diff --git a/lineprotocol.go b/lineprotocol.go
index b2e1692..aecabc2 100644
--- a/lineprotocol.go
+++ b/lineprotocol.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 type Metric struct {
 	Name  string
 	Value Float
+	Unit  string
 
 	mc MetricConfig
 }
@@ -206,7 +207,7 @@ func decodeLine(dec *lineprotocol.Decoder, clusterDefault string) error {
 		}
 
 		typeBuf, subTypeBuf := typeBuf[:0], subTypeBuf[:0]
-		cluster, host := clusterDefault, ""
+		cluster, host, unit := clusterDefault, "", ""
 		for {
 			key, val, err := dec.NextTag()
 			if err != nil {
@@ -232,6 +233,8 @@ func decodeLine(dec *lineprotocol.Decoder, clusterDefault string) error {
 					host = string(val)
 					lvl = nil
 				}
+			case "unit":
+				unit = string(val)
 			case "type":
 				if string(val) == "node" {
 					break
@@ -300,6 +303,7 @@ func decodeLine(dec *lineprotocol.Decoder, clusterDefault string) error {
 			} else {
 				return fmt.Errorf("unsupported value type in message: %s", val.Kind().String())
 			}
+			metric.Unit = unit
 		}
 
 		if t, err = dec.Time(lineprotocol.Second, t); err != nil {
diff --git a/memstore.go b/memstore.go
index 79b3f05..a896a65 100644
--- a/memstore.go
+++ b/memstore.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ var (
 type buffer struct {
 	frequency  int64   // Time between two "slots"
 	start      int64   // Timestamp of when `data[0]` was written.
+	unit       string  // Unit for the data in this buffer
 	data       []Float // The slice should never reallocacte as `cap(data)` is respected.
 	prev, next *buffer // `prev` contains older data, `next` newer data.
 	archived   bool    // If true, this buffer is already archived
@@ -50,12 +51,13 @@ type buffer struct {
 	*/
 }
 
-func newBuffer(ts, freq int64) *buffer {
+func newBuffer(ts, freq int64, unit string) *buffer {
 	b := bufferPool.Get().(*buffer)
 	b.frequency = freq
 	b.start = ts - (freq / 2)
 	b.prev = nil
 	b.next = nil
+	b.unit = unit
 	b.archived = false
 	b.closed = false
 	b.data = b.data[:0]
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ func (b *buffer) write(ts int64, value Float) (*buffer, error) {
 	// idx := int((ts - b.start + (b.frequency / 3)) / b.frequency)
 	idx := int((ts - b.start) / b.frequency)
 	if idx >= cap(b.data) {
-		newbuf := newBuffer(ts, b.frequency)
+		newbuf := newBuffer(ts, b.frequency, b.unit)
 		newbuf.prev = b
 		b.next = newbuf
 		b.close()
@@ -412,7 +414,7 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) WriteToLevel(l *level, selector []string, ts int64, metric
 		b := l.metrics[metric.mc.offset]
 		if b == nil {
 			// First write to this metric and level
-			b = newBuffer(ts, metric.mc.Frequency)
+			b = newBuffer(ts, metric.mc.Frequency, metric.Unit)
 			l.metrics[metric.mc.offset] = b
 		}
 
@@ -433,14 +435,15 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) WriteToLevel(l *level, selector []string, ts int64, metric
 // If the level does not hold the metric itself, the data will be aggregated recursively from the children.
 // The second and third return value are the actual from/to for the data. Those can be different from
 // the range asked for if no data was available.
-func (m *MemoryStore) Read(selector Selector, metric string, from, to int64) ([]Float, int64, int64, error) {
+func (m *MemoryStore) Read(selector Selector, metric string, from, to int64) ([]Float, int64, int64, string, error) {
+	var unit string = ""
 	if from > to {
-		return nil, 0, 0, errors.New("invalid time range")
+		return nil, 0, 0, "", errors.New("invalid time range")
 	}
 
 	minfo, ok := m.metrics[metric]
 	if !ok {
-		return nil, 0, 0, errors.New("unkown metric: " + metric)
+		return nil, 0, 0, "", errors.New("unkown metric: " + metric)
 	}
 
 	n, data := 0, make([]Float, (to-from)/minfo.Frequency+1)
@@ -449,6 +452,7 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) Read(selector Selector, metric string, from, to int64) ([]
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		unit = b.unit
 
 		if n == 0 {
 			from, to = cfrom, cto
@@ -476,9 +480,9 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) Read(selector Selector, metric string, from, to int64) ([]
 	})
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, 0, 0, err
+		return nil, 0, 0, "", err
 	} else if n == 0 {
-		return nil, 0, 0, errors.New("metric or host not found")
+		return nil, 0, 0, "", errors.New("metric or host not found")
 	} else if n > 1 {
 		if minfo.Aggregation == AvgAggregation {
 			normalize := 1. / Float(n)
@@ -486,11 +490,11 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) Read(selector Selector, metric string, from, to int64) ([]
 				data[i] *= normalize
 			}
 		} else if minfo.Aggregation != SumAggregation {
-			return nil, 0, 0, errors.New("invalid aggregation")
+			return nil, 0, 0, "", errors.New("invalid aggregation")
 		}
 	}
 
