diff --git a/include/common/memory.h b/include/common/memory.h
index 8fc7cc842..5f96ac079 100644
--- a/include/common/memory.h
+++ b/include/common/memory.h
@@ -421,6 +421,10 @@ static inline void *pool_alloc_area(size_t size)
 	ret = mmap(NULL, (size + 4095) & -4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0);
 	if (ret == MAP_FAILED)
 		return NULL;
+	/* let's dereference the page before returning so that the real
+	 * allocation in the system is performed without holding the lock.
+	 */
+	*(int *)ret = 0;
 	if (pad >= sizeof(void *))
 		*(void **)(ret + pad - sizeof(void *)) = ret + pad;
 	return ret + pad;
diff --git a/src/memory.c b/src/memory.c
index 8fed2f4e9..a858a0983 100644
--- a/src/memory.c
+++ b/src/memory.c
@@ -337,6 +337,14 @@ void *__pool_refill_alloc(struct pool_head *pool, unsigned int avail)
 
 		HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(POOL_LOCK, &pool->lock);
 		ptr = pool_alloc_area(pool->size + POOL_EXTRA);
+#ifdef DEBUG_MEMORY_POOLS
+		/* keep track of where the element was allocated from. This
+		 * is done out of the lock so that the system really allocates
+		 * the data without harming other threads waiting on the lock.
+		 */
+		if (ptr)
+			*POOL_LINK(pool, ptr) = (void *)pool;
+#endif
 		HA_SPIN_LOCK(POOL_LOCK, &pool->lock);
 		if (!ptr) {
 			pool->failed++;
@@ -355,10 +363,6 @@ void *__pool_refill_alloc(struct pool_head *pool, unsigned int avail)
 		pool->free_list = ptr;
 	}
 	pool->used++;
-#ifdef DEBUG_MEMORY_POOLS
-	/* keep track of where the element was allocated from */
-	*POOL_LINK(pool, ptr) = (void *)pool;
-#endif
 	return ptr;
 }
 void *pool_refill_alloc(struct pool_head *pool, unsigned int avail)