diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis.rb
index 9824658..9ba4422 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Kinesis < LogStash::Inputs::Base
   # The kinesis stream name.
   config :kinesis_stream_name, :validate => :string, :required => true
 
+  # How many seconds between worker checkpoints to dynamodb.
+  config :checkpoint_interval_seconds, :validate => :number, :default => 60
+
   def register
     # the INFO log level is extremely noisy in KCL
     org.apache.commons.logging::LogFactory.getLog("com.amazonaws.services.kinesis").
@@ -35,9 +38,8 @@ def register
   end
 
   def run(output_queue)
-    worker_factory = WorkerFactory.new(@codec, output_queue, method(:decorate))
     @worker = KCL::Worker.new(
-      worker_factory,
+      proc { Worker.new(@codec, output_queue, method(:decorate), @checkpoint_interval_seconds) },
       @config,
       com.amazonaws.services.kinesis.metrics.impl::NullMetricsFactory.new)
     @worker.run()
@@ -47,26 +49,14 @@ def teardown
     @worker.shutdown if @worker
   end
 
-  class WorkerFactory
-    include com.amazonaws.services.kinesis.clientlibrary.interfaces::IRecordProcessorFactory
-    def initialize(codec, output_queue, decorator)
-      @codec = codec
-      @output_queue = output_queue
-      @decorator = decorator
-    end
-
-    def createProcessor
-      Worker.new(@codec.clone, @output_queue, @decorator)
-    end
-  end
-
   class Worker
     include com.amazonaws.services.kinesis.clientlibrary.interfaces::IRecordProcessor
 
     def initialize(*args)
       # nasty hack, because this is the name of a method on IRecordProcessor, but also ruby's constructor
       if !@constructed
-        @codec, @output_queue, @decorator = args
+        @codec, @output_queue, @decorator, @checkpoint_interval = args
+        @next_checkpoint = Time.now - 600
         @constructed = true
       else
         _shard_id, _ = args
@@ -76,10 +66,24 @@ def initialize(*args)
 
     def processRecords(records, checkpointer)
       records.each { |record| process_record(record) }
-      checkpointer.checkpoint()
+      if Time.now >= @next_checkpoint
+        checkpoint(checkpointer)
+        @next_checkpoint = Time.now + @checkpoint_interval
+      end
     end
 
     def shutdown(checkpointer, reason)
+      if reason == com.amazonaws.services.kinesis.clientlibrary.types::ShutdownReason::TERMINATE
+        checkpoint(checkpointer)
+      end
+    end
+
+    protected
+
+    def checkpoint(checkpointer)
+      checkpointer.checkpoint()
+    rescue => error
+      @logger.error("Kinesis worker failed checkpointing: #{error}")
     end
 
     def process_record(record)
@@ -88,6 +92,8 @@ def process_record(record)
         @decorator.call(event)
         @output_queue << event
       end
+    rescue => error
+      @logger.error("Error processing record: #{error}")
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis/version.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis/version.rb
index 9d237cc..bcf9c33 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis/version.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/kinesis/version.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module Logstash
   module Input
     module Kinesis
-      VERSION = "1.0.0"
+      VERSION = "1.1.0"
     end
   end
 end