diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
index e736aab1..a64ecaef 100644
--- a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import com.beust.kobalt.HostConfig
 import com.beust.kobalt.Plugins
 import com.google.inject.Injector
 import java.io.InputStream
+import java.time.Duration
 import java.util.*
 
 public class Kobalt {
@@ -34,8 +35,9 @@ public class Kobalt {
                 if (repo.url.endsWith("/")) repo
                 else repo.copy(url = (repo.url + "/")))
 
-        private val PROPERTY_KOBALT_VERSION = "kobalt.version"
         private val KOBALT_PROPERTIES = "kobalt.properties"
+        private val PROPERTY_KOBALT_VERSION = "kobalt.version"
+        private val PROPERTY_KOBALT_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT = "kobalt.version.check_timeout"  // ISO-8601
 
         /** kobalt.properties */
         private val kobaltProperties: Properties by lazy { readProperties() }
@@ -73,6 +75,7 @@ public class Kobalt {
         }
 
         val version = kobaltProperties.getProperty(PROPERTY_KOBALT_VERSION)
+        val versionCheckTimeout = Duration.parse(kobaltProperties.getProperty(PROPERTY_KOBALT_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT))
 
         fun findPlugin(name: String) = Plugins.findPlugin(name)
     }
diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/build/VersionCheckTimestampFile.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/build/VersionCheckTimestampFile.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ecb23bd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/build/VersionCheckTimestampFile.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package com.beust.kobalt.internal.build
+
+import com.beust.kobalt.misc.KFiles
+import java.io.File
+import java.time.Instant
+
+class VersionCheckTimestampFile {
+    companion object {
+        private val KOBALT_VERSION_CHECK_TIMESTAMP_FILE = "versionCheckTimestamp.txt"
+        private val checkTimestampFile = File(KFiles.KOBALT_DOT_DIR, KOBALT_VERSION_CHECK_TIMESTAMP_FILE)
+
+        fun updateTimestamp(timestamp: Instant) = KFiles.saveFile(checkTimestampFile, timestamp.toString())
+
+        fun getTimestamp(): Instant {
+            return if(checkTimestampFile.exists())
+                Instant.parse(checkTimestampFile.readText())
+            else {
+                updateTimestamp(Instant.MIN)
+                Instant.MIN
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/Main.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/Main.kt
index 1b6aace6..5924f318 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/Main.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/Main.kt
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ import com.google.inject.Guice
 import java.io.File
 import java.nio.file.Paths
 import java.util.*
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 import javax.inject.Inject
 
 public fun main(argv: Array<String>) {
@@ -83,6 +81,7 @@ private class Main @Inject constructor(
 
         var result = 0
         val latestVersionFuture = github.latestKobaltVersion
+
         val seconds = benchmarkSeconds {
             try {
                 result = runWithArgs(jc, args, argv)
@@ -97,25 +96,7 @@ private class Main @Inject constructor(
         if (! args.update) {
             log(1, if (result != 0) "BUILD FAILED: $result" else "BUILD SUCCESSFUL ($seconds seconds)")
 
-            // Check for new version
-            try {
-                val latestVersionString = latestVersionFuture.get(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                val latestVersion = Versions.toLongVersion(latestVersionString)
-                val current = Versions.toLongVersion(Kobalt.version)
-                val distFile = File(KFiles.joinDir(KFiles.distributionsDir, latestVersionString))
-                if (latestVersion > current) {
-                    if (distFile.exists()) {
-                        log(1, "**** Version $latestVersionString is installed")
-                    } else {
-                        listOf("", "New Kobalt version available: $latestVersionString",
-                                "To update, run ./kobaltw --update", "").forEach {
-                            log(1, "**** $it")
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-            } catch(ex: TimeoutException) {
-                log(2, "Didn't get the new version in time, skipping it")
-            }
+            updateKobalt.checkForNewVersion(latestVersionFuture)
         }
         return result
     }
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/app/UpdateKobalt.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/app/UpdateKobalt.kt
index 73d1a6d0..488c0d30 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/app/UpdateKobalt.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/app/UpdateKobalt.kt
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 package com.beust.kobalt.app
 
-import com.beust.kobalt.misc.GithubApi
-import com.beust.kobalt.misc.KobaltWrapperProperties
+import com.beust.kobalt.api.Kobalt
+import com.beust.kobalt.internal.build.VersionCheckTimestampFile
+import com.beust.kobalt.misc.*
 import com.beust.kobalt.wrapper.Main
+import java.io.File
+import java.time.Duration
+import java.time.Instant
+import java.util.concurrent.Future
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException
 import javax.inject.Inject
 
 /**
@@ -12,6 +18,7 @@ public class UpdateKobalt @Inject constructor(val github: GithubApi, val wrapper
     fun updateKobalt() {
         val newVersion = github.latestKobaltVersion
         wrapperProperties.create(newVersion.get())
+        VersionCheckTimestampFile.updateTimestamp(Instant.now())
         Main.main(arrayOf())
     }
 
@@ -21,4 +28,33 @@ public class UpdateKobalt @Inject constructor(val github: GithubApi, val wrapper
     fun downloadKobalt() {
         Main.main(arrayOf("--download", "--no-launch"))
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Accepts Future<String> as `latestVersionFuture` to allow getting `latestVersion` in the background
+     * */
+    fun checkForNewVersion(latestVersionFuture: Future<String>) {
+        if(Kobalt.versionCheckTimeout
+                > Duration.between(VersionCheckTimestampFile.getTimestamp(), Instant.now()))
+            return  // waits `Kobalt.versionCheckTimeout` before the next check
+
+        try {
+            val latestVersionString = latestVersionFuture.get()
+            val latestVersion = Versions.toLongVersion(latestVersionString)
+            val current = Versions.toLongVersion(Kobalt.version)
+            val distFile = File(KFiles.joinDir(KFiles.distributionsDir, latestVersionString))
+            if (latestVersion > current) {
+                if (distFile.exists()) {
+                    log(1, "**** Version $latestVersionString is installed")
+                } else {
+                    listOf("", "New Kobalt version available: $latestVersionString",
+                            "To update, run ./kobaltw --update", "").forEach {
+                        log(1, "**** $it")
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            VersionCheckTimestampFile.updateTimestamp(Instant.now())
+        } catch(ex: TimeoutException) {
+            log(2, "Didn't get the new version in time, skipping it")
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/kobalt.properties b/src/main/resources/kobalt.properties
index 0f994c0b..182ef21c 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/kobalt.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/kobalt.properties
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 kobalt.version=0.401
+kobalt.version.check_timeout=P1DT2H