-	return data, from, to, nil
+	return data, from, to, unit, nil
 }
 
 // Release all buffers for the selected level and all its children that contain only
diff --git a/memstore_test.go b/memstore_test.go
index 8821e7a..d17ba83 100644
--- a/memstore_test.go
+++ b/memstore_test.go
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ func TestMemoryStoreBasics(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	sel := Selector{{String: "testhost"}}
-	adata, from, to, err := store.Read(sel, "a", start, start+count*frequency)
-	if err != nil || from != start || to != start+count*frequency {
+	adata, from, to, unit, err := store.Read(sel, "a", start, start+count*frequency)
+	if err != nil || from != start || to != start+count*frequency || unit != "" {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
 	}
-	bdata, _, _, err := store.Read(sel, "b", start, start+count*frequency)
+	bdata, _, _, unit, err := store.Read(sel, "b", start, start+count*frequency)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
@@ -83,23 +83,23 @@ func TestMemoryStoreTooMuchWrites(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	end := start + int64(count)*frequency
-	data, from, to, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "a", start, end)
-	if len(data) != count || from != start || to != end || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "a", start, end)
+	if len(data) != count || from != start || to != end || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Fatalf("a: err=%#v, from=%d, to=%d, data=%#v\n", err, from, to, data)
 	}
 
-	data, from, to, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "b", start, end)
-	if len(data) != count/2 || from != start || to != end || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "b", start, end)
+	if len(data) != count/2 || from != start || to != end || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Fatalf("b: err=%#v, from=%d, to=%d, data=%#v\n", err, from, to, data)
 	}
 
-	data, from, to, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "c", start, end)
-	if len(data) != count*2-1 || from != start || to != end-frequency/2 || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "c", start, end)
+	if len(data) != count*2-1 || from != start || to != end-frequency/2 || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Fatalf("c: err=%#v, from=%d, to=%d, data=%#v\n", err, from, to, data)
 	}
 
-	data, from, to, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "d", start, end)
-	if len(data) != count/3+1 || from != start || to != end+frequency*2 || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err = store.Read(Selector{{String: "test"}}, "d", start, end)
+	if len(data) != count/3+1 || from != start || to != end+frequency*2 || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Errorf("expected: err=nil, from=%d, to=%d, len(data)=%d\n", start, end+frequency*2, count/3)
 		t.Fatalf("d: err=%#v, from=%d, to=%d, data=%#v\n", err, from, to, data)
 	}
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ func TestMemoryStoreOutOfBounds(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	sel := Selector{{String: "cluster"}, {String: "host"}, {String: "cpu"}}
-	data, from, to, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 500, int64(toffset+count*60+500))
+	data, from, to, unit, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 500, int64(toffset+count*60+500))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -136,14 +136,14 @@ func TestMemoryStoreOutOfBounds(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	testfrom, testlen := int64(100000000), int64(10000)
-	data, from, to, err = store.Read(sel, "a", testfrom, testfrom+testlen)
-	if len(data) != 0 || from != testfrom || to != testfrom || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err = store.Read(sel, "a", testfrom, testfrom+testlen)
+	if len(data) != 0 || from != testfrom || to != testfrom || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Fatal("Unexpected data returned when reading range after valid data")
 	}
 
 	testfrom, testlen = 0, 10
-	data, from, to, err = store.Read(sel, "a", testfrom, testfrom+testlen)
-	if len(data) != 0 || from/60 != int64(toffset)/60 || to/60 != int64(toffset)/60 || err != nil {
+	data, from, to, unit, err = store.Read(sel, "a", testfrom, testfrom+testlen)
+	if len(data) != 0 || from/60 != int64(toffset)/60 || to/60 != int64(toffset)/60 || err != nil || unit != "" {
 		t.Fatal("Unexpected data returned when reading range before valid data")
 	}
 }
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ func TestMemoryStoreMissingDatapoints(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	sel := Selector{{String: "testhost"}}
-	adata, _, _, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 0, int64(count))
+	adata, _, _, _, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 0, int64(count))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ func TestMemoryStoreAggregation(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	adata, from, to, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "host0"}}, "a", int64(0), int64(count))
+	adata, from, to, _, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "host0"}}, "a", int64(0), int64(count))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ func TestMemoryStoreArchive(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	sel := Selector{{String: "cluster"}, {String: "host"}, {String: "cpu0"}}
-	adata, from, to, err := store2.Read(sel, "a", 100, int64(100+count))
+	adata, from, to, _, err := store2.Read(sel, "a", 100, int64(100+count))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 		return
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ func TestMemoryStoreFree(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("two buffers expected to be released")
 	}
 
-	adata, from, to, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "cluster"}, {String: "host"}, {String: "1"}}, "a", 0, int64(count))
+	adata, from, to, _, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "cluster"}, {String: "host"}, {String: "1"}}, "a", 0, int64(count))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryStoreConcurrentWrites(b *testing.B) {
 	for g := 0; g < goroutines; g++ {
 		host := fmt.Sprintf("host%d", g)
 		sel := Selector{{String: "cluster"}, {String: host}, {String: "cpu0"}}
-		adata, _, _, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 0, int64(count)*frequency)
+		adata, _, _, _, err := store.Read(sel, "a", 0, int64(count)*frequency)
 		if err != nil {
 			b.Error(err)
 			return
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryStoreAggregation(b *testing.B) {
 
 	b.StartTimer()
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
-		data, from, to, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "testcluster"}, {String: "host123"}}, "flops_any", 0, int64(count))
+		data, from, to, _, err := store.Read(Selector{{String: "testcluster"}, {String: "host123"}}, "flops_any", 0, int64(count))
 		if err != nil {
 			b.Fatal(err)
 		}