diff --git a/hardware.cc b/hardware.cc
index 8fbd90e..fd774ca 100644
--- a/hardware.cc
+++ b/hardware.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <base/files/file_util.h>
 #include <base/logging.h>
+#include <base/strings/string_number_conversions.h>
 #include <base/strings/string_util.h>
 #include <rootdev/rootdev.h>
 #include <vboot/crossystem.h>
@@ -25,6 +26,12 @@
 
 static const char kOOBECompletedMarker[] = "/home/chronos/.oobe_completed";
 
+// The powerwash_count marker file contains the number of times the device was
+// powerwashed. This value is incremented by the clobber-state script when
+// a powerwash is performed.
+static const char kPowerwashCountMarker[] =
+    "/mnt/stateful_partition/unencrypted/preserve/powerwash_count";
+
 }  // namespace
 
 namespace chromeos_update_engine {
@@ -204,4 +211,15 @@
   return utils::ParseECVersion(input_line);
 }
 
+int Hardware::GetPowerwashCount() const {
+  int powerwash_count;
+  string contents;
+  if (!utils::ReadFile(kPowerwashCountMarker, &contents))
+    return -1;
+  base::TrimWhitespaceASCII(contents, base::TRIM_TRAILING, &contents);
+  if (!base::StringToInt(contents, &powerwash_count))
+    return -1;
+  return powerwash_count;
+}
+
 }  // namespace chromeos_update_engine