diff --git a/include/haproxy/server-t.h b/include/haproxy/server-t.h
index f3f5a02f4..ecf11e2d3 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/server-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/server-t.h
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ enum srv_initaddr {
 #define SRV_F_DYNAMIC      0x1000        /* dynamic server instantiated at runtime */
 #define SRV_F_NON_PURGEABLE 0x2000       /* this server cannot be removed at runtime */
 #define SRV_F_DEFSRV_USE_SSL 0x4000      /* default-server uses SSL */
+#define SRV_F_DELETED 0x8000             /* srv is deleted but not yet purged */
 
 /* configured server options for send-proxy (server->pp_opts) */
 #define SRV_PP_V1               0x0001   /* proxy protocol version 1 */
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index ade6aafd4..6b6d867b3 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -5107,6 +5107,15 @@ static int cli_parse_delete_server(char **args, char *payload, struct appctx *ap
 	/* remove srv from idle_node tree for idle conn cleanup */
 	eb32_delete(&srv->idle_node);
 
+	/* flag the server as deleted
+	 * (despite the server being removed from primary server list,
+	 * one could still access the server data from a valid ptr)
+	 * Deleted flag helps detecting when a server is in transient removal
+	 * state.
+	 * ie: removed from the list but not yet freed/purged from memory.
+	 */
+	srv->flags |= SRV_F_DELETED;
+
 	/* set LSB bit (odd bit) for reuse_cnt */
 	srv_id_reuse_cnt |= 1;