diff --git a/kong/cache.lua b/kong/cache.lua
index cf66b5b14e9d..dbee118d4629 100644
--- a/kong/cache.lua
+++ b/kong/cache.lua
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ local NOTICE  = ngx.NOTICE
 local DEBUG   = ngx.DEBUG
 
 
-local SHM_CACHE = "kong_cache"
+local SHM_CACHE = "kong_db_cache"
 --[[
 Hypothesis
 ----------
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ function _M.new(opts)
     return error("opts.resty_lock_opts must be a table")
   end
 
-  local mlcache, err = resty_mlcache.new("kong_db_cache", SHM_CACHE, {
+  local mlcache, err = resty_mlcache.new(SHM_CACHE, SHM_CACHE, {
+    shm_miss         = "kong_db_cache_miss",
     lru_size         = LRU_SIZE,
     ttl              = max(opts.ttl     or 3600, 0),
     neg_ttl          = max(opts.neg_ttl or 300,  0),
diff --git a/kong/constants.lua b/kong/constants.lua
index 39e4de09cfb4..59ecc9aee63f 100644
--- a/kong/constants.lua
+++ b/kong/constants.lua
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ return {
   },
   DICTS = {
     "kong",
-    "kong_cache",
+    "kong_db_cache",
+    "kong_db_cache_miss",
     "kong_process_events",
     "kong_cluster_events",
     "kong_healthchecks",
diff --git a/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua b/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
index 62f5f1aeade7..98c38ff4e956 100644
--- a/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
+++ b/kong/templates/nginx_kong.lua
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ lua_socket_pool_size ${{LUA_SOCKET_POOL_SIZE}};
 lua_max_running_timers 4096;
 lua_max_pending_timers 16384;
 lua_shared_dict kong                5m;
-lua_shared_dict kong_cache          ${{MEM_CACHE_SIZE}};
+lua_shared_dict kong_db_cache       ${{MEM_CACHE_SIZE}};
+lua_shared_dict kong_db_cache_miss 12m;
 lua_shared_dict kong_process_events 5m;
 lua_shared_dict kong_cluster_events 5m;
 lua_shared_dict kong_healthchecks   5m;
diff --git a/spec/01-unit/003-prefix_handler_spec.lua b/spec/01-unit/003-prefix_handler_spec.lua
index 7ea74d435ab2..37790ab7c135 100644
--- a/spec/01-unit/003-prefix_handler_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/01-unit/003-prefix_handler_spec.lua
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ describe("NGINX conf compiler", function()
         admin_listen = "127.0.0.1:8001"
       }))
       local kong_nginx_conf = prefix_handler.compile_kong_conf(conf)
-      assert.matches("lua_shared_dict kong_cache%s+128k;", kong_nginx_conf)
+      assert.matches("lua_shared_dict kong_db_cache%s+128k;", kong_nginx_conf)
       assert.matches("listen 0.0.0.0:80;", kong_nginx_conf, nil, true)
       assert.matches("listen 127.0.0.1:8001;", kong_nginx_conf, nil, true)
     end)
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template b/spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template
index fc56f0356f67..659741c671c7 100644
--- a/spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template
+++ b/spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ http {
     lua_max_running_timers 4096;
     lua_max_pending_timers 16384;
     lua_shared_dict kong                5m;
-    lua_shared_dict kong_cache          ${{MEM_CACHE_SIZE}};
+    lua_shared_dict kong_db_cache       ${{MEM_CACHE_SIZE}};
+    lua_shared_dict kong_db_cache_miss 12m;
     lua_shared_dict kong_process_events 5m;
     lua_shared_dict kong_cluster_events 5m;
     lua_shared_dict kong_healthchecks   5m;