diff --git a/contractcourt/chain_arbitrator.go b/contractcourt/chain_arbitrator.go
index 1e728d4e..5525c185 100644
--- a/contractcourt/chain_arbitrator.go
+++ b/contractcourt/chain_arbitrator.go
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ func newActiveChannelArbitrator(channel *channeldb.OpenChannel,
 			return chanMachine.ForceClose()
 		},
 		MarkCommitmentBroadcasted: channel.MarkCommitmentBroadcasted,
+		MarkChannelClosed:         channel.CloseChannel,
 		ChainArbitratorConfig:     c.cfg,
 		ChainEvents:               chanEvents,
 	}
diff --git a/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator.go b/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator.go
index 69700f03..8a2403e5 100644
--- a/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator.go
+++ b/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator.go
@@ -94,6 +94,13 @@ type ChannelArbitratorConfig struct {
 	// being broadcast, and we are waiting for the commitment to confirm.
 	MarkCommitmentBroadcasted func() error
 
+	// MarkChannelClosed marks the channel closed in the database, with the
+	// passed close summary. After this method successfully returns we can
+	// no longer expect to receive chain events for this channel, and must
+	// be able to recover from a failure without getting the close event
+	// again.
+	MarkChannelClosed func(*channeldb.ChannelCloseSummary) error
+
 	// MarkChannelResolved is a function closure that serves to mark a
 	// channel as "fully resolved". A channel itself can be considered
 	// fully resolved once all active contracts have individually been
diff --git a/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator_test.go b/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator_test.go
index 14553398..00240b5f 100644
--- a/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator_test.go
+++ b/contractcourt/channel_arbitrator_test.go
@@ -137,7 +137,9 @@ func createTestChannelArbitrator(log ArbitratorLog) (*ChannelArbitrator,
 		MarkCommitmentBroadcasted: func() error {
 			return nil
 		},
-
+		MarkChannelClosed: func(*channeldb.ChannelCloseSummary) error {
+			return nil
+		},
 		ChainArbitratorConfig: chainArbCfg,
 		ChainEvents:           chanEvents,
 	}