diff --git a/app/vmagent/remotewrite/client.go b/app/vmagent/remotewrite/client.go
index aea3b498b..7ffb50a2f 100644
--- a/app/vmagent/remotewrite/client.go
+++ b/app/vmagent/remotewrite/client.go
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/awsapi"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputils"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/logger"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/persistentqueue"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promauth"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/protoparser/common"
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func newHTTPClient(argIdx int, remoteWriteURL, sanitizedURL string, fq *persiste
 		logger.Fatalf("cannot initialize AWS Config for -remoteWrite.url=%q: %s", remoteWriteURL, err)
 	}
 	tr := &http.Transport{
-		DialContext:         httputils.GetStatDialFunc("vmagent_remotewrite"),
+		DialContext:         netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vmagent_remotewrite"),
 		TLSHandshakeTimeout: tlsHandshakeTimeout.GetOptionalArg(argIdx),
 		MaxConnsPerHost:     2 * concurrency,
 		MaxIdleConnsPerHost: 2 * concurrency,
diff --git a/app/vmalert/datasource/init.go b/app/vmalert/datasource/init.go
index a4184a23e..74fb77935 100644
--- a/app/vmalert/datasource/init.go
+++ b/app/vmalert/datasource/init.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputils"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/logger"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ func Init(extraParams url.Values) (QuerierBuilder, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create transport: %w", err)
 	}
-	tr.DialContext = httputils.GetStatDialFunc("vmalert_datasource")
+	tr.DialContext = netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vmalert_datasource")
 	tr.DisableKeepAlives = *disableKeepAlive
 	tr.MaxIdleConnsPerHost = *maxIdleConnections
 	if tr.MaxIdleConns != 0 && tr.MaxIdleConns < tr.MaxIdleConnsPerHost {
diff --git a/app/vmalert/remoteread/init.go b/app/vmalert/remoteread/init.go
index e243857cb..c7ce0ea1d 100644
--- a/app/vmalert/remoteread/init.go
+++ b/app/vmalert/remoteread/init.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/app/vmalert/utils"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputils"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ func Init() (datasource.QuerierBuilder, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create transport: %w", err)
 	}
 	tr.IdleConnTimeout = *idleConnectionTimeout
-	tr.DialContext = httputils.GetStatDialFunc("vmalert_remoteread")
+	tr.DialContext = netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vmalert_remoteread")
 
 	endpointParams, err := flagutil.ParseJSONMap(*oauth2EndpointParams)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/app/vmalert/remotewrite/init.go b/app/vmalert/remotewrite/init.go
index 05309da8f..bd8352d91 100644
--- a/app/vmalert/remotewrite/init.go
+++ b/app/vmalert/remotewrite/init.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/app/vmalert/utils"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputils"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ func Init(ctx context.Context) (*Client, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create transport: %w", err)
 	}
 	t.IdleConnTimeout = *idleConnectionTimeout
-	t.DialContext = httputils.GetStatDialFunc("vmalert_remotewrite")
+	t.DialContext = netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vmalert_remotewrite")
 
 	endpointParams, err := flagutil.ParseJSONMap(*oauth2EndpointParams)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/app/vmauth/main.go b/app/vmauth/main.go
index 04f949de9..4f2320d78 100644
--- a/app/vmauth/main.go
+++ b/app/vmauth/main.go
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ func newRoundTripper(caFileOpt, certFileOpt, keyFileOpt, serverNameOpt string, i
 	if tr.MaxIdleConns != 0 && tr.MaxIdleConns < tr.MaxIdleConnsPerHost {
 		tr.MaxIdleConns = tr.MaxIdleConnsPerHost
 	}
-	tr.DialContext = netutil.DialMaybeSRV
+	tr.DialContext = netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vmauth_backend")
 
