diff --git a/include/haproxy/fd-t.h b/include/haproxy/fd-t.h
index c5e94cbec..c2b2aee20 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/fd-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/fd-t.h
@@ -193,6 +193,11 @@ struct fdtab {
 	void *owner;                         /* the connection or listener associated with this fd, NULL if closed */
 	unsigned int state;                  /* FD state for read and write directions (FD_EV_*) + FD_POLL_* */
 	unsigned int refc_tgid;              /* refcounted tgid, updated atomically */
+	/* the info below are mainly used for epoll debugging/strengthening.
+	 * they're filling the rest of the cache line but may easily be dropped
+	 * if the room is needed for more important stuff.
+	 */
+	unsigned int nb_takeover;            /* number of times this FD was taken over since inserted (used for debugging) */
 #ifdef DEBUG_FD
 	unsigned int event_count;            /* number of events reported */
 #endif
diff --git a/include/haproxy/fd.h b/include/haproxy/fd.h
index faaeaa645..a83539e48 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/fd.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/fd.h
@@ -500,6 +500,10 @@ static inline void fd_insert(int fd, void *owner, void (*iocb)(int fd), int tgid
 	fdtab[fd].iocb = iocb;
 	fdtab[fd].state = newstate;
 	fdtab[fd].thread_mask = thread_mask;
+
+	/* just for debugging: how many times taken over since last fd_insert() */
+	fdtab[fd].nb_takeover = 0;
+
 	fd_drop_tgid(fd);
 
 #ifdef DEBUG_FD
diff --git a/src/cli.c b/src/cli.c
index d5cc34499..d00b5b241 100644
--- a/src/cli.c
+++ b/src/cli.c
@@ -1415,7 +1415,7 @@ static int cli_io_handler_show_fd(struct appctx *appctx)
 			suspicious = 1;
 
 		chunk_printf(&trash,
-			     "  %5d : st=0x%06x(%c%c %c%c%c%c%c W:%c%c%c R:%c%c%c) ref=%#x gid=%d tmask=0x%lx umask=0x%lx prmsk=0x%lx pwmsk=0x%lx owner=%p iocb=%p(",
+			     "  %5d : st=0x%06x(%c%c %c%c%c%c%c W:%c%c%c R:%c%c%c) ref=%#x gid=%d tmask=0x%lx umask=0x%lx prmsk=0x%lx pwmsk=0x%lx owner=%p tkov=%u iocb=%p(",
 			     fd,
 			     fdt.state,
 			     (fdt.state & FD_CLONED) ? 'C' : 'c',
@@ -1437,6 +1437,7 @@ static int cli_io_handler_show_fd(struct appctx *appctx)
 			     polled_mask[fd].poll_recv,
 			     polled_mask[fd].poll_send,
 			     fdt.owner,
+			     fdt.nb_takeover,
 			     fdt.iocb);
 		resolve_sym_name(&trash, NULL, fdt.iocb);
 
diff --git a/src/fd.c b/src/fd.c
index cf77884b1..bf4241ba2 100644
--- a/src/fd.c
+++ b/src/fd.c
@@ -542,6 +542,9 @@ int fd_takeover(int fd, void *expected_owner)
 	 */
 	fd_stop_recv(fd);
 
+	/* essentially for debugging */
+	fdtab[fd].nb_takeover++;
+
 	/* we're done with it */
 	HA_ATOMIC_AND(&fdtab[fd].running_mask, ~ti->ltid_bit);