diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index 643afd919..c430ec3b8 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -2496,7 +2496,7 @@ grace <time>
   simplify it.
 
 
-hash-type <method> <function>
+hash-type <method> <function> <modifier>
   Specify a method to use for mapping hashes to servers
   May be used in sections :   defaults | frontend | listen | backend
                                  yes   |    no    |   yes  |   yes
@@ -2515,15 +2515,6 @@ hash-type <method> <function>
                   different servers. This can be inconvenient with caches for
                   instance.
 
-      avalanche   this mechanism uses the default map-based hashing described
-                  above but applies a full avalanche hash before performing the
-                  mapping. The result is a slightly less smooth hash for most
-                  situations, but the hash becomes better than pure map-based
-                  hashes when the number of servers is a multiple of the size of
-                  the input set. When using URI hash with a number of servers
-                  multiple of 64, it's desirable to change the hash type to
-                  this value.
-
       consistent  the hash table is a tree filled with many occurrences of each
                   server. The hash key is looked up in the tree and the closest
                   server is chosen. This hash is dynamic, it supports changing
@@ -2537,8 +2528,8 @@ hash-type <method> <function>
                   server's weight or its ID to get a more balanced distribution.
                   In order to get the same distribution on multiple load
                   balancers, it is important that all servers have the exact
-                  same IDs. Note: by default, a full avalanche hash is always
-                  performed before applying the consistent hash.
+                  same IDs. Note: consistent hash uses sdbm and avalanche if no
+                  hash function is specified.
 
     <function> is the hash function to be used :
 
@@ -2546,11 +2537,31 @@ hash-type <method> <function>
               reimplementation of ndbm) database library. It was found to do
               well in scrambling bits, causing better distribution of the keys
               and fewer splits. It also happens to be a good general hashing
-              function with good distribution.
+              function with good distribution, unless the total server weight
+              is a multiple of 64, in which case applying the avalanche
+              modifier may help.
 
        djb2   this function was first proposed by Dan Bernstein many years ago
               on comp.lang.c. Studies have shown that for certain workload this
-              function provides a better distribution than sdbm.
+              function provides a better distribution than sdbm. It generally
+              works well with text-based inputs though it can perform extremely
+              poorly with numeric-only input or when the total server weight is
+              a multiple of 33, unless the avalanche modifier is also used.
+
+    <modifier> indicates an optional method applied after hashing the key :
+
+       avalanche   This directive indicates that the result from the hash
+                   function above should not be used in its raw form but that
+                   a 4-byte full avalanche hash must be applied first. The
+                   purpose of this step is to mix the resulting bits from the
+                   previous hash in order to avoid any undesired effect when
+                   the input contains some limited values or when the number of
+                   servers is a multiple of one of the hash's components (64
+                   for SDBM, 33 for DJB2). Enabling avalanche tends to make the
+                   result less predictable, but it's also not as smooth as when
+                   using the original function. Some testing might be needed
+                   with some workloads. This hash is one of the many proposed
+                   by Bob Jenkins.
 
   The default hash type is "map-based" and is recommended for most usages. The
   default function is "sdbm", the selection of a function should be based on
diff --git a/include/types/backend.h b/include/types/backend.h
index 1a433cfa3..57d17bdf2 100644
--- a/include/types/backend.h
+++ b/include/types/backend.h
@@ -105,8 +105,11 @@
 /* hash types */
 #define BE_LB_HASH_MAP    0x000000 /* map-based hash (default) */
 #define BE_LB_HASH_CONS   0x100000 /* consistent hashbit to indicate a dynamic algorithm */
-#define BE_LB_HASH_AVAL   0x200000 /* run an avalanche hash before a map */
-#define BE_LB_HASH_TYPE   0x300000 /* get/clear hash types */
+#define BE_LB_HASH_TYPE   0x100000 /* get/clear hash types */
+
+/* additional modifier on top of the hash function (only avalanche right now) */
+#define BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL   0x200000  /* avalanche modifier */
+#define BE_LB_HASH_MOD    0x200000  /* get/clear hash modifier */
 
