diff --git a/include/haproxy/global.h b/include/haproxy/global.h
index d3f2e7ee2..20a0950ea 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/global.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/global.h
@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@ static inline unsigned long thread_mask(unsigned long mask)
 	return mask ? mask : all_threads_mask;
 }
 
+/* handle 'tainted' status */
+enum tainted_flags {
+	TAINTED_UNIMPLEMENTED,  // TO REMOVE once an enum value is implemented
+};
+void mark_tainted(const enum tainted_flags flag);
+unsigned int get_tainted();
+
 /* simplified way to declare static build options in a file */
 #define REGISTER_BUILD_OPTS(str) \
 	INITCALL2(STG_REGISTER, hap_register_build_opts, (str), 0)
diff --git a/src/haproxy.c b/src/haproxy.c
index ef4a40ca6..4c7ff556e 100644
--- a/src/haproxy.c
+++ b/src/haproxy.c
@@ -259,6 +259,9 @@ static void *run_thread_poll_loop(void *data);
 /* bitfield of a few warnings to emit just once (WARN_*) */
 unsigned int warned = 0;
 
+/* set if experimental features have been used for the current process */
+static unsigned int tainted = 0;
+
 /* master CLI configuration (-S flag) */
 struct list mworker_cli_conf = LIST_HEAD_INIT(mworker_cli_conf);
 
@@ -1417,6 +1420,17 @@ static int check_if_maxsock_permitted(int maxsock)
 	return ret == 0;
 }
 
+void mark_tainted(const enum tainted_flags flag)
+{
+	HA_ATOMIC_OR(&tainted, flag);
+}
+
+unsigned int get_tainted()
+{
+	int tainted_state;
+	HA_ATOMIC_STORE(&tainted_state, tainted);
+	return tainted_state;
+}
 
 /*
  * This function initializes all the necessary variables. It only returns