diff --git a/include/haproxy/queue.h b/include/haproxy/queue.h
index e77370cdd..e4201fb17 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/queue.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/queue.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ unsigned int srv_dynamic_maxconn(const struct server *s);
 int pendconn_redistribute(struct server *s);
 int pendconn_grab_from_px(struct server *s);
 void pendconn_unlink(struct pendconn *p);
+int pendconn_must_try_again(struct pendconn *p);
 
 /* Removes the pendconn from the server/proxy queue. It supports being called
  * with NULL for pendconn and with a pendconn not in the list. It is the
diff --git a/src/queue.c b/src/queue.c
index e55bb5898..bf32d4239 100644
--- a/src/queue.c
+++ b/src/queue.c
@@ -621,6 +621,68 @@ int pendconn_dequeue(struct stream *strm)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/* checks after a successful pendconn_add() if the connection ended up being
+ * alone with no active connection left to dequeue it. In such a case it will
+ * simply remove it from the queue, free it and return non-zero to inform the
+ * caller that it must try to add the connection again, otherwise it returns
+ * zero, indicating that the connection will be handled normally. The caller
+ * might have to drop SF_DIRECT and/or SF_ASSIGNED if the conn was on a proxy.
+ */
+int pendconn_must_try_again(struct pendconn *p)
+{
+	struct queue  *q  = p->queue;
+	struct proxy  *px = q->px;
+	struct server *sv = q->sv;
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	if (likely(!HA_ATOMIC_LOAD(&p->node.node.leaf_p)))
+		goto leave;
+
+	/* for a server, we need at least one conn left on this server to
+	 * find ours.
+	 */
+	if (likely(sv && HA_ATOMIC_LOAD(&sv->served)))
+		goto leave;
+
+	/* for a backend, we need at least one conn left on any of this
+	 * backend's servers to find ours.
+	 */
+	if (likely(!sv && HA_ATOMIC_LOAD(&px->served)))
+		goto leave;
+
+	/* OK the situation is not safe anymore, we need to check if we're
+	 * still in the queue under a lock.
+	 */
+	HA_SPIN_LOCK(QUEUE_LOCK, &q->lock);
+	HA_SPIN_LOCK(QUEUE_LOCK, &p->del_lock);
+
+	if (p->node.node.leaf_p) {
+		eb32_delete(&p->node);
+		_HA_ATOMIC_DEC(&q->length);
+		_HA_ATOMIC_INC(&q->idx);
+		_HA_ATOMIC_DEC(&px->totpend);
+		ret = 1;
+	}
+
+	HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(QUEUE_LOCK, &p->del_lock);
+	HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(QUEUE_LOCK, &q->lock);
+
+	/* check if the connection was still queued. If not, it means its
+	 * processing has begun so it's safe.
+	 */
+	if (!ret)
+		goto leave;
+
+	/* The pendconn is not queued anymore and will not be so we're safe
+	 * to free it.
+	 */
+	p->strm->pend_pos = NULL;
+	pool_free(pool_head_pendconn, p);
+
+leave:
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static enum act_return action_set_priority_class(struct act_rule *rule, struct proxy *px,
                                                  struct session *sess, struct stream *s, int flags)
 {