diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index 3f247b6d8..45312fd44 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -9845,12 +9845,23 @@ tcp-check connect [params*]
   See also : "option tcp-check", "tcp-check send", "tcp-check expect"
 
 
-tcp-check expect [!] <match> <pattern>
+tcp-check expect [min-recv <int>] [!] <match> <pattern>
   Specify data to be collected and analyzed during a generic health check
   May be used in sections:   defaults | frontend | listen | backend
                                no     |    no    |   yes  |   yes
 
   Arguments :
+    min-recv  is optional and can define the minimum amount of data required to
+              evaluate the current expect rule. If the number of received bytes
+              is under this limit, the check will wait for more data. This
+              option can be used to resolve some ambiguous matching rules or to
+              avoid executing costly regex matches on content known to be still
+              incomplete. If an exact string (string or binary) is used, the
+              minimum between the string length and this parameter is used.
+              This parameter is ignored if it is set to -1. If the expect rule
+              does not match, the check will wait for more data. If set to 0,
+              the evaluation result is always conclusive.
+
     <match>   is a keyword indicating how to look for a specific pattern in the
               response. The keyword may be one of "string", "rstring" or
               binary.
diff --git a/include/types/checks.h b/include/types/checks.h
index 294adc6dd..93d552ff1 100644
--- a/include/types/checks.h
+++ b/include/types/checks.h
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ struct tcpcheck_rule {
 	/* sent string is string */
 	char *string;                           /* sent or expected string */
 	int string_len;                         /* string length */
+	int min_recv;                           /* Minimum amount of data before an expect can be applied. (default: -1, ignored) */
 	struct my_regex *expect_regex;          /* expected */
 	int inverse;                            /* 0 = regular match, 1 = inverse match */
 	unsigned short port;                    /* port to connect to */
diff --git a/reg-tests/checks/tcp-check_min-recv.vtc b/reg-tests/checks/tcp-check_min-recv.vtc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61ff3c867
--- /dev/null
+++ b/reg-tests/checks/tcp-check_min-recv.vtc
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+varnishtest "tcp-check negative bounded regex match"
+#EXCLUDE_TARGETS=freebsd,osx,generic
+#REGTEST_TYPE=slow
+#REQUIRE_VERSION=2.2
+# This test use a negative expect rule and verify that setting a required
+# minimum amount of data to match.
+feature ignore_unknown_macro
+
+syslog S1 -level notice {
+    recv
+    expect ~ "[^:\\[ ]\\[${h1_pid}\\]: Proxy be1 started."
+    recv
+    expect ~ "[^:\\[ ]\\[${h1_pid}\\]: Health check for server be1/srv1 failed, reason: Layer7 timeout.*at step 2 of tcp-check"
+} -start
+
+syslog S2 -level notice {
+    recv
+    expect ~ "[^:\\[ ]\\[${h1_pid}\\]: Proxy be2 started."
+    recv
+    expect ~ "[^:\\[ ]\\[${h1_pid}\\]: Health check for server be2/srv1 succeeded"
+} -start
+
+server s1 {
+    send "valid"
+    delay 0.2
+    expect_close
+} -start
+
+server s2 {
+    send "valid"
+    recv 10
+    send "valid"
+    delay 0.2
+    expect_close
+} -start
+
+haproxy h1 -conf {
+  defaults
+    mode tcp
+    timeout connect 200ms
+    timeout check 500ms
+    timeout server 5s
+    timeout client 5s
+
+  backend be1
+    log ${S1_addr}:${S1_port} len 2048 local0
+    option tcp-check
+    option log-health-checks
+    tcp-check connect
+    tcp-check expect !rstring "^error" comment "negative check"
+    tcp-check expect string "valid" comment "positive check"
+    tcp-check send "0123456789"
+    tcp-check expect string "valid" comment "positive check"
+    server srv1 ${s1_addr}:${s1_port} check inter 200ms rise 1 fall 1
+
+  backend be2
+    log ${S2_addr}:${S2_port} len 2048 local0
+    option tcp-check
+    option log-health-checks
+    tcp-check connect
+    tcp-check expect min-recv 5 !rstring "^error" comment "negative check"
+    tcp-check expect string "valid" comment "positive check"
+    tcp-check send "0123456789"
+    tcp-check expect string "valid" comment "positive check"
+    server srv1 ${s2_addr}:${s2_port} check inter 200ms rise 1 fall 1
+} -start
+
+syslog S1 -wait
+syslog S2 -wait
diff --git a/src/cfgparse-listen.c b/src/cfgparse-listen.c
index 911255b80..4b099c181 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse-listen.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse-listen.c
@@ -3192,6 +3192,7 @@ stats_error_parsing:
 		}
 		else if (strcmp(args[1], "expect") == 0) {
 			struct tcpcheck_rule *tcpcheck, *prev_check;
+			long min_recv = -1;
 			const char *ptr_arg;
 			int cur_arg;
 			int inverse = 0;
@@ -3203,6 +3204,30 @@ stats_error_parsing:
 			}
 
