diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index be2b347d0..54b6637d5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ BUILD_SYSTEMS_TESTS += \
 
 DIRECT_TESTS += \
   c_biabduction c_bufferoverrun c_errors c_frontend \
-  cpp_bufferoverrun cpp_errors cpp_frontend cpp_quandary cpp_siof cpp_threadsafety \
+  cpp_bufferoverrun cpp_errors cpp_frontend  cpp_liveness cpp_quandary cpp_siof cpp_threadsafety \
 
 ifneq ($(BUCK),no)
 BUILD_SYSTEMS_TESTS += buck-clang-db buck_flavors buck_flavors_deterministic
diff --git a/infer/src/IR/Localise.ml b/infer/src/IR/Localise.ml
index 13cfe6aa4..a93fb114b 100644
--- a/infer/src/IR/Localise.ml
+++ b/infer/src/IR/Localise.ml
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ let context_leak = from_string "CONTEXT_LEAK"
 
 let dangling_pointer_dereference = from_string "DANGLING_POINTER_DEREFERENCE"
 
+let dead_store = from_string "DEAD_STORE"
+
 let deallocate_stack_variable = from_string "DEALLOCATE_STACK_VARIABLE"
 
 let deallocate_static_memory = from_string "DEALLOCATE_STATIC_MEMORY"
diff --git a/infer/src/IR/Localise.mli b/infer/src/IR/Localise.mli
index 6ab412c2b..069a1b32c 100644
--- a/infer/src/IR/Localise.mli
+++ b/infer/src/IR/Localise.mli
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ val context_leak : t
 
 val dangling_pointer_dereference : t
 
+val dead_store : t
+
 val deallocate_stack_variable : t
 
 val deallocate_static_memory : t
diff --git a/infer/src/base/Config.ml b/infer/src/base/Config.ml
index df05bbefb..06ae6cb50 100644
--- a/infer/src/base/Config.ml
+++ b/infer/src/base/Config.ml
@@ -559,6 +559,7 @@ and ( annotation_reachability
     , eradicate
     , fragment_retains_view
     , immutable_cast
+    , liveness
     , printf_args
     , quandary
     , repeated_calls
@@ -596,6 +597,10 @@ and ( annotation_reachability
       ~in_help:CLOpt.([(Analyze, manual_generic)])
       ~default:true
       "the detection of object cast from immutable type to mutable type. For instance, it will detect cast from ImmutableList to List, ImmutableMap to Map, and ImmutableSet to Set."
+  and liveness =
+    CLOpt.mk_bool ~long:"liveness"
+      ~in_help:CLOpt.([(Analyze, manual_generic)])
+      ~default:true "the detection of dead stores and unused variables"
   and printf_args =
     CLOpt.mk_bool ~long:"printf-args"
       ~in_help:CLOpt.([(Analyze, manual_generic)])
@@ -643,6 +648,7 @@ and ( annotation_reachability
   , eradicate
   , fragment_retains_view
   , immutable_cast
+  , liveness
   , printf_args
   , quandary
   , repeated_calls
@@ -1971,6 +1977,8 @@ and linters_developer_mode = !linters_developer_mode
 
 and linters_ignore_clang_failures = !linters_ignore_clang_failures
 
+and liveness = !liveness
+
 and load_average =
   match !load_average with None when !buck -> Some (float_of_int ncpu) | _ -> !load_average
 
diff --git a/infer/src/base/Config.mli b/infer/src/base/Config.mli
index 0accd7543..7d6886585 100644
--- a/infer/src/base/Config.mli
+++ b/infer/src/base/Config.mli
@@ -471,6 +471,8 @@ val linters_developer_mode : bool
 
 val linters_ignore_clang_failures : bool
 
+val liveness : bool
+
 val load_analysis_results : string option
 
 val log_file : string
diff --git a/infer/src/checkers/liveness.ml b/infer/src/checkers/liveness.ml
index 905b1842b..94633a195 100644
--- a/infer/src/checkers/liveness.ml
+++ b/infer/src/checkers/liveness.ml
@@ -56,5 +56,32 @@ module TransferFunctions (CFG : ProcCfg.S) = struct
      -> astate
 end
 
