diff --git a/include/haproxy/pattern-t.h b/include/haproxy/pattern-t.h
index b84c7e71e..35c4fd095 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/pattern-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/pattern-t.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <import/ebtree-t.h>
 
 #include <haproxy/api-t.h>
+#include <haproxy/event_hdl-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/regex-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/sample_data-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/thread-t.h>
@@ -116,6 +117,7 @@ struct pat_ref {
 	unsigned long long entry_cnt; /* the total number of entries */
 	THREAD_ALIGN(64);
 	__decl_thread(HA_RWLOCK_T lock); /* Lock used to protect pat ref elements */
+	event_hdl_sub_list e_subs;       /* event_hdl: pat_ref's subscribers list (atomically updated) */
 };
 
 /* This is a part of struct pat_ref. Each entry contains one pattern and one
diff --git a/include/haproxy/pattern.h b/include/haproxy/pattern.h
index 283eb5b08..2b1235853 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/pattern.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/pattern.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 #include <haproxy/api.h>
+#include <haproxy/event_hdl.h>
 #include <haproxy/pattern-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/sample-t.h>
 
@@ -238,8 +239,10 @@ static inline void pat_ref_giveup(struct pat_ref *ref, unsigned int gen)
  */
 static inline int pat_ref_commit(struct pat_ref *ref, unsigned int gen)
 {
-	if ((int)(gen - ref->curr_gen) > 0)
+	if ((int)(gen - ref->curr_gen) > 0) {
 		ref->curr_gen = gen;
+		event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_COMMIT, NULL);
+	}
 	return gen - ref->curr_gen;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pattern.c b/src/pattern.c
index 2c1a48342..59deced0c 100644
--- a/src/pattern.c
+++ b/src/pattern.c
@@ -1606,6 +1606,7 @@ int pat_ref_delete_by_id(struct pat_ref *ref, struct pat_ref_elt *refelt)
 	/* delete pattern from reference */
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(elt, safe, &ref->head, list) {
 		if (elt == refelt) {
+			event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_DEL, NULL);
 			pat_ref_delete_by_ptr(ref, elt);
 			return 1;
 		}
@@ -1636,6 +1637,9 @@ int pat_ref_gen_delete(struct pat_ref *ref, unsigned int gen_id, const char *key
 		found = 1;
 	}
 
+	if (found)
+		event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_DEL, NULL);
+
 	return found;
 }
 
@@ -1815,6 +1819,10 @@ static int pat_ref_set_from_node(struct pat_ref *ref, struct ebmb_node *node, co
 		memprintf(err, "entry not found");
 		return 0;
 	}
+
+	if (gen == ref->curr_gen) // gen cannot be uninitialized here
+		event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_SET, NULL);
+
 	return 1;
 }
 
@@ -1887,6 +1895,7 @@ static struct pat_ref *_pat_ref_new(const char *display, unsigned int flags)
 	ref->ebmb_root = EB_ROOT;
 	LIST_INIT(&ref->pat);
 	HA_RWLOCK_INIT(&ref->lock);
+	event_hdl_sub_list_init(&ref->e_subs);
 
 	return ref;
 }
@@ -1896,6 +1905,7 @@ static void pat_ref_free(struct pat_ref *ref)
 {
 	ha_free(&ref->reference);
 	ha_free(&ref->display);
+	event_hdl_sub_list_destroy(&ref->e_subs);
 	free(ref);
 }
 
@@ -2095,6 +2105,10 @@ struct pat_ref_elt *pat_ref_load(struct pat_ref *ref, unsigned int gen,
 	} else
 		memprintf(err, "out of memory error");
 
+	/* ignore if update requires committing to be seen */
+	if (elt && gen == ref->curr_gen)
+		event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_ADD, NULL);
+
 	return elt;
 }
 
@@ -2167,6 +2181,12 @@ int pat_ref_purge_range(struct pat_ref *ref, uint from, uint to, int budget)
 	list_for_each_entry(expr, &ref->pat, list)
 		HA_RWLOCK_WRUNLOCK(PATEXP_LOCK, &expr->lock);
 
+	/* only publish when we're done and if curr_gen was impacted by the
+	 * purge
+	 */
+	if (done && ref->curr_gen - from <= to - from)
+		event_hdl_publish(&ref->e_subs, EVENT_HDL_SUB_PAT_REF_CLEAR, NULL);
+
 	return done;
 }