 			cur_arg = 2;
+
+			/* Parse potential the minimum amount of data
+			 * required before proceeding with the match.
+			 */
+			if (strcmp(args[cur_arg], "min-recv") == 0) {
+				if (!*(args[cur_arg + 1])) {
+					ha_alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s %s %s' expects an integer as an argument.\n",
+						 file, linenum, args[0], args[1], args[2]);
+					err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+					goto out;
+				}
+
+				/* Use an signed integer here because of chksize */
+				min_recv = atol(args[cur_arg + 1]);
+				if (min_recv < -1 || min_recv > INT_MAX) {
+					ha_alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s %s %s' expects -1 or an integer from 0 to INT_MAX.\n",
+						 file, linenum, args[0], args[1], args[2]);
+					err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+					goto out;
+				}
+
+				cur_arg += 2;
+			}
+
 			/* consider exclamation marks, sole or at the beginning of a word */
 			while (*(ptr_arg = args[cur_arg])) {
 				while (*ptr_arg == '!') {
@@ -3221,6 +3246,7 @@ stats_error_parsing:
 			tcpcheck = calloc(1, sizeof(*tcpcheck));
 			tcpcheck->action = TCPCHK_ACT_EXPECT;
 			tcpcheck->inverse = inverse;
+			tcpcheck->min_recv = min_recv;
 
 			if (strcmp(ptr_arg, "binary") == 0) {
 				char *err = NULL;
diff --git a/src/checks.c b/src/checks.c
index ea534f512..bb45026bf 100644
--- a/src/checks.c
+++ b/src/checks.c
@@ -3159,14 +3159,23 @@ static int tcpcheck_main(struct check *check)
 			}
 
 		tcpcheck_expect:
-			if (!done && (check->current_step->string != NULL) && (b_data(&check->bi) < check->current_step->string_len) )
+
+			/* The current expect might need more data than the previous one, check again
+			 * that the minimum amount data required to match is respected.
+			 */
+			if (!done &&
+			    (((check->current_step->string != NULL) && (b_data(&check->bi) < check->current_step->string_len)) ||
+			     ((check->current_step->min_recv > 0 && (b_data(&check->bi) < check->current_step->min_recv)))))
 				continue; /* try to read more */
 			if (check->current_step->string != NULL)
 				ret = my_memmem(contentptr, b_data(&check->bi), check->current_step->string, check->current_step->string_len) != NULL;
 			else if (check->current_step->expect_regex != NULL)
 				ret = regex_exec(check->current_step->expect_regex, contentptr);
 
-			if (!ret && !done)
+			/* Wait for more data on mismatch only if no minimum is defined (-1),
+			 * otherwise the absence of match is already conclusive.
+			 */
+			if (!ret && !done && (check->current_step->min_recv == -1))
 				continue; /* try to read more */
 
 			/* matched */