-module Analyzer =
-  AbstractInterpreter.Make (ProcCfg.Backward (ProcCfg.Exceptional)) (TransferFunctions)
+module CFG = ProcCfg.OneInstrPerNode (ProcCfg.Backward (ProcCfg.Exceptional))
+module Analyzer = AbstractInterpreter.Make (CFG) (TransferFunctions)
+
+let checker {Callbacks.tenv; summary; proc_desc} : Specs.summary =
+  let cfg = CFG.from_pdesc proc_desc in
+  let invariant_map =
+    Analyzer.exec_cfg cfg (ProcData.make_default proc_desc tenv) ~initial:Domain.empty ~debug:true
+  in
+  let report_dead_store live_vars = function
+    | Sil.Store (Lvar pvar, _, _, loc)
+      when not
+             ( Pvar.is_frontend_tmp pvar || Pvar.is_return pvar || Pvar.is_global pvar
+             || Domain.mem (Var.of_pvar pvar) live_vars )
+     -> let issue_id = Localise.to_issue_id Localise.dead_store in
+        let message = F.asprintf "The value written to %a is never used" (Pvar.pp Pp.text) pvar in
+        let ltr = [Errlog.make_trace_element 0 loc "Write of unused value" []] in
+        let exn = Exceptions.Checkers (issue_id, Localise.verbatim_desc message) in
+        Reporting.log_error summary ~loc ~ltr exn
+    | _
+     -> ()
+  in
+  List.iter (CFG.nodes cfg) ~f:(fun node ->
+      (* note: extract_pre grabs the post, since the analysis is backward *)
+      match Analyzer.extract_pre (CFG.id node) invariant_map with
+      | Some live_vars
+       -> List.iter ~f:(report_dead_store live_vars) (CFG.instrs node)
+      | None
+       -> () ) ;
+  summary
diff --git a/infer/src/checkers/registerCheckers.ml b/infer/src/checkers/registerCheckers.ml
index 481144bcc..b9dcbef82 100644
--- a/infer/src/checkers/registerCheckers.ml
+++ b/infer/src/checkers/registerCheckers.ml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ let checkers =
   ; ( "immutable cast"
     , Config.immutable_cast
     , [(Procedure ImmutableChecker.callback_check_immutable_cast, Config.Java)] )
+  ; ("liveness", Config.liveness, [(Procedure Liveness.checker, Config.Clang)])
   ; ("printf args", Config.printf_args, [(Procedure PrintfArgs.callback_printf_args, Config.Java)])
   ; ( "nullable suggestion"
     , Config.suggest_nullable
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/c/bufferoverrun/Makefile b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/c/bufferoverrun/Makefile
index aeedafc44..33f9f6477 100644
--- a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/c/bufferoverrun/Makefile
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/c/bufferoverrun/Makefile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ TESTS_DIR = ../../..
 
 ANALYZER = checkers
 CLANG_OPTIONS = -c
-INFER_OPTIONS = --bufferoverrun -F --project-root $(TESTS_DIR) --no-failures-allowed
+INFER_OPTIONS = -F --project-root $(TESTS_DIR) --no-failures-allowed --no-liveness --bufferoverrun
 INFERPRINT_OPTIONS = --issues-tests
 
 SOURCES = $(wildcard *.c)
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/bufferoverrun/Makefile b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/bufferoverrun/Makefile
index 69352c75f..92b63476e 100644
--- a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/bufferoverrun/Makefile
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/bufferoverrun/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ ANALYZER = checkers
 # see explanations in cpp/errors/Makefile for the custom isystem
 CLANG_OPTIONS = -x c++ -std=c++11 -nostdinc++ -isystem$(MODELS_DIR)/cpp/include -isystem$(CLANG_INCLUDES)/c++/v1/ -c
 INFER_OPTIONS = --bufferoverrun --ml-buckets cpp --no-filtering --debug-exceptions \
-                --project-root $(TESTS_DIR) --no-failures-allowed
+                --project-root $(TESTS_DIR) --no-failures-allowed --no-liveness
 INFERPRINT_OPTIONS = --issues-tests
 
 SOURCES = $(wildcard *.cpp)
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/Makefile b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3943f3d6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2016 - present Facebook, Inc.
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# This source code is licensed under the BSD style license found in the
+# LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree. An additional grant
+# of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
+
+TESTS_DIR = ../../..
+
+ANALYZER = checkers
+# see explanations in cpp/errors/Makefile for the custom isystem
+CLANG_OPTIONS = -x c++ -std=c++11 -nostdinc++ -isystem$(MODELS_DIR)/cpp/include -isystem$(CLANG_INCLUDES)/c++/v1/ -c
+INFER_OPTIONS = --ml-buckets cpp --debug-exceptions --project-root $(TESTS_DIR) --no-failures-allowed
+INFERPRINT_OPTIONS = --issues-tests
+
+SOURCES = $(wildcard *.cpp)
+
+include $(TESTS_DIR)/clang.make
+
+infer-out/report.json: $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ce2f29b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2017 - present Facebook, Inc.
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the BSD style license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree. An additional grant
+ * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
+ */
+
+namespace dead_stores {
+
+void easy_bad() { int x = 5; }
+
+void reassign_param_bad(int x) { x = 5; }
+
+int dead_then_live_bad() {
+  int x = 5;
+  x = 3;
+  return x;
+}
+
+int use_then_dead_bad() {
+  int x = 5;
+  int y = x;
+  x = 7;
+  return y;
+}
+
+void dead_pointer_bad() {
+  int num = 2;
+  int* x = #
+}
+
+int return_ok() {
+  int x = 5;
+  return x;
+}
+
+int branch_ok(bool b) {
+  int x = 5;
+  int y = 3;
+  if (b) {
+    y = x;
+  }
+  return y;
+}
+
+int loop_ok(bool b) {
+  int x = 5;
+  int y = 3;
+  while (b) {
+    y = x;
+    b = false;
+  }
+  return y;
+}
+
+int loop_break_ok(bool b) {
+  int x = 5;
+  while (b) {
+    x = 3;
+    break;
+  }
+  return x;
+}
+
+int loop_continue_ok(bool b) {
+  int x = 5;
+  int y = 2;
+  while (b) {
+    y = x;
+    x = 3;
+    continue;
+  }
+  return y;
+}
+
+void assign_pointer1_ok(int* ptr) { *ptr = 7; }
+
+int* assign_pointer2_ok() {
+  int num = 2;
+  int* ptr = #
+  return ptr;
+}
+
+void by_ref_ok(int& ref) { ref = 7; }
+
+char* global;
+
+void FP_assign_array_tricky_ok() {
+  char arr[1];
+  global = arr;
+  *(int*)arr = 123; // think this is a bug in the frontend... this instruction
+  // looks like &arr:int = 123
+}
+}
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/issues.exp b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/issues.exp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5fed35731
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/issues.exp
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::FP_assign_array_tricky_ok, 3, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::dead_pointer_bad, 2, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::dead_then_live_bad, 1, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::easy_bad, 0, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::reassign_param_bad, 0, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
+codetoanalyze/cpp/liveness/dead_stores.cpp, dead_stores::use_then_dead_bad, 3, DEAD_STORE, [Write of unused value]
diff --git a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/quandary/pointers.cpp b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/quandary/pointers.cpp
index 287839759..6c9959c50 100644
--- a/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/quandary/pointers.cpp
+++ b/infer/tests/codetoanalyze/cpp/quandary/pointers.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <string>
+#include <iostream>
 
 extern std::string* __infer_taint_source();
 extern void __infer_taint_sink(std::string);
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ void assign_source_by_reference_bad3() {
 
 void reuse_pointer_as_local(std::string* pointer) {
   pointer = __infer_taint_source();
+  std::cout << *pointer;
 }
 
 // need to understand that assigning a reference doesn't change the value in the