session should be destroyed
     function shouldDestroy(req) {
       return req.sessionID && unsetDestroy && req.session == null;
@@ -488,7 +496,7 @@ function session(options) {
 
       return cookieId !== req.sessionID
         ? saveUninitializedSession || isModified(req.session)
-        : rollingSessions || req.session.cookie.expires != null && isModified(req.session);
+        : rollingSessions || req.session.cookie.expires != null && isModified(req.session) || isCookieModified(req.session);
     }
 
     // generate a session if the browser doesn't send a sessionID
@@ -666,6 +674,35 @@ function hash(sess) {
     .digest('hex')
 }
 
+/**
+ * Hash the given session `cookie` object omitting changes to `.expires`.
+ *
+ * The expiry is refreshed every time the session is touched, so it
+ * cannot take part in detecting changes to the cookie.
+ *
+ * @param {Object} cookie
+ * @return {String}
+ * @private
+ */
+
+function cookieHash(cookie) {
+  // serialize
+  var str = JSON.stringify(cookie.data, function (key, val) {
+    // ignore expires property
+    if (key === 'expires') {
+      return
+    }
+
+    return val
+  })
+
+  // hash
+  return crypto
+    .createHash('sha1')
+    .update(str, 'utf8')
+    .digest('hex')
+}
+
 /**
  * Determine if request is secure.
  *
diff --git a/test/session.js b/test/session.js
index 405e3ddf..a267b174 100644
--- a/test/session.js
+++ b/test/session.js
@@ -2445,6 +2445,49 @@ describe('session()', function(){
         })
       })
 
+      describe('.maxAge changed without modifying the session', function () {
+        before(function (done) {
+          var ctx = this
+
+          ctx.cookie = ''
+          ctx.server = createServer({ cookie: { maxAge: 2000 } }, function (req, res) {
+            if (req.url === '/set') {
+              req.session.count = 1
+              res.end('set')
+            } else if (req.url === '/extend') {
+              req.session.cookie.maxAge = 5000
+              req.session.touch()
+              req.session.save(function () { res.end('extended') })
+            } else {
+              res.end('plain')
+            }
+          })
+
+          request(ctx.server)
+          .get('/set')
+          .end(function (err, res) {
+            ctx.cookie = res && cookie(res)
+            done(err)
+          })
+        })
+
+        it('should not set-cookie when nothing changed', function (done) {
+          request(this.server)
+          .get('/')
+          .set('Cookie', this.cookie)
+          .expect(shouldNotHaveHeader('Set-Cookie'))
+          .expect(200, 'plain', done)
+        })
+
+        it('should set-cookie when only the cookie is extended and saved', function (done) {
+          request(this.server)
+          .get('/extend')
+          .set('Cookie', this.cookie)
+          .expect(shouldSetCookieToExpireIn('connect.sid', 5000))
+          .expect(200, 'extended', done)
+        })
+      })
+
       describe('.expires', function(){
         describe('when given a Date', function(){
           it('should set absolute', function(done){