diff --git a/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c b/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
index 51f1ca2c07b..ebba36f6c4d 100644
--- a/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
+++ b/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ static int32_t ctdb_control_dispatch(struct ctdb_context *ctdb,
 	case CTDB_CONTROL_PING:
 		CHECK_CONTROL_DATA_SIZE(0);
 		ctdb->status.controls.ping++;
-		return ctdb->num_clients;
+		return ctdb->status.num_clients;
 
 	case CTDB_CONTROL_GET_DBNAME: {
 		uint32_t db_id;
diff --git a/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c b/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
index f29d7d3c122..616a7bc4b3d 100644
--- a/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
+++ b/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ static void daemon_request_connect_wait(struct ctdb_client *client,
 static int ctdb_client_destructor(struct ctdb_client *client)
 {
 	ctdb_reqid_remove(client->ctdb, client->client_id);
-	client->ctdb->num_clients--;
+	client->ctdb->status.num_clients--;
 	close(client->fd);
 	client->fd = -1;
 	return 0;
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ static void ctdb_accept_client(struct event_context *ev, struct fd_event *fde,
 	client->ctdb = ctdb;
 	client->fd = fd;
 	client->client_id = ctdb_reqid_new(ctdb, client);
-	ctdb->num_clients++;
+	ctdb->status.num_clients++;
 
 	client->queue = ctdb_queue_setup(ctdb, client, fd, CTDB_DS_ALIGNMENT, 
 					 ctdb_daemon_read_cb, client);
diff --git a/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h b/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h
index 6eb915e57ff..cd47bba863e 100644
--- a/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h
+++ b/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ struct ctdb_daemon_data {
   ctdb status information
  */
 struct ctdb_status {
+	uint32_t num_clients;
 	uint32_t client_packets_sent;
 	uint32_t client_packets_recv;
 	uint32_t node_packets_sent;
diff --git a/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c b/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
index 813e920b9b2..a436ae7210a 100644
--- a/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
+++ b/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ static void show_status(struct ctdb_status *s)
 		uint32_t offset;
 	} fields[] = {
 #define STATUS_FIELD(n) { #n, offsetof(struct ctdb_status, n) }
+		STATUS_FIELD(num_clients),
 		STATUS_FIELD(client_packets_sent),
 		STATUS_FIELD(client_packets_recv),
 		STATUS_FIELD(node_packets_sent),