diff --git a/include/asterisk/statsd.h b/include/asterisk/statsd.h
index 8e5e2f987db6c869884136c20dd46734dbbd75b6..a04407f89bafc504415a2fd30db0edb59d55f710 100644
--- a/include/asterisk/statsd.h
+++ b/include/asterisk/statsd.h
@@ -39,6 +39,22 @@
 /*! Events over time. Sorta like increment-only counters. */
 #define AST_STATSD_METER "m"
 
+/*!
+ * \brief Send a stat to the configured statsd server.
+ *
+ * This function uses a character argument for value instead of
+ * an intmax_t argument. This is designed to be simpler to use for
+ * updating a current value rather than resetting it.
+ *
+ * \param metric_name String (UTF-8) name of the metric.
+ * \param type_str Type of metric to send.
+ * \param value Value to send.
+ * \param sample_rate Percentage of samples to send.
+ * \since 13
+ */
+AST_OPTIONAL_API(void, ast_statsd_log_string, (const char *metric_name,
+	const char *metric_type, const char *value, double sample_rate), {});
+
 /*!
  * \brief Send a stat to the configured statsd server.
  *
diff --git a/res/res_statsd.c b/res/res_statsd.c
index 2cbd7f09c91c340f7f1d8eeb33f505270e351535..b8b79be07528c3863eb43f95872237037cdd7572 100644
--- a/res/res_statsd.c
+++ b/res/res_statsd.c
@@ -97,11 +97,11 @@ static void conf_server(const struct conf *cfg, struct ast_sockaddr *addr)
 	}
 }
 
-void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
-	const char *metric_type, intmax_t value, double sample_rate)
+void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_string)(const char *metric_name,
+	const char *metric_type, const char *value, double sample_rate)
 {
-	RAII_VAR(struct conf *, cfg, NULL, ao2_cleanup);
-	RAII_VAR(struct ast_str *, msg, NULL, ast_free);
+	struct conf *cfg;
+	struct ast_str *msg;
 	size_t len;
 	struct ast_sockaddr statsd_server;
 
@@ -109,9 +109,6 @@ void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
 		return;
 	}
 
-	cfg = ao2_global_obj_ref(confs);
-	conf_server(cfg, &statsd_server);
-
 	/* Rates <= 0.0 never get logged.
 	 * Rates >= 1.0 always get logged.
 	 * All others leave it to chance.
@@ -122,9 +119,11 @@ void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
 	}
 
 	cfg = ao2_global_obj_ref(confs);
+	conf_server(cfg, &statsd_server);
 
 	msg = ast_str_create(40);
 	if (!msg) {
+		ao2_cleanup(cfg);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -132,7 +131,7 @@ void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
 		ast_str_append(&msg, 0, "%s.", cfg->global->prefix);
 	}
 
-	ast_str_append(&msg, 0, "%s:%jd|%s", metric_name, value, metric_type);
+	ast_str_append(&msg, 0, "%s:%s|%s", metric_name, value, metric_type);
 
 	if (sample_rate < 1.0) {
 		ast_str_append(&msg, 0, "|@%.2f", sample_rate);
@@ -144,20 +143,39 @@ void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
 
 	len = ast_str_strlen(msg);
 
-	ast_debug(6, "send: %s\n", ast_str_buffer(msg));
+	ast_debug(6, "Sending statistic %s to StatsD server\n", ast_str_buffer(msg));
 	ast_sendto(socket_fd, ast_str_buffer(msg), len, 0, &statsd_server);
+
+	ao2_cleanup(cfg);
+	ast_free(msg);
+}
+
+void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_full)(const char *metric_name,
+	const char *metric_type, intmax_t value, double sample_rate)
+{
+	char char_value[30];
+	snprintf(char_value, sizeof(char_value), "%jd", value);
+
+	ast_statsd_log_string(metric_name, metric_type, char_value, sample_rate);
+
 }
 
 void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log)(const char *metric_name,
 	const char *metric_type, intmax_t value)
 {
-	ast_statsd_log_full(metric_name, metric_type, value, 1.0);
+	char char_value[30];
+	snprintf(char_value, sizeof(char_value), "%jd", value);
+
+	ast_statsd_log_string(metric_name, metric_type, char_value, 1.0);
 }
 
 void AST_OPTIONAL_API_NAME(ast_statsd_log_sample)(const char *metric_name,
 	intmax_t value, double sample_rate)
 {
-	ast_statsd_log_full(metric_name, AST_STATSD_COUNTER, value,
+	char char_value[30];
+	snprintf(char_value, sizeof(char_value), "%jd", value);
+
+	ast_statsd_log_string(metric_name, AST_STATSD_COUNTER, char_value,
 		sample_rate);
 }
 
diff --git a/res/res_statsd.exports.in b/res/res_statsd.exports.in
index 6f02b25d6a76f7950f128fc92ff99870a7509b0b..d4a79c18f071076249cb980b1071fadd59cf179a 100644
--- a/res/res_statsd.exports.in
+++ b/res/res_statsd.exports.in
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 		LINKER_SYMBOL_PREFIX*ast_statsd_log;
 		LINKER_SYMBOL_PREFIX*ast_statsd_log_full;
 		LINKER_SYMBOL_PREFIX*ast_statsd_log_sample;
+		LINKER_SYMBOL_PREFIX*ast_statsd_log_string;
 	local:
 		*;
 };