diff --git a/include/haproxy/stick_table.h b/include/haproxy/stick_table.h
index e5ebecd7a..320043726 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/stick_table.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/stick_table.h
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ int stksess_kill(struct stktable *t, struct stksess *ts, int decrefcount);
 int stktable_get_key_shard(struct stktable *t, const void *key, size_t len);
 
 int stktable_init(struct stktable *t, char **err_msg);
+void stktable_deinit(struct stktable *t);
 int stktable_parse_type(char **args, int *idx, unsigned long *type, size_t *key_size, const char *file, int linenum);
 int parse_stick_table(const char *file, int linenum, char **args,
                       struct stktable *t, char *id, char *nid, struct peers *peers);
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index 001fe0344..3407168d1 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -389,8 +389,7 @@ void free_proxy(struct proxy *p)
 
 	pool_destroy(p->req_cap_pool);
 	pool_destroy(p->rsp_cap_pool);
-	if (p->table)
-		pool_destroy(p->table->pool);
+	stktable_deinit(p->table);
 
 	HA_RWLOCK_DESTROY(&p->lbprm.lock);
 	HA_RWLOCK_DESTROY(&p->lock);
diff --git a/src/stick_table.c b/src/stick_table.c
index b97114c30..26ea97add 100644
--- a/src/stick_table.c
+++ b/src/stick_table.c
@@ -865,6 +865,19 @@ int stktable_init(struct stktable *t, char **err_msg)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/* Performs stick table cleanup: it's meant to be called after the table
+ * has been initialized ith stktable_init(), else it will lead to undefined
+ * behavior.
+ *
+ * However it does not free the table pointer itself
+ */
+void stktable_deinit(struct stktable *t)
+{
+	if (!t)
+		return;
+	pool_destroy(t->pool);
+}
+
 /*
  * Configuration keywords of known table types
  */