diff --git a/include/haproxy/stats-t.h b/include/haproxy/stats-t.h
index af9b9711d..70d8b489a 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/stats-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/stats-t.h
@@ -509,11 +509,15 @@ enum stats_domain_px_cap {
 	STATS_PX_CAP_MASK = 0xff
 };
 
+extern THREAD_LOCAL void *trash_counters;
+
 #define EXTRA_COUNTERS(name) \
 	struct extra_counters *name
 
 #define EXTRA_COUNTERS_GET(counters, mod) \
-	(void *)((counters)->data + (mod)->counters_off[(counters)->type])
+	(likely(counters) ? \
+		((void *)((counters)->data + (mod)->counters_off[(counters)->type])) : \
+		(trash_counters))
 
 #define EXTRA_COUNTERS_REGISTER(counters, ctype, alloc_failed_label) \
 	do {                                                         \
diff --git a/src/listener.c b/src/listener.c
index 7f038c4a3..c9f0c2de6 100644
--- a/src/listener.c
+++ b/src/listener.c
@@ -623,6 +623,8 @@ int create_listeners(struct bind_conf *bc, const struct sockaddr_storage *ss,
 		if (fd != -1)
 			l->rx.flags |= RX_F_INHERITED;
 
+		l->extra_counters = NULL;
+
 		HA_SPIN_INIT(&l->lock);
 		_HA_ATOMIC_ADD(&jobs, 1);
 		_HA_ATOMIC_ADD(&listeners, 1);
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index e469c7671..08140198f 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -1041,6 +1041,9 @@ void init_new_proxy(struct proxy *p)
 	/* Default to only allow L4 retries */
 	p->retry_type = PR_RE_CONN_FAILED;
 
+	p->extra_counters_fe = NULL;
+	p->extra_counters_be = NULL;
+
 	HA_RWLOCK_INIT(&p->lock);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index 1e9f46ec7..d72e7e069 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -1742,6 +1742,8 @@ struct server *new_server(struct proxy *proxy)
 	srv->agent.proxy = proxy;
 	srv->xprt  = srv->check.xprt = srv->agent.xprt = xprt_get(XPRT_RAW);
 
+	srv->extra_counters = NULL;
+
 	/* please don't put default server settings here, they are set in
 	 * init_default_instance().
 	 */
diff --git a/src/stats.c b/src/stats.c
index ad92d7159..3f314440d 100644
--- a/src/stats.c
+++ b/src/stats.c
@@ -269,6 +269,8 @@ static struct list stats_module_list[STATS_DOMAIN_COUNT] = {
 	LIST_HEAD_INIT(stats_module_list[STATS_DOMAIN_DNS]),
 };
 
+THREAD_LOCAL void *trash_counters;
+
 static inline uint8_t stats_get_domain(uint32_t domain)
 {
 	return domain >> STATS_DOMAIN & STATS_DOMAIN_MASK;
@@ -4548,6 +4550,34 @@ static int allocate_stats_dns_postcheck(void)
 
 REGISTER_CONFIG_POSTPARSER("allocate-stats-dns", allocate_stats_dns_postcheck);
 
+static int allocate_trash_counters(void)
+{
+	struct stats_module *mod;
+	int domains[] = { STATS_DOMAIN_PROXY, STATS_DOMAIN_DNS }, i;
+	size_t max_counters_size = 0;
+
+	/* calculate the greatest counters used by any stats modules */
+	for (i = 0; i < STATS_DOMAIN_COUNT; ++i) {
+		list_for_each_entry(mod, &stats_module_list[domains[i]], list) {
+			max_counters_size = mod->counters_size > max_counters_size ?
+			                    mod->counters_size : max_counters_size;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* allocate the trash with the size of the greatest counters */
+	if (max_counters_size) {
+		trash_counters = malloc(max_counters_size);
+		if (!trash_counters) {
+			ha_alert("stats: cannot allocate trash counters for statistics\n");
+			return 0;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
+REGISTER_PER_THREAD_ALLOC(allocate_trash_counters);
+
 static void deinit_stats(void)
 {
 	int domains[] = { STATS_DOMAIN_PROXY, STATS_DOMAIN_DNS }, i;
@@ -4565,6 +4595,14 @@ static void deinit_stats(void)
 
 REGISTER_POST_DEINIT(deinit_stats);
 
+static void free_trash_counters(void)
+{
+	if (trash_counters)
+		free(trash_counters);
+}
+
+REGISTER_PER_THREAD_FREE(free_trash_counters);
+
 /* register cli keywords */
 static struct cli_kw_list cli_kws = {{ },{
 	{ { "clear", "counters",  NULL }, "clear counters : clear max statistics counters (add 'all' for all counters)", cli_parse_clear_counters, NULL, NULL },