diff --git a/ctdb/common/ctdb_client.c b/ctdb/common/ctdb_client.c
index 415d38b0fce..18685cd25e5 100644
--- a/ctdb/common/ctdb_client.c
+++ b/ctdb/common/ctdb_client.c
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ int ctdb_setvnnmap(struct ctdb_context *ctdb, uint32_t destnode, struct ctdb_vnn
 }
 
 /*
-  ping a node
+  ping a node, return number of clients connected
  */
 int ctdb_ping(struct ctdb_context *ctdb, uint32_t destnode)
 {
@@ -907,10 +907,10 @@ int ctdb_ping(struct ctdb_context *ctdb, uint32_t destnode)
 
 	ZERO_STRUCT(data);
 	ret = ctdb_control(ctdb, destnode, 0, CTDB_CONTROL_PING, data, NULL, NULL, &res);
-	if (ret != 0 || res != 0) {
+	if (ret != 0) {
 		return -1;
 	}
-	return 0;
+	return res;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c b/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
index 83bac958e06..731aadd5eac 100644
--- a/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
+++ b/ctdb/common/ctdb_control.c
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ static int32_t ctdb_control_dispatch(struct ctdb_context *ctdb,
 
 	case CTDB_CONTROL_PING:
 		CHECK_CONTROL_DATA_SIZE(0);
-		return 0;
+		return ctdb->num_clients;
 
 	case CTDB_CONTROL_GETDBPATH: {
 		uint32_t db_id;
diff --git a/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c b/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
index d305718575d..d0d2c1a46df 100644
--- a/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
+++ b/ctdb/common/ctdb_daemon.c
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ static void daemon_request_connect_wait(struct ctdb_client *client,
 */
 static int ctdb_client_destructor(struct ctdb_client *client)
 {
+	client->ctdb->num_clients--;
 	close(client->fd);
 	client->fd = -1;
 	return 0;
@@ -547,6 +548,7 @@ static void ctdb_accept_client(struct event_context *ev, struct fd_event *fde,
 	client = talloc_zero(ctdb, struct ctdb_client);
 	client->ctdb = ctdb;
 	client->fd = fd;
+	ctdb->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 dbbce30a447..fa8d3debf46 100644
--- a/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h
+++ b/ctdb/include/ctdb_private.h
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ struct ctdb_context {
 	struct ctdb_daemon_data daemon;
 	struct ctdb_status status;
 	struct ctdb_vnn_map *vnn_map;
+	uint32_t num_clients;
 };
 
 struct ctdb_db_context {
diff --git a/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c b/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
index 6057a186f3d..41f6c4c774f 100644
--- a/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
+++ b/ctdb/tools/ctdb_control.c
@@ -261,11 +261,11 @@ static int control_ping(struct ctdb_context *ctdb, int argc, const char **argv)
 	for (i=0;i<ctdb->num_nodes;i++) {
 		struct timeval tv = timeval_current();
 		ret = ctdb_ping(ctdb, i);
-		if (ret != 0) {
+		if (ret == -1) {
 			printf("Unable to get ping response from node %u\n", i);
 		} else {
-			printf("response from %u time=%.6f sec\n", 
-			       i, timeval_elapsed(&tv));
+			printf("response from %u time=%.6f sec  (%d clients)\n", 
+			       i, timeval_elapsed(&tv), ret);
 		}
 	}
 	return 0;