diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 71704f18b0..4d81ce8f18 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+6391.	[bug]		TCP client statistics could sometimes fail to decrease
+			when accepting client connection fails. [GL #4742]
+
 6390.	[bug]		Fix a data race in isc_task_purgeevent(). [GL !8937]
 
 6389.	[bug]		dnssec-verify and dnssec-signzone could fail if there
diff --git a/doc/arm/reference.rst b/doc/arm/reference.rst
index 48dbce13b7..88faad4023 100644
--- a/doc/arm/reference.rst
+++ b/doc/arm/reference.rst
@@ -8244,3 +8244,6 @@ exceptions are noted in the descriptions.
 
 ``<TYPE>RecvErr``
     This indicates the number of errors in socket receive operations, including errors of send operations on a connected UDP socket, notified by an ICMP error message.
+
+``TCP4Clients``/``TCP6Clients``
+    This indicates the number of IPv4/IPv6 clients currently connected over TCP.
diff --git a/doc/notes/notes-current.rst b/doc/notes/notes-current.rst
index 52d0cec18a..f0101b9833 100644
--- a/doc/notes/notes-current.rst
+++ b/doc/notes/notes-current.rst
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ Bug Fixes
   :iscman:`named` could crash with an assertion failure. This has been
   fixed. :gl:`#4719`
 
+- The statistics channel counters that indicated the number of currently
+  connected TCP IPv4/IPv6 clients were not properly adjusted in certain
+  failure scenarios. This has been fixed. :gl:`#4742`
+
 Known Issues
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/lib/isc/netmgr/tcpdns.c b/lib/isc/netmgr/tcpdns.c
index 1864a45aba..dd3e9ec3fe 100644
--- a/lib/isc/netmgr/tcpdns.c
+++ b/lib/isc/netmgr/tcpdns.c
@@ -1005,8 +1005,6 @@ accept_connection(isc_nmsocket_t *ssock, isc_quota_t *quota) {
 	UV_RUNTIME_CHECK(uv_timer_init, r);
 	uv_handle_set_data((uv_handle_t *)&csock->read_timer, csock);
 
-	isc__nm_incstats(csock, STATID_CLIENTS);
-
 	r = uv_accept(&ssock->uv_handle.stream, &csock->uv_handle.stream);
 	if (r != 0) {
 		result = isc__nm_uverr2result(r);
@@ -1084,6 +1082,8 @@ accept_connection(isc_nmsocket_t *ssock, isc_quota_t *quota) {
 
 	isc_nmhandle_detach(&handle);
 
+	isc__nm_incstats(csock, STATID_CLIENTS);
+
 	/*
 	 * sock is now attached to the handle.
 	 */
diff --git a/lib/isc/netmgr/tlsdns.c b/lib/isc/netmgr/tlsdns.c
index 7a005db9b9..fa416e2fef 100644
--- a/lib/isc/netmgr/tlsdns.c
+++ b/lib/isc/netmgr/tlsdns.c
@@ -1629,8 +1629,6 @@ accept_connection(isc_nmsocket_t *ssock, isc_quota_t *quota) {
 	UV_RUNTIME_CHECK(uv_timer_init, r);
 	uv_handle_set_data((uv_handle_t *)&csock->read_timer, csock);
 
-	isc__nm_incstats(csock, STATID_CLIENTS);
-
 	r = uv_accept(&ssock->uv_handle.stream, &csock->uv_handle.stream);
 	if (r != 0) {
 		result = isc__nm_uverr2result(r);
@@ -1727,6 +1725,8 @@ accept_connection(isc_nmsocket_t *ssock, isc_quota_t *quota) {
 		goto failure;
 	}
 
+	isc__nm_incstats(csock, STATID_CLIENTS);
+
 	/*
 	 * sock is now attached to the handle.
 	 */