diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..149b706
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.impl;
+
+import com.google.common.base.Charsets;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.ReplayingDecoder;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress.Version;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkState;
+
+/**
+ * Decoder for inbound messages.
+ */
+public class MessageDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<DecoderState> {
+
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    private final int correctPreamble;
+    private long messageId;
+    private int preamble;
+    private Version ipVersion;
+    private IpAddress senderIp;
+    private int senderPort;
+    private int messageTypeLength;
+    private String messageType;
+    private int contentLength;
+
+    public MessageDecoder(int correctPreamble) {
+        super(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE);
+        this.correctPreamble = correctPreamble;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    @SuppressWarnings("squid:S128") // suppress switch fall through warning
+    protected void decode(
+            ChannelHandlerContext context,
+            ByteBuf buffer,
+            List<Object> out) throws Exception {
+
+        switch (state()) {
+        case READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE:
+            preamble = buffer.readInt();
+            if (preamble != correctPreamble) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException("This message had an incorrect preamble.");
+            }
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_ID);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_ID:
+            messageId = buffer.readLong();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_IP_VERSION);
+        case READ_SENDER_IP_VERSION:
+            ipVersion = buffer.readByte() == 0x0 ? Version.INET : Version.INET6;
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_IP);
+        case READ_SENDER_IP:
+            byte[] octets = new byte[IpAddress.byteLength(ipVersion)];
+            buffer.readBytes(octets);
+            senderIp = IpAddress.valueOf(ipVersion, octets);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_PORT);
+        case READ_SENDER_PORT:
+            senderPort = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_TYPE_LENGTH);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_TYPE_LENGTH:
+            messageTypeLength = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_TYPE);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_TYPE:
+            byte[] messageTypeBytes = new byte[messageTypeLength];
+            buffer.readBytes(messageTypeBytes);
+            messageType = new String(messageTypeBytes, Charsets.UTF_8);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_CONTENT_LENGTH);
+        case READ_CONTENT_LENGTH:
+            contentLength = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_CONTENT);
+        case READ_CONTENT:
+            //TODO Perform a sanity check on the size before allocating
+            byte[] payload = new byte[contentLength];
+            buffer.readBytes(payload);
+            InternalMessage message = new InternalMessage(messageId,
+                                                          new Endpoint(senderIp, senderPort),
+                                                          messageType,
+                                                          payload);
+            out.add(message);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE);
+            break;
+         default:
+            checkState(false, "Must not be here");
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+        log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        context.close();
+    }
+}