diff --git a/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat.c b/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat.c
index f8e91484e36b..f6784ad6cd15 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat.c
@@ -1490,6 +1490,12 @@ pgstat_register_kind(PgStat_Kind kind, const PgStat_KindInfo *kind_info)
 			ereport(ERROR,
 					(errmsg("custom cumulative statistics property is invalid"),
 					 errhint("Custom cumulative statistics require a shared memory size for fixed-numbered objects.")));
+		if (kind_info->track_counts)
+		{
+			ereport(ERROR,
+					(errmsg("custom cumulative statistics property is invalid"),
+					 errhint("Custom cumulative statistics cannot use counter tracking for fixed-numbered objects.")));
+		}
 	}
 
 	/*
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat_shmem.c b/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat_shmem.c
index 9dc3212f7dd0..141ab10031cd 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat_shmem.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/activity/pgstat_shmem.c
@@ -210,27 +210,35 @@ StatsShmemInit(void)
 
 		pg_atomic_init_u64(&ctl->gc_request_count, 1);
 
-		/* initialize fixed-numbered stats */
+		/* Do the per-kind initialization */
 		for (PgStat_Kind kind = PGSTAT_KIND_MIN; kind <= PGSTAT_KIND_MAX; kind++)
 		{
 			const PgStat_KindInfo *kind_info = pgstat_get_kind_info(kind);
 			char	   *ptr;
 
-			if (!kind_info || !kind_info->fixed_amount)
+			if (!kind_info)
 				continue;
 
-			if (pgstat_is_kind_builtin(kind))
-				ptr = ((char *) ctl) + kind_info->shared_ctl_off;
-			else
-			{
-				int			idx = kind - PGSTAT_KIND_CUSTOM_MIN;
+			/* initialize counter tracking */
+			if (kind_info->track_counts)
+				pg_atomic_init_u64(&ctl->entry_counts[kind - 1], 0);
 
-				Assert(kind_info->shared_size != 0);
-				ctl->custom_data[idx] = ShmemAlloc(kind_info->shared_size);
-				ptr = ctl->custom_data[idx];
+			/* initialize fixed-numbered stats */
+			if (kind_info->fixed_amount)
+			{
+				if (pgstat_is_kind_builtin(kind))
+					ptr = ((char *) ctl) + kind_info->shared_ctl_off;
+				else
+				{
+					int			idx = kind - PGSTAT_KIND_CUSTOM_MIN;
+
+					Assert(kind_info->shared_size != 0);
+					ctl->custom_data[idx] = ShmemAlloc(kind_info->shared_size);
+					ptr = ctl->custom_data[idx];
+				}
+
+				kind_info->init_shmem_cb(ptr);
 			}
-
-			kind_info->init_shmem_cb(ptr);
 		}
 	}
 	else
@@ -303,6 +311,7 @@ pgstat_init_entry(PgStat_Kind kind,
 	/* Create new stats entry. */
 	dsa_pointer chunk;
 	PgStatShared_Common *shheader;
+	const PgStat_KindInfo *kind_info = pgstat_get_kind_info(kind);
 
 	/*
 	 * Initialize refcount to 1, marking it as valid / not dropped. The entry
@@ -319,7 +328,7 @@ pgstat_init_entry(PgStat_Kind kind,
 	shhashent->dropped = false;
 
 	chunk = dsa_allocate_extended(pgStatLocal.dsa,
-								  pgstat_get_kind_info(kind)->shared_size,
+								  kind_info->shared_size,
 								  DSA_ALLOC_ZERO | DSA_ALLOC_NO_OOM);
 	if (chunk == InvalidDsaPointer)
 		return NULL;
@@ -330,6 +339,10 @@ pgstat_init_entry(PgStat_Kind kind,
 	/* Link the new entry from the hash entry. */
 	shhashent->body = chunk;
 
+	/* Increment entry count, if required. */
+	if (kind_info->track_counts)
+		pg_atomic_fetch_add_u64(&pgStatLocal.shmem->entry_counts[kind - 1], 1);
+
 	LWLockInitialize(&shheader->lock, LWTRANCHE_PGSTATS_DATA);
 
 	return shheader;
@@ -910,7 +923,17 @@ pgstat_drop_entry_internal(PgStatShared_HashEntry *shent,
 	/* release refcount marking entry as not dropped */
 	if (pg_atomic_sub_fetch_u32(&shent->refcount, 1) == 0)
 	{
+		PgStat_Kind kind = shent->key.kind;
+
 		pgstat_free_entry(shent, hstat);
+
+		/*
+		 * Entry has been dropped with refcount at 0, hence decrement the
+		 * entry counter.
+		 */
+		if (pgstat_get_kind_info(kind)->track_counts)
+			pg_atomic_sub_fetch_u64(&pgStatLocal.shmem->entry_counts[kind - 1], 1);
+
 		return true;
 	}
 	else
diff --git a/src/include/utils/pgstat_internal.h b/src/include/utils/pgstat_internal.h
index 6cf00008f633..8762a06081f8 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/pgstat_internal.h
+++ b/src/include/utils/pgstat_internal.h
@@ -216,6 +216,12 @@ typedef struct PgStat_KindInfo
 	/* Should stats be written to the on-disk stats file? */
 	bool		write_to_file:1;
 