 /* BE_LB_HFCN_* is the hash function, to be used with BE_LB_HASH_FUNC */
 #define BE_LB_HFCN_SDBM   0x000000 /* sdbm hash */
diff --git a/src/backend.c b/src/backend.c
index bf4a81ddc..e044430e0 100644
--- a/src/backend.c
+++ b/src/backend.c
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ struct server *get_server_sh(struct proxy *px, const char *addr, int len)
 		h ^= ntohl(*(unsigned int *)(&addr[l]));
 		l += sizeof (int);
 	}
-	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 		h = full_hash(h);
  hash_done:
 	if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ struct server *get_server_uh(struct proxy *px, char *uri, int uri_len)
 
 	hash = gen_hash(px, start, (end - start));
 
-	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 		hash = full_hash(hash);
  hash_done:
 	if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ struct server *get_server_ph(struct proxy *px, const char *uri, int uri_len)
 				}
 				hash = gen_hash(px, start, (end - start));
 
-				if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+				if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 					hash = full_hash(hash);
 
 				if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ struct server *get_server_ph_post(struct session *s)
 				}
 				hash = gen_hash(px, start, (end - start));
 
-				if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+				if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 					hash = full_hash(hash);
 
 				if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ struct server *get_server_hh(struct session *s)
 		}
 		hash = gen_hash(px, start, (end - start));
 	}
-	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 		hash = full_hash(hash);
  hash_done:
 	if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ struct server *get_server_rch(struct session *s)
 	 */
 	hash = gen_hash(px, smp.data.str.str, len);
 
-	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) != BE_LB_HASH_MAP)
+	if ((px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_MOD) == BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL)
 		hash = full_hash(hash);
  hash_done:
 	if (px->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_LKUP_CHTREE)
diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 051f600ed..bb79a34a1 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -4085,7 +4085,13 @@ stats_error_parsing:
 		}
 	}
 	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "hash-type")) { /* set hashing method */
-		curproxy->lbprm.algo &= ~(BE_LB_HASH_TYPE | BE_LB_HASH_FUNC);
+		/**
+		 * The syntax for hash-type config element is
+		 * hash-type {map-based|consistent} [[<algo>] avalanche]
+		 *
+		 * The default hash function is sdbm for map-based and sdbm+avalanche for consistent.
+		 */
+		curproxy->lbprm.algo &= ~(BE_LB_HASH_TYPE | BE_LB_HASH_FUNC | BE_LB_HASH_MOD);
 
 		if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
 			err_code |= ERR_WARN;
@@ -4096,26 +4102,48 @@ stats_error_parsing:
 		else if (strcmp(args[1], "map-based") == 0) {	/* use map-based hashing */
 			curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HASH_MAP;
 		}
-		else if (strcmp(args[1], "avalanche") == 0) {	/* use full hash before map-based hashing */
-			curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HASH_AVAL;
+		else if (strcmp(args[1], "avalanche") == 0) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : experimental feature '%s %s' is not supported anymore, please use '%s map-based sdbm avalanche' instead.\n", file, linenum, args[0], args[1], args[0]);
+			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+			goto out;
 		}
 		else {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' only supports 'avalanche', 'consistent' and 'map-based'.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' only supports 'consistent' and 'map-based'.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
 			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
 			goto out;
 		}
 
 		/* set the hash function to use */
 		if (!*args[2]) {
+			/* the default algo is sdbm */
 			curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HFCN_SDBM;
-		} else if (!strcmp(args[2], "sdbm")) {
-			curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HFCN_SDBM;
-		} else if (!strcmp(args[2], "djb2")) {
-			curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HFCN_DJB2;
+
+			/* if consistent with no argument, then avalanche modifier is also applied */
+			if ((curproxy->lbprm.algo & BE_LB_HASH_TYPE) == BE_LB_HASH_CONS)
+				curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL;
 		} else {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' only supports 'sdbm' and 'djb2' hash functions.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
-			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
-			goto out;
+			/* set the hash function */
+			if (!strcmp(args[2], "sdbm")) {
+				curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HFCN_SDBM;
+			}
+			else if (!strcmp(args[2], "djb2")) {
+				curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HFCN_DJB2;
+			}
+			else {
+				Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' only supports 'sdbm' and 'djb2' hash functions.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
+				err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+				goto out;
+			}
+
+			/* set the hash modifier */
+			if (!strcmp(args[3], "avalanche")) {
+				curproxy->lbprm.algo |= BE_LB_HMOD_AVAL;
+			}
+			else if (*args[3]) {
+				Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' only supports 'avalanche' as a modifier for hash functions.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
+				err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+				goto out;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "server") || !strcmp(args[0], "default-server")) {  /* server address */