diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index cd8ab4b72..2e43f3875 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -3756,6 +3756,7 @@ option tcp-smart-connect             (*)  X          -         X         X
 option tcpka                              X          X         X         X
 option tcplog                             X          X         X         X
 option transparent                   (*)  X          -         X         X
+option idle-close-on-response        (*)  X          X         X         -
 external-check command                    X          -         X         X
 external-check path                       X          -         X         X
 persist rdp-cookie                        X          -         X         X
@@ -9015,6 +9016,35 @@ option external-check
   See also : "external-check", "external-check command", "external-check path"
 
 
+option idle-close-on-response
+no option idle-close-on-response
+  Avoid closing idle frontend connections if a soft stop is in progress
+  May be used in sections :   defaults | frontend | listen | backend
+                                 yes   |    yes   |   yes  |   no
+  Arguments : none
+
+  By default, idle connections will be closed during a soft stop. In some
+  environments, a client talking to the proxy may have prepared some idle
+  connections in order to send requests later. If there is no proper retry on
+  write errors, this can result in errors while haproxy is reloading. Even
+  though a proper implementation should retry on connection/write errors, this
+  option was introduced to support backwards compatibility with haproxy prior
+  to version 2.4. Indeed before v2.4, haproxy used to wait for a last request
+  and response to add a "connection: close" header before closing, thus
+  notifying the client that the connection would not be reusable.
+
+  In a real life example, this behavior was seen in AWS using the ALB in front
+  of a haproxy. The end result was ALB sending 502 during haproxy reloads.
+
+  Users are warned that using this option may increase the number of old
+  processes if connections remain idle for too long. Adjusting the client
+  timeouts and/or the "hard-stop-after" parameter accordingly might be
+  needed in case of frequent reloads.
+
+  See also: "timeout client", "timeout client-fin", "timeout http-request",
+            "hard-stop-after"
+
+
 option log-health-checks
 no option log-health-checks
   Enable or disable logging of health checks status updates
diff --git a/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h b/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
index 8ca4e818d..421f900e2 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ enum PR_SRV_STATE_FILE {
 #define PR_O_REUSE_ALWS 0x0000000C      /* always reuse a shared connection */
 #define PR_O_REUSE_MASK 0x0000000C      /* mask to retrieve shared connection preferences */
 
-/* unused: 0x10 */
+#define PR_O_IDLE_CLOSE_RESP 0x00000010 /* avoid closing idle connections during a soft stop */
 #define PR_O_PREF_LAST  0x00000020      /* prefer last server */
 #define PR_O_DISPATCH   0x00000040      /* use dispatch mode */
 #define PR_O_FORCED_ID  0x00000080      /* proxy's ID was forced in the configuration */
diff --git a/src/mux_h1.c b/src/mux_h1.c
index 7b6ab946d..1ec6cb77c 100644
--- a/src/mux_h1.c
+++ b/src/mux_h1.c
@@ -2999,7 +2999,8 @@ static int h1_process(struct h1c * h1c)
 	 */
 	if (!(h1c->flags & H1C_F_IS_BACK)) {
 		if (unlikely(h1c->px->flags & (PR_FL_DISABLED|PR_FL_STOPPED))) {
-			if (h1c->flags & H1C_F_WAIT_NEXT_REQ)
+			if (!(h1c->px->options & PR_O_IDLE_CLOSE_RESP) &&
+				h1c->flags & H1C_F_WAIT_NEXT_REQ)
 				goto release;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index ff5e35e2c..e583e5104 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ const struct cfg_opt cfg_opts[] =
 	{ "dontlognull",  PR_O_NULLNOLOG,  PR_CAP_FE, 0, 0 },
 	{ "http-buffer-request", PR_O_WREQ_BODY,  PR_CAP_FE | PR_CAP_BE, 0, PR_MODE_HTTP },
 	{ "http-ignore-probes", PR_O_IGNORE_PRB, PR_CAP_FE, 0, PR_MODE_HTTP },
+	{ "idle-close-on-response", PR_O_IDLE_CLOSE_RESP, PR_CAP_FE, 0, PR_MODE_HTTP },
 	{ "prefer-last-server", PR_O_PREF_LAST,  PR_CAP_BE, 0, PR_MODE_HTTP },
 	{ "logasap",      PR_O_LOGASAP,    PR_CAP_FE, 0, 0 },
 	{ "nolinger",     PR_O_TCP_NOLING, PR_CAP_FE | PR_CAP_BE, 0, 0 },