 	rt := cfg.NewRoundTripper(tr)
 	return rt, nil
diff --git a/lib/httputils/statconn.go b/lib/httputils/statconn.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a7494a87c..000000000
--- a/lib/httputils/statconn.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,146 +0,0 @@
-package httputils
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"fmt"
-	"net"
-	"strconv"
-	"strings"
-	"sync"
-	"sync/atomic"
-
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
-)
-
-var statConnMetricsRegistry sync.Map
-
-type statConnMetrics struct {
-	dialsTotal *metrics.Counter
-	dialErrors *metrics.Counter
-	conns      *metrics.Counter
-
-	connReadsTotal   *metrics.Counter
-	connWritesTotal  *metrics.Counter
-	connReadErrors   *metrics.Counter
-	connWriteErrors  *metrics.Counter
-	connBytesRead    *metrics.Counter
-	connBytesWritten *metrics.Counter
-}
-
-func newStatConnMetrics(metricPrefix string) statConnMetrics {
-	scm := statConnMetrics{}
-
-	scm.dialsTotal = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_dials_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.dialErrors = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_dial_errors_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.conns = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conns`, metricPrefix))
-
-	scm.connReadsTotal = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_reads_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.connWritesTotal = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_writes_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.connReadErrors = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_read_errors_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.connWriteErrors = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_write_errors_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.connBytesRead = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_bytes_read_total`, metricPrefix))
-	scm.connBytesWritten = metrics.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_bytes_written_total`, metricPrefix))
-
-	return scm
-}
-
-// GetStatDialFunc returns dial function that supports DNS SRV records,
-// and register stats metrics for conns.
-func GetStatDialFunc(metricPrefix string) func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
-	v, ok := statConnMetricsRegistry.Load(metricPrefix)
-	if !ok {
-		v = newStatConnMetrics(metricPrefix)
-		statConnMetricsRegistry.Store(metricPrefix, v)
-	}
-	sm := v.(statConnMetrics)
-	return func(ctx context.Context, _, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
-		network := netutil.GetTCPNetwork()
-		conn, err := netutil.DialMaybeSRV(ctx, network, addr)
-		sm.dialsTotal.Inc()
-		if err != nil {
-			sm.dialErrors.Inc()
-			if !netutil.TCP6Enabled() && !isTCPv4Addr(addr) {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("%w; try -enableTCP6 command-line flag for dialing ipv6 addresses", err)
-			}
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		sm.conns.Inc()
-		sc := &statConn{
-			Conn:            conn,
-			statConnMetrics: sm,
-		}
-		return sc, nil
-	}
-}
-
-type statConn struct {
-	closed atomic.Int32
-	net.Conn
-	statConnMetrics
-}
-
-func (sc *statConn) Read(p []byte) (int, error) {
-	n, err := sc.Conn.Read(p)
-	sc.connReadsTotal.Inc()
-	if err != nil {
-		sc.connReadErrors.Inc()
-	}
-	sc.connBytesRead.Add(n)
-	return n, err
-}
-
-func (sc *statConn) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
-	n, err := sc.Conn.Write(p)
-	sc.connWritesTotal.Inc()
-	if err != nil {
-		sc.connWriteErrors.Inc()
-	}
-	sc.connBytesWritten.Add(n)
-	return n, err
-}
-
-func (sc *statConn) Close() error {
-	err := sc.Conn.Close()
-	if sc.closed.Add(1) == 1 {
-		sc.conns.Dec()
-	}
-	return err
-}
-
-func isTCPv4Addr(addr string) bool {
-	s := addr
-	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
-		n := strings.IndexByte(s, '.')
-		if n < 0 {
-			return false
-		}
-		if !isUint8NumString(s[:n]) {
-			return false
-		}
-		s = s[n+1:]
-	}
-	n := strings.IndexByte(s, ':')
-	if n < 0 {
-		return false
-	}
-	if !isUint8NumString(s[:n]) {
-		return false
-	}
-	s = s[n+1:]
-
-	// Verify TCP port
-	n, err := strconv.Atoi(s)
-	if err != nil {
-		return false
-	}
-	return n >= 0 && n < (1<<16)
-}
-
-func isUint8NumString(s string) bool {
-	n, err := strconv.Atoi(s)
-	if err != nil {
-		return false
-	}
-	return n >= 0 && n < (1<<8)
-}
diff --git a/lib/netutil/conn.go b/lib/netutil/conn.go
index 41aefb0b9..b5c7b1e0c 100644
--- a/lib/netutil/conn.go
+++ b/lib/netutil/conn.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ type connMetrics struct {
 
 	closeErrors *metrics.Counter
 
-	conns *metrics.Counter
+	conns *metrics.Gauge
 }
 
 func (cm *connMetrics) init(ms *metrics.Set, group, name, addr string) {
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func (cm *connMetrics) init(ms *metrics.Set, group, name, addr string) {
 
 	cm.closeErrors = ms.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_errors_total{name=%q, addr=%q, type="close"}`, group, name, addr))
 
-	cm.conns = ms.NewCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conns{name=%q, addr=%q}`, group, name, addr))
+	cm.conns = ms.NewGauge(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conns{name=%q, addr=%q}`, group, name, addr), nil)
 }
 
 type statConn struct {
diff --git a/lib/netutil/statdial.go b/lib/netutil/statdial.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd3f339bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/netutil/statdial.go
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+package netutil
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"net"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
+
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
+)
+
+// NewStatDialFunc returns dialer function that supports DNS SRV records and registers stats metrics for conns.
+func NewStatDialFunc(metricPrefix string) func(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
+	return func(ctx context.Context, _, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
+		sc := &statDialConn{
+			dialsTotal: metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_dials_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			dialErrors: metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_dial_errors_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			conns:      metrics.GetOrCreateGauge(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conns`, metricPrefix), nil),
+
+			readsTotal:        metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_reads_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			writesTotal:       metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_writes_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			readErrorsTotal:   metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_read_errors_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			writeErrorsTotal:  metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_write_errors_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			bytesReadTotal:    metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_bytes_read_total`, metricPrefix)),
+			bytesWrittenTotal: metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`%s_conn_bytes_written_total`, metricPrefix)),
+		}
+
+		network := GetTCPNetwork()
+		conn, err := DialMaybeSRV(ctx, network, addr)
+		sc.dialsTotal.Inc()
+		if err != nil {
+			sc.dialErrors.Inc()
+			if !TCP6Enabled() && !isTCPv4Addr(addr) {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("%w; try -enableTCP6 command-line flag for dialing ipv6 addresses", err)
+			}
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		sc.Conn = conn
+		sc.conns.Inc()
+		return sc, nil
+	}
+}
+
+type statDialConn struct {
+	closed atomic.Int32
+	net.Conn
+
+	dialsTotal *metrics.Counter
+	dialErrors *metrics.Counter
+	conns      *metrics.Gauge
+
+	readsTotal        *metrics.Counter
+	writesTotal       *metrics.Counter
+	readErrorsTotal   *metrics.Counter
+	writeErrorsTotal  *metrics.Counter
+	bytesReadTotal    *metrics.Counter
+	bytesWrittenTotal *metrics.Counter
+}
+
+func (sc *statDialConn) Read(p []byte) (int, error) {
+	n, err := sc.Conn.Read(p)
+	sc.readsTotal.Inc()
+	if err != nil {
+		sc.readErrorsTotal.Inc()
+	}
+	sc.bytesReadTotal.Add(n)
+	return n, err
+}
+
+func (sc *statDialConn) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
+	n, err := sc.Conn.Write(p)
+	sc.writesTotal.Inc()
+	if err != nil {
+		sc.writeErrorsTotal.Inc()
+	}
+	sc.bytesWrittenTotal.Add(n)
+	return n, err
+}
+
+func (sc *statDialConn) Close() error {
+	err := sc.Conn.Close()
+	if sc.closed.Add(1) == 1 {
+		sc.conns.Dec()
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func isTCPv4Addr(addr string) bool {
+	s := addr
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		n := strings.IndexByte(s, '.')
+		if n < 0 {
+			return false
+		}
+		if !isUint8NumString(s[:n]) {
+			return false
+		}
+		s = s[n+1:]
+	}
+	n := strings.IndexByte(s, ':')
+	if n < 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	if !isUint8NumString(s[:n]) {
+		return false
+	}
+	s = s[n+1:]
+
+	// Verify TCP port
+	n, err := strconv.Atoi(s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return n >= 0 && n < (1<<16)
+}
+
+func isUint8NumString(s string) bool {
+	n, err := strconv.Atoi(s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return n >= 0 && n < (1<<8)
+}
diff --git a/lib/httputils/statconn_test.go b/lib/netutil/statdial_test.go
similarity index 97%
rename from lib/httputils/statconn_test.go
rename to lib/netutil/statdial_test.go
index 1978b09bf..83f48e827 100644
--- a/lib/httputils/statconn_test.go
+++ b/lib/netutil/statdial_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package httputils
+package netutil
 
 import (
 	"testing"
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 func TestIsTCPv4Addr(t *testing.T) {
 	f := func(addr string, resultExpected bool) {
 		t.Helper()
+
 		result := isTCPv4Addr(addr)
 		if result != resultExpected {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected result for isIPv4Addr(%q); got %v; want %v", addr, result, resultExpected)
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/client.go b/lib/promscrape/client.go
index 239f2da7e..fce6d8dce 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/client.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/client.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/flagutil"
-	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/httputils"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/netutil"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func newClient(ctx context.Context, sw *ScrapeWork) (*client, error) {
 			IdleConnTimeout:        2 * sw.ScrapeInterval,
 			DisableCompression:     *disableCompression || sw.DisableCompression,
 			DisableKeepAlives:      *disableKeepAlive || sw.DisableKeepAlive,
-			DialContext:            httputils.GetStatDialFunc("vm_promscrape"),
+			DialContext:            netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vm_promscrape"),
 			MaxIdleConnsPerHost:    100,
 			MaxResponseHeaderBytes: int64(maxResponseHeadersSize.N),
 		}),
diff --git a/lib/promscrape/discoveryutils/client.go b/lib/promscrape/discoveryutils/client.go
index f95543808..590669ae5 100644
--- a/lib/promscrape/discoveryutils/client.go
+++ b/lib/promscrape/discoveryutils/client.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func NewClient(apiServer string, ac *promauth.Config, proxyURL *proxy.URL, proxy
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot parse apiServer=%q: %w", apiServer, err)
 	}
 
-	dialFunc := netutil.DialMaybeSRV
+	dialFunc := netutil.NewStatDialFunc("vm_promscrape_discovery")
 	if u.Scheme == "unix" {
 		// special case for unix socket connection
 		dialAddr := u.Path