diff --git a/include/haproxy/freq_ctr.h b/include/haproxy/freq_ctr.h
index 879262539..e0ac70992 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/freq_ctr.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/freq_ctr.h
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 #include <haproxy/intops.h>
 #include <haproxy/time.h>
 
+/* exported functions from freq_ctr.c */
+ullong freq_ctr_total(struct freq_ctr_period *ctr, uint period, int pend);
 
 /* Update a frequency counter by <inc> incremental units. It is automatically
  * rotated if the period is over. It is important that it correctly initializes
diff --git a/src/freq_ctr.c b/src/freq_ctr.c
index 42fbc1cea..76a8ec1ce 100644
--- a/src/freq_ctr.c
+++ b/src/freq_ctr.c
@@ -274,6 +274,67 @@ unsigned int freq_ctr_remain_period(struct freq_ctr_period *ctr, unsigned int pe
 	return freq;
 }
 
+/* Returns the total number of events over the current + last period, including
+ * a number of already pending events <pend>. The average frequency will be
+ * obtained by dividing the output by <period>. This is essentially made to
+ * ease implementation of higher-level read functions.
+ *
+ * As a special case, if pend < 0, it's assumed there are no pending
+ * events and a flapping correction must be applied at the end. This is used by
+ * read_freq_ctr_period() to avoid reporting ups and downs on low-frequency
+ * events when the past value is <= 1.
+ */
+ullong freq_ctr_total(struct freq_ctr_period *ctr, uint period, int pend)
+{
+	ullong curr, past;
+	uint curr_tick;
+	int remain;
+
+	for (;; __ha_cpu_relax()) {
+		curr = ctr->curr_ctr;
+		past = ctr->prev_ctr;
+		curr_tick = ctr->curr_tick;
+
+		/* now let's make sure the second loads retrieve the most
+		 * up-to-date values. If no value changed after a load barrier,
+		 * we're certain the values we got were stable.
+		 */
+		__ha_barrier_load();
+
+		if (curr_tick & 0x1)
+			continue;
+
+		if (curr != ctr->curr_ctr)
+			continue;
+
+		if (past != ctr->prev_ctr)
+			continue;
+
+		if (curr_tick != ctr->curr_tick)
+			continue;
+		break;
+	};
+
+	remain = curr_tick + period - global_now_ms;
+	if (unlikely(remain < 0)) {
+		/* We're past the first period, check if we can still report a
+		 * part of last period or if we're too far away.
+		 */
+		remain += period;
+		past = (remain >= 0) ? curr : 0;
+		curr = 0;
+	}
+
+	if (pend < 0) {
+		/* enable flapping correction at very low rates */
+		pend = 0;
+		if (!curr && past <= 1)
+			return past * period;
+	}
+
+	/* compute the total number of confirmed events over the period */
+	return past * remain + (curr + pend) * period;
+}
 
 /*
  * Local variables: