diff --git a/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.ml b/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.ml
index 88c35e07..37a968cf 100644
--- a/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.ml
+++ b/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.ml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type registry = {
   mutable counters: counter list;
   mutable gauges: gauge list;
   mutable hists: histogram list;
+  mutable on_will_emit: (unit -> unit) list;
 }
 
 let validate_descr_ what s =
@@ -154,9 +155,13 @@ end
 module Registry = struct
   type t = registry
 
-  let create () : t = { counters = []; gauges = []; hists = [] }
+  let create () : t =
+    { counters = []; gauges = []; hists = []; on_will_emit = [] }
+
+  let on_will_emit self f = self.on_will_emit <- f :: self.on_will_emit
 
   let emit (buf : Buffer.t) (self : t) : unit =
+    List.iter (fun f -> f ()) self.on_will_emit;
     List.iter (Gauge.emit buf) self.gauges;
     List.iter (Counter.emit buf) self.counters;
     List.iter (Histogram.emit buf) self.hists;
@@ -228,4 +233,8 @@ module GC_metrics = struct
     Counter.incr_to self.major_coll stats.major_collections;
     Counter.incr_to self.compactions stats.compactions;
     Gauge.set self.major_heap (stats.heap_words * 8)
+
+  let create_and_update_before_emit reg : unit =
+    let gc = create reg in
+    Registry.on_will_emit reg (fun () -> update gc)
 end
diff --git a/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.mli b/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.mli
index 055dc135..799db5b2 100644
--- a/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.mli
+++ b/src/prometheus/tiny_httpd_prometheus.mli
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ module Registry : sig
 
   val create : unit -> t
 
+  val on_will_emit : t -> (unit -> unit) -> unit
+  (** [on_will_emit registry f] calls [f()] every time
+      [emit buf registry] is called (before the metrics start being emitted). This
+      is useful to update some metrics on demand. *)
+
   val emit : Buffer.t -> t -> unit
   (** Write metrics into the given buffer. The buffer will be
       cleared first thing. *)
@@ -79,4 +84,9 @@ module GC_metrics : sig
 
   val create : Registry.t -> t
   val update : t -> unit
+
+  val create_and_update_before_emit : Registry.t -> unit
+  (** [create_and_update_before_emit reg] creates new GC metrics,
+    adds them to the registry, and uses {!Registry.on_will_emit}
+    to {!update} the metrics every time the registry is polled. *)
 end