diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 54bd3b6..5ea9d3b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -201,6 +201,30 @@ Rails.application.configure do
 end
 ```
 
+### Named shard destinations
+
+By default, the node key used for sharding is the name of the database in `database.yml`.
+
+It is possible to add names for the shards in the cluster config. This will allow you to shuffle or remove shards without breaking consistent hashing.
+
+```ruby
+Rails.application.configure do
+  config.solid_cache.connects_to = {
+    shards: {
+      cache_primary_shard1: { writing: :cache_primary_shard1 },
+      cache_primary_shard2: { writing: :cache_primary_shard2 },
+      cache_secondary_shard1: { writing: :cache_secondary_shard1 },
+      cache_secondary_shard2: { writing: :cache_secondary_shard2 },
+    }
+  }
+
+  primary_cluster = { shards: { cache_primary_shard1: :node1, cache_primary_shard2: :node2 } }
+  secondary_cluster = { shards: { cache_primary_shard1: :node3, cache_primary_shard2: :node4 } }
+  config.cache_store = [ :solid_cache_store, clusters: [ primary_cluster, secondary_cluster ] ]
+end
+```
+
+
 ### Enabling encryption
 
 Add this to an initializer:
diff --git a/lib/solid_cache.rb b/lib/solid_cache.rb
index 2ad9b02..884447e 100644
--- a/lib/solid_cache.rb
+++ b/lib/solid_cache.rb
@@ -17,14 +17,6 @@ def self.shard_config(shard)
     all_shards_config && all_shards_config[shard]
   end
 
-  def self.shard_destinations
-    @shard_databases ||= each_shard.map.to_h do
-      config = Record.connection_db_config
-      destination = [ config.try(:host), config.try(:port), config.try(:database) ].compact.join("-")
-      [ Record.current_shard, destination ]
-    end
-  end
-
   def self.each_shard
     return to_enum(:each_shard) unless block_given?
 
diff --git a/lib/solid_cache/cluster/connection_handling.rb b/lib/solid_cache/cluster/connection_handling.rb
index d7198e9..2d6bd43 100644
--- a/lib/solid_cache/cluster/connection_handling.rb
+++ b/lib/solid_cache/cluster/connection_handling.rb
@@ -7,17 +7,27 @@ module ConnectionHandling
 
       def initialize(options = {})
         super(options)
-        @shard_options = options.delete(:shards)
         @async_writes = options.delete(:async_writes)
+        @shard_options = options.delete(:shards)
+
+        if [Hash, Array, NilClass].none? { |klass| @shard_options.is_a? klass }
+          raise ArgumentError, "`shards` is a `#{shards.class.name}`, it should be one of Array, Hash or nil"
+        end
+
+        # Done lazily as the cache maybe created before ActionRecord initialization
+        @shards_initialized = false
       end
 
       def shards
-        # Load lazily as the cache maybe created before the SolidCache connections are initialized
-        @shards ||= @shard_options || SolidCache.all_shard_keys || [nil]
+        initialize_shards unless shards_initialized?
+
+        @shards
       end
 
-      def destination_shards
-        @destination_shards ||= shards.compact.to_h { |shard| [ SolidCache.shard_destinations[shard], shard ] }
+      def nodes
+        initialize_shards unless shards_initialized?
+
+        @nodes
       end
 
       def writing_all_shards
@@ -59,6 +69,29 @@ def reading_shard(normalized_key:)
       end
 
       private
+        attr_reader :consistent_hash
+
+        def shards_initialized?
+          @shards_initialized
+        end
+
+        def initialize_shards
+          case @shard_options
+          when Array, NilClass
+            @shards = @shard_options || SolidCache.all_shard_keys || []
+            @nodes = @shards.to_h { |shard| [ shard, shard ] }
+          when Hash
+            @shards = @shard_options.keys
+            @nodes = @shard_options.inverse
+          end
+
+          if @shards.count > 1
+            @consistent_hash = MaglevHash.new(@nodes.keys)
+          end
+
+          @shards_initialized = true
+        end
+
         def with_shard(shard)
           if shard
             Record.connected_to(shard: shard) { yield }
@@ -82,15 +115,10 @@ def in_shards(list)
         end
 
         def shard_for_normalized_key(normalized_key)
-          return shards.first if shards.count == 1
-
-          destination = consistent_hash.node(normalized_key)
-          destination_shards[destination]
-        end
+          return shards.first if shards.count <= 1
 
-        def consistent_hash
-          return nil if shards.count == 1
-          @consistent_hash ||= MaglevHash.new(destination_shards.keys)
+          node = consistent_hash.node(normalized_key)
+          nodes[node]
         end
 
         def async_if_required
diff --git a/test/unit/solid_cache_test.rb b/test/unit/solid_cache_test.rb
index 826725a..e04b414 100644
--- a/test/unit/solid_cache_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/solid_cache_test.rb
@@ -27,19 +27,6 @@ class SolidCacheTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     shards = SolidCache.each_shard.map { SolidCache::Record.current_shard }
     assert_equal [ :default, :default2, :primary_shard_one, :primary_shard_two, :secondary_shard_one, :secondary_shard_two ], shards
   end
-
-  test "shard_databases" do
-    configs = SolidCache::Record.configurations
-    shard_names = [:default, :default2, :primary_shard_one, :primary_shard_two, :secondary_shard_one, :secondary_shard_two]
-    expected = shard_names.to_h do |shard_name|
-      database_name = SolidCache.connects_to.dig(:shards, shard_name, :writing).to_s
-      config = configs.configs_for(env_name: Rails.env, name: database_name)
-      destination = [ config.try(:host), config.try(:port), config.try(:database) ].compact.join("-")
-      [ shard_name, destination ]
-    end
-
-    assert_equal expected, SolidCache.shard_destinations
-  end
 end
 
 class SolidCacheFailsafeTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase