diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php b/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
index 0fd106366d4..fef222f40ea 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
@@ -723,6 +723,18 @@ class Access extends LDAPUtility {
 		return $this->search($filter, $this->connection->ldapBaseGroups, $attr, $limit, $offset);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * returns the number of available groups
+	 * @param string $filter the LDAP search filter
+	 * @param string[] $attr optional
+	 * @param int|null $limit
+	 * @param int|null $offset
+	 * @return int|bool
+	 */
+	public function countGroups($filter, $attr = array('dn'), $limit = null, $offset = null) {
+		return $this->count($filter, $this->connection->ldapBaseGroups, $attr, $limit, $offset);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @brief prepares and executes an LDAP search operation
 	 * @param $filter the LDAP filter for the search