A system and method for automatic recovery of actively persisted data in a distributed data grid. A dynamic active recovery quorum function determines the number of cluster storage members that must be available before recovery starts. The use of the dynamic active recovery quorum allows time for a cluster to start and ensures that partitions can be recovered gracefully without overloading too few storage members. The dynamic active recovery quorum function automatically configures the recovery quorum based on a predefined algorithm and data collected about cluster membership during cluster operation prior to the catastrophic failure or shut down for planned maintenance.