diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index cef8e7a8f..7ce7ae5e0 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -3238,6 +3238,15 @@ anonkey <key>
   from the CLI command "set global-key". See also command line argument "-dC"
   in the management manual.
 
+quick-exit
+  This speeds up the old process exit upon reload by skipping the releasing of
+  memory objects and listeners, since all of these are reclaimed by the
+  operating system at the process' death. The gains are only marginal (in the
+  order of a few hundred milliseconds for huge configurations at most). The
+  main target usage in fact is when a bug is spotted in the deinit() code, as
+  this allows to bypass it. It is better not to use this unless instructed to
+  do so by developers.
+
 quiet
   Do not display any message during startup. It is equivalent to the command-
   line argument "-q".
diff --git a/include/haproxy/global-t.h b/include/haproxy/global-t.h
index 1c7f45b3a..0cdb361ae 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/global-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/global-t.h
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 #define GTUNE_IDLE_POOL_SHARED   (1<<20)
 #define GTUNE_DISABLE_H2_WEBSOCKET (1<<21)
 #define GTUNE_DISABLE_ACTIVE_CLOSE (1<<22)
+#define GTUNE_QUICK_EXIT         (1<<23)
 
 /* SSL server verify mode */
 enum {
diff --git a/src/cfgparse-global.c b/src/cfgparse-global.c
index 62de1013a..6cc4afe13 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse-global.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse-global.c
@@ -1221,6 +1221,11 @@ int cfg_parse_global(const char *file, int linenum, char **args, int kwm)
 				env++;
 		}
 	}
+	else if (strcmp(args[0], "quick-exit") == 0) {
+		if (alertif_too_many_args(0, file, linenum, args, &err_code))
+			goto out;
+		global.tune.options |= GTUNE_QUICK_EXIT;
+	}
 	else if (strcmp(args[0], "strict-limits") == 0) { /* "no strict-limits" or "strict-limits" */
 		if (alertif_too_many_args(0, file, linenum, args, &err_code))
 			goto out;
diff --git a/src/haproxy.c b/src/haproxy.c
index 806497062..9f5e75f53 100644
--- a/src/haproxy.c
+++ b/src/haproxy.c
@@ -2637,6 +2637,10 @@ void deinit(void)
 	struct cfg_postparser *pprs, *pprsb;
 	int cur_fd;
 
+	/* the user may want to skip this phase */
+	if (global.tune.options & GTUNE_QUICK_EXIT)
+		return;
+
 	/* At this point the listeners state is weird:
 	 *  - most listeners are still bound and referenced in their protocol
 	 *  - some might be zombies that are not in their proto anymore, but