+	/*
+	 * Should the number of entries be tracked?  For variable-numbered stats,
+	 * to update its PgStat_ShmemControl.entry_counts.
+	 */
+	bool		track_counts:1;
+
 	/*
 	 * The size of an entry in the shared stats hash table (pointed to by
 	 * PgStatShared_HashEntry->body).  For fixed-numbered statistics, this is
@@ -485,6 +491,15 @@ typedef struct PgStat_ShmemControl
 	 */
 	pg_atomic_uint64 gc_request_count;
 
+	/*
+	 * Counters for the number of entries associated to a single stats kind
+	 * that uses variable-numbered objects stored in the shared hash table.
+	 * These counters can be enabled on a per-kind basis, when track_counts is
+	 * set.  This counter is incremented each time a new entry is created (not
+	 * when reused), and each time an entry is dropped.
+	 */
+	pg_atomic_uint64 entry_counts[PGSTAT_KIND_MAX];
+
 	/*
 	 * Stats data for fixed-numbered objects.
 	 */
@@ -910,6 +925,17 @@ pgstat_get_entry_data(PgStat_Kind kind, PgStatShared_Common *entry)
 	return ((char *) (entry)) + off;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Returns the number of entries counted for a stats kind.
+ */
+static inline uint64
+pgstat_get_entry_count(PgStat_Kind kind)
+{
+	Assert(pgstat_get_kind_info(kind)->track_counts);
+
+	return pg_atomic_read_u64(&pgStatLocal.shmem->entry_counts[kind - 1]);
+}
+
 /*
  * Returns a pointer to the shared memory area of custom stats for
  * fixed-numbered statistics.
diff --git a/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_points--1.0.sql b/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_points--1.0.sql
index 5f5657b2043c..a7b61fbdfe6f 100644
--- a/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_points--1.0.sql
+++ b/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_points--1.0.sql
@@ -99,6 +99,16 @@ RETURNS bigint
 AS 'MODULE_PATHNAME', 'injection_points_stats_numcalls'
 LANGUAGE C STRICT;
 
+--
+-- injection_points_stats_count()
+--
+-- Return the number of entries stored in the pgstats hash table.
+--
+CREATE FUNCTION injection_points_stats_count()
+RETURNS bigint
+AS 'MODULE_PATHNAME', 'injection_points_stats_count'
+LANGUAGE C STRICT;
+
 --
 -- injection_points_stats_drop()
 --
diff --git a/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_stats.c b/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_stats.c
index e3947b23ba57..15ad9883dedb 100644
--- a/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_stats.c
+++ b/src/test/modules/injection_points/injection_stats.c
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ static const PgStat_KindInfo injection_stats = {
 	.shared_data_len = sizeof(((PgStatShared_InjectionPoint *) 0)->stats),
 	.pending_size = sizeof(PgStat_StatInjEntry),
 	.flush_pending_cb = injection_stats_flush_cb,
+	.track_counts = true,
 };
 
 /*
@@ -198,6 +199,17 @@ injection_points_stats_numcalls(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	PG_RETURN_INT64(entry->numcalls);
 }
 
+/*
+ * SQL function returning the number of entries allocated for injection
+ * points in the shared hashtable of pgstats.
+ */
+PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(injection_points_stats_count);
+Datum
+injection_points_stats_count(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
+{
+	PG_RETURN_INT64(pgstat_get_entry_count(PGSTAT_KIND_INJECTION));
+}
+
 /* Only used by injection_points_stats_drop() */
 static bool
 match_inj_entries(PgStatShared_HashEntry *entry, Datum match_data)
diff --git a/src/test/modules/injection_points/t/001_stats.pl b/src/test/modules/injection_points/t/001_stats.pl
index 25de5fc46fe4..47ab58d0e9b8 100644
--- a/src/test/modules/injection_points/t/001_stats.pl
+++ b/src/test/modules/injection_points/t/001_stats.pl
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@
 my $numcalls = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT injection_points_stats_numcalls('stats-notice');");
 is($numcalls, '2', 'number of stats calls');
+my $entrycount =
+  $node->safe_psql('postgres', "SELECT injection_points_stats_count();");
+is($entrycount, '1', 'number of entries');
 my $fixedstats = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT * FROM injection_points_stats_fixed();");
 is($fixedstats, '1|0|2|0|0', 'fixed stats after some calls');
@@ -55,6 +58,9 @@
 $numcalls = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT injection_points_stats_numcalls('stats-notice');");
 is($numcalls, '3', 'number of stats after clean restart');
+$entrycount =
+  $node->safe_psql('postgres', "SELECT injection_points_stats_count();");
+is($entrycount, '1', 'number of entries after clean restart');
 $fixedstats = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT * FROM injection_points_stats_fixed();");
 is($fixedstats, '1|0|2|1|1', 'fixed stats after clean restart');
@@ -65,6 +71,9 @@
 $numcalls = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT injection_points_stats_numcalls('stats-notice');");
 is($numcalls, '', 'number of stats after crash');
+$entrycount =
+  $node->safe_psql('postgres', "SELECT injection_points_stats_count();");
+is($entrycount, '0', 'number of entries after crash');
 $fixedstats = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT * FROM injection_points_stats_fixed();");
 is($fixedstats, '0|0|0|0|0', 'fixed stats after crash');
@@ -81,6 +90,9 @@
 $numcalls = $node->safe_psql('postgres',
 	"SELECT injection_points_stats_numcalls('stats-notice');");
 is($numcalls, '', 'no stats after drop via SQL function');
+$entrycount =
+  $node->safe_psql('postgres', "SELECT injection_points_stats_count();");
+is($entrycount, '0', 'number of entries after drop via SQL function');
 
 # Stop the server, disable the module, then restart.  The server
 # should be able to come up.