diff --git a/include/proto/listener.h b/include/proto/listener.h
index 0ad0beb8c..7fdb1cfad 100644
--- a/include/proto/listener.h
+++ b/include/proto/listener.h
@@ -78,6 +78,17 @@ int unbind_listener_no_close(struct listener *listener);
  */
 int unbind_all_listeners(struct protocol *proto);
 
+
+/* creates one or multiple listeners for bind_conf <bc> on sockaddr <ss> on port
+ * range <portl> to <porth>, and possibly attached to fd <fd> (or -1 for auto
+ * allocation). The address family is taken from ss->ss_family. The number of
+ * jobs and listeners is automatically increased by the number of listeners
+ * created. It returns non-zero on success, zero on error with the error message
+ * set in <err>.
+ */
+int create_listeners(struct bind_conf *bc, const struct sockaddr_storage *ss,
+                     int portl, int porth, int fd, char **err);
+
 /* Delete a listener from its protocol's list of listeners. The listener's
  * state is automatically updated from LI_ASSIGNED to LI_INIT. The protocol's
  * number of listeners is updated. Note that the listener must have previously
diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 759d40759..9b91b9048 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -220,14 +220,13 @@ static struct cfg_kw_list cfg_keywords = {
  */
 int str2listener(char *str, struct proxy *curproxy, struct bind_conf *bind_conf, const char *file, int line, char **err)
 {
-	struct listener *l;
 	char *next, *dupstr;
 	int port, end;
 
 	next = dupstr = strdup(str);
 
 	while (next && *next) {
-		struct sockaddr_storage ss, *ss2;
+		struct sockaddr_storage *ss2;
 		int fd = -1;
 
 		str = next;
@@ -283,31 +282,10 @@ int str2listener(char *str, struct proxy *curproxy, struct bind_conf *bind_conf,
 		}
 
 		/* OK the address looks correct */
-		memcpy(&ss, ss2, sizeof(ss));
-
-		for (; port <= end; port++) {
-			struct protocol *proto = protocol_by_family(ss.ss_family);
-
-			if (!proto) {
-				memprintf(err, "unsupported protocol family %d for address '%s'.\n", ss.ss_family, str);
-				goto fail;
-			}
-
-			l = calloc(1, sizeof(*l));
-			l->obj_type = OBJ_TYPE_LISTENER;
-			LIST_ADDQ(&curproxy->conf.listeners, &l->by_fe);
-			LIST_ADDQ(&bind_conf->listeners, &l->by_bind);
-			l->bind_conf = bind_conf;
-
-			l->fd = fd;
-			memcpy(&l->addr, &ss, sizeof(ss));
-			l->state = LI_INIT;
-
-			proto->add(l, port);
-
-			jobs++;
-			listeners++;
-		} /* end for(port) */
+		if (!create_listeners(bind_conf, ss2, port, end, fd, err)) {
+			memprintf(err, "%s for address '%s'.\n", *err, str);
+			goto fail;
+		}
 	} /* end while(next) */
 	free(dupstr);
 	return 1;
diff --git a/src/listener.c b/src/listener.c
index abedd2fef..47bed179e 100644
--- a/src/listener.c
+++ b/src/listener.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <proto/freq_ctr.h>
 #include <proto/log.h>
 #include <proto/listener.h>
+#include <proto/protocol.h>
 #include <proto/sample.h>
 #include <proto/stream.h>
 #include <proto/task.h>
@@ -298,6 +299,48 @@ int unbind_all_listeners(struct protocol *proto)
 	return ERR_NONE;
 }
 
+/* creates one or multiple listeners for bind_conf <bc> on sockaddr <ss> on port
+ * range <portl> to <porth>, and possibly attached to fd <fd> (or -1 for auto
+ * allocation). The address family is taken from ss->ss_family. The number of
+ * jobs and listeners is automatically increased by the number of listeners
+ * created. It returns non-zero on success, zero on error with the error message
+ * set in <err>.
+ */
+int create_listeners(struct bind_conf *bc, const struct sockaddr_storage *ss,
+                     int portl, int porth, int fd, char **err)
+{
+	struct protocol *proto = protocol_by_family(ss->ss_family);
+	struct listener *l;
+	int port;
+
+	if (!proto) {
+		memprintf(err, "unsupported protocol family %d", ss->ss_family);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	for (port = portl; port <= porth; port++) {
+		l = calloc(1, sizeof(*l));
+		if (!l) {
+			memprintf(err, "out of memory");
+			return 0;
+		}
+		l->obj_type = OBJ_TYPE_LISTENER;
+		LIST_ADDQ(&bc->frontend->conf.listeners, &l->by_fe);
+		LIST_ADDQ(&bc->listeners, &l->by_bind);
+		l->bind_conf = bc;
+
+		l->fd = fd;
+		memcpy(&l->addr, ss, sizeof(*ss));
+		l->state = LI_INIT;
+
+		proto->add(l, port);
+
+		jobs++;
+		listeners++;
+	}
+	return 1;
+}
+
 /* Delete a listener from its protocol's list of listeners. The listener's
  * state is automatically updated from LI_ASSIGNED to LI_INIT. The protocol's
  * number of listeners is updated. Note that the listener must have previously