diff --git a/include/proto/pattern.h b/include/proto/pattern.h
index e2801a0..63e02e7 100644
--- a/include/proto/pattern.h
+++ b/include/proto/pattern.h
@@ -75,6 +75,20 @@
 
 /*
  *
+ * The following functions search pattern <pattern> into the pattern
+ * expression <expr>. If the pattern is found, delete it. This function
+ * never fails.
+ *
+ */
+void pat_del_list_val(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+void pat_del_tree_ip(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+void pat_del_list_ptr(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+void pat_del_tree_str(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+void pat_del_list_str(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+void pat_del_list_reg(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pat);
+
+/*
+ *
  * The following functions are general purpose pattern matching functions.
  *
  */
@@ -162,6 +176,7 @@
 void pattern_prune_expr(struct pattern_expr *expr);
 void pattern_init_expr(struct pattern_expr *expr);
 int pattern_lookup(const char *args, struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern_list **pat_elt, struct pattern_tree **idx_elt, char **err);
+int pattern_delete(const char *key, struct pattern_expr *expr, char **err);
 
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/types/acl.h b/include/types/acl.h
index 49c03cf..96b30bd 100644
--- a/include/types/acl.h
+++ b/include/types/acl.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@
 	char *fetch_kw;
 	int (*parse)(const char *text, struct pattern *pattern, char **err);
 	int (*index)(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pattern, char **err);
+	void (*delete)(struct pattern_expr *expr, struct pattern *pattern);
 	struct pattern *(*match)(struct sample *smp, struct pattern_expr *expr, int fill);
 	/* must be after the config params */
 	struct sample_fetch *smp; /* the sample fetch we depend on */
diff --git a/include/types/pattern.h b/include/types/pattern.h
index 9622888..2224e4c 100644
--- a/include/types/pattern.h
+++ b/include/types/pattern.h
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@
 struct pattern_expr {
 	int (*parse)(const char *text, struct pattern *pattern, char **err);
 	int (*index)(struct pattern_expr *, struct pattern *, char **);
+	void (*delete)(struct pattern_expr *, struct pattern *);
 	struct pattern *(*match)(struct sample *, struct pattern_expr *, int);
 	struct list patterns;         /* list of acl_patterns */
 	struct eb_root pattern_tree;  /* may be used for lookup in large datasets */
@@ -166,7 +167,8 @@
 extern char *pat_match_names[PAT_MATCH_NUM];
 extern int (*pat_parse_fcts[PAT_MATCH_NUM])(const char *, struct pattern *, char **);
 extern int (*pat_index_fcts[PAT_MATCH_NUM])(struct pattern_expr *, struct pattern *, char **);
-struct pattern *(*pat_match_fcts[PAT_MATCH_NUM])(struct sample *, struct pattern_expr *, int);
+extern void (*pat_delete_fcts[PAT_MATCH_NUM])(struct pattern_expr *, struct pattern *);
+extern struct pattern *(*pat_match_fcts[PAT_MATCH_NUM])(struct sample *, struct pattern_expr *, int);
 extern int pat_match_types[PAT_MATCH_NUM];
 
 #endif /* _TYPES_PATTERN_H */