diff --git a/memcache.inc b/memcache.inc
index 0cc34830ffefd5ea857953320bb8b90f898d03f2..81c8a4ac864e20441b821691c2776a70d539059f 100644
--- a/memcache.inc
+++ b/memcache.inc
@@ -430,6 +430,7 @@ function memcache_wildcards($cid, $table, $flush = FALSE) {
       // along with cache consistency.
       if ($length < $key_length) {
         $wildcard_flushes[$table] = array();
+        memcache_variable_set("cache_flush_${table}", time());
       }
       $key = substr($cid, 0, $key_length);
       $wildcard_flushes[$table][$key][$length] = $_SERVER['REQUEST_TIME'];