diff --git a/src/emqttd_broker.erl b/src/emqttd_broker.erl
index 5a26fd291..dc93543c5 100644
--- a/src/emqttd_broker.erl
+++ b/src/emqttd_broker.erl
@@ -238,11 +238,12 @@ retain(brokers) ->
 
 retain(Topic, Payload) when is_binary(Payload) ->
     Msg = emqttd_message:make(broker, emqttd_topic:systop(Topic), Payload),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(retain, Msg)).
+    Msg1 = emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg),
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(retain, Msg1)).
 
 publish(Topic, Payload) when is_binary(Payload) ->
     Msg = emqttd_message:make(broker, emqttd_topic:systop(Topic), Payload),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(Msg).
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg)).
 
 uptime(#state{started_at = Ts}) ->
     Secs = timer:now_diff(os:timestamp(), Ts) div 1000000,
diff --git a/src/emqttd_mod_presence.erl b/src/emqttd_mod_presence.erl
index 57a02c1bf..e83886c16 100644
--- a/src/emqttd_mod_presence.erl
+++ b/src/emqttd_mod_presence.erl
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ client_connected(ConnAck, #mqtt_client{client_id  = ClientId,
                               proplists:get_value(qos, Opts, 0),
                               topic(connected, ClientId),
                               iolist_to_binary(Json)),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(Msg).
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg)).
 
 client_disconnected(Reason, ClientId, Opts) ->
     Json = mochijson2:encode([{clientid, ClientId},
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ client_disconnected(Reason, ClientId, Opts) ->
                               proplists:get_value(qos, Opts, 0),
                               topic(disconnected, ClientId),
                               iolist_to_binary(Json)),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(Msg).
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg)).
 
 unload(_Opts) ->
     emqttd_broker:unhook('client.connected', {?MODULE, client_connected}),
diff --git a/src/emqttd_stats.erl b/src/emqttd_stats.erl
index c6a156d81..672c0e19b 100644
--- a/src/emqttd_stats.erl
+++ b/src/emqttd_stats.erl
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
 
 publish(Stat, Val) ->
     Msg = emqttd_message:make(stats, stats_topic(Stat), bin(Val)),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(Msg).
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg)).
 
 stats_topic(Stat) ->
     emqttd_topic:systop(list_to_binary(lists:concat(['stats/', Stat]))).
diff --git a/src/lager_emqtt_backend.erl b/src/lager_emqtt_backend.erl
index 9c28090bf..01fabece0 100644
--- a/src/lager_emqtt_backend.erl
+++ b/src/lager_emqtt_backend.erl
@@ -77,9 +77,8 @@ publish_log(Message, State = #state{formatter = Formatter,
                                     format_config = FormatConfig}) ->
     Severity = lager_msg:severity(Message),
     Payload = Formatter:format(Message, FormatConfig),
-    emqttd_pubsub:publish(
-      emqttd_message:make(
-        log, topic(Severity), iolist_to_binary(Payload))),
+    Msg = emqttd_message:make(log, topic(Severity), iolist_to_binary(Payload)),
+    emqttd_pubsub:publish(emqttd_message:set_flag(sys, Msg)),
     {ok, State}.
 
 topic(Severity) ->