diff --git a/checkpoint.go b/checkpoint.go
index b8de5d14..74c539af 100644
--- a/checkpoint.go
+++ b/checkpoint.go
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log"
+	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log/level"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/prometheus/tsdb/fileutil"
 	"github.com/prometheus/tsdb/wal"
 )
@@ -98,7 +101,9 @@ const checkpointPrefix = "checkpoint."
 // segmented format as the original WAL itself.
 // This makes it easy to read it through the WAL package and concatenate
 // it with the original WAL.
-func Checkpoint(w *wal.WAL, m, n int, keep func(id uint64) bool, mint int64) (*CheckpointStats, error) {
+//
+// Non-critical errors are logged and not returned.
+func Checkpoint(logger log.Logger, w *wal.WAL, m, n int, keep func(id uint64) bool, mint int64, checkpointDeleteTotal, checkpointDeleteFail prometheus.Counter) (*CheckpointStats, error) {
 	stats := &CheckpointStats{}
 
 	var sr io.Reader
@@ -265,5 +270,23 @@ func Checkpoint(w *wal.WAL, m, n int, keep func(id uint64) bool, mint int64) (*C
 	if err := closeAll(closers...); err != nil {
 		return stats, errors.Wrap(err, "close opened files")
 	}
+	if err := w.Truncate(n + 1); err != nil {
+		// If truncating fails, we'll just try again at the next checkpoint.
+		// Leftover segments will just be ignored in the future if there's a checkpoint
+		// that supersedes them.
+		level.Error(logger).Log("msg", "truncating segments failed", "err", err)
+	}
+	if checkpointDeleteTotal != nil {
+		checkpointDeleteTotal.Inc()
+	}
+	if err := DeleteCheckpoints(w.Dir(), n); err != nil {
+		// Leftover old checkpoints do not cause problems down the line beyond
+		// occupying disk space.
+		// They will just be ignored since a higher checkpoint exists.
+		level.Error(logger).Log("msg", "delete old checkpoints", "err", err)
+		if checkpointDeleteFail != nil {
+			checkpointDeleteFail.Inc()
+		}
+	}
 	return stats, nil
 }
diff --git a/checkpoint_test.go b/checkpoint_test.go
index 60f99fd7..4cb4c5a6 100644
--- a/checkpoint_test.go
+++ b/checkpoint_test.go
@@ -137,9 +137,9 @@ func TestCheckpoint(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	testutil.Ok(t, w.Close())
 
-	_, err = Checkpoint(w, 100, 106, func(x uint64) bool {
+	_, err = Checkpoint(nil, w, 100, 106, func(x uint64) bool {
 		return x%2 == 0
-	}, last/2)
+	}, last/2, nil, nil)
 	testutil.Ok(t, err)
 	testutil.Ok(t, w.Truncate(107))
 	testutil.Ok(t, DeleteCheckpoints(w.Dir(), 106))
diff --git a/head.go b/head.go
index 8d259fd6..a2651640 100644
--- a/head.go
+++ b/head.go
@@ -512,24 +512,13 @@ func (h *Head) Truncate(mint int64) (err error) {
 		return h.series.getByID(id) != nil
 	}
 	h.metrics.checkpointCreationTotal.Inc()
-	if _, err = Checkpoint(h.wal, m, n, keep, mint); err != nil {
+	_, err = Checkpoint(h.logger, h.wal, m, n, keep, mint,
+		h.metrics.checkpointDeleteTotal, h.metrics.checkpointDeleteFail)
+	if err != nil {
 		h.metrics.checkpointCreationFail.Inc()
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "create checkpoint")
 	}
-	if err := h.wal.Truncate(n + 1); err != nil {
-		// If truncating fails, we'll just try again at the next checkpoint.
-		// Leftover segments will just be ignored in the future if there's a checkpoint
-		// that supersedes them.
-		level.Error(h.logger).Log("msg", "truncating segments failed", "err", err)
-	}
-	h.metrics.checkpointDeleteTotal.Inc()
-	if err := DeleteCheckpoints(h.wal.Dir(), n); err != nil {
-		// Leftover old checkpoints do not cause problems down the line beyond
-		// occupying disk space.
-		// They will just be ignored since a higher checkpoint exists.
-		level.Error(h.logger).Log("msg", "delete old checkpoints", "err", err)
-		h.metrics.checkpointDeleteFail.Inc()
-	}
+
 	h.metrics.walTruncateDuration.Observe(time.Since(start).Seconds())
 
 	level.Info(h.logger).Log("msg", "WAL checkpoint complete",