diff --git a/pywb/apps/frontendapp.py b/pywb/apps/frontendapp.py
index 69382df2..25d5e4ab 100644
--- a/pywb/apps/frontendapp.py
+++ b/pywb/apps/frontendapp.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from wsgiprox.wsgiprox import WSGIProxMiddleware
 from pywb.recorder.multifilewarcwriter import MultiFileWARCWriter
 from pywb.recorder.recorderapp import RecorderApp
 from pywb.recorder.filters import SkipDupePolicy, WriteDupePolicy, WriteRevisitDupePolicy
-from pywb.recorder.redisindexer import WritableRedisIndexer
+from pywb.recorder.redisindexer import WritableRedisIndexer, RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer
 
 from pywb.utils.loaders import load_yaml_config
 from pywb.utils.geventserver import GeventServer
@@ -244,8 +244,16 @@ class FrontEndApp(object):
                                           dedup_index=dedup_index,
                                           dedup_by_url=dedup_by_url)
 
+        if dedup_policy:
+            pending_counter = self.warcserver.dedup_index_url.replace(':cdxj', ':pending')
+            pending_timeout = recorder_config.get('pending_timeout', 30)
+            create_buff_func = lambda params, name: RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer(512 * 1024, pending_counter, params, name, pending_timeout)
+        else:
+            create_buff_func = None
+
         self.recorder = RecorderApp(self.RECORD_SERVER % str(self.warcserver_server.port), warc_writer,
-                                    accept_colls=recorder_config.get('source_filter'))
+                                    accept_colls=recorder_config.get('source_filter'),
+                                    create_buff_func=create_buff_func)
 
         recorder_server = GeventServer(self.recorder, port=0)
 
diff --git a/pywb/recorder/recorderapp.py b/pywb/recorder/recorderapp.py
index 689d4171..83fa40ab 100644
--- a/pywb/recorder/recorderapp.py
+++ b/pywb/recorder/recorderapp.py
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ class RecorderApp(object):
 
         self.rec_source_name = kwargs.get('name', 'recorder')
 
-        self.create_buff_func = kwargs.get('create_buff_func',
-                                           self.default_create_buffer)
+        self.create_buff_func = kwargs.get('create_buff_func') or self.default_create_buffer
 
         self.write_queue = gevent.queue.Queue()
         gevent.spawn(self._write_loop)
diff --git a/pywb/recorder/redisindexer.py b/pywb/recorder/redisindexer.py
index 7fbb7d6f..52408c25 100644
--- a/pywb/recorder/redisindexer.py
+++ b/pywb/recorder/redisindexer.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from warcio.timeutils import iso_date_to_timestamp
 
 from io import BytesIO
 import os
+import tempfile
 
 from pywb.utils.canonicalize import calc_search_range
 from pywb.utils.format import res_template
@@ -101,3 +102,29 @@ class WritableRedisIndexer(RedisIndexSource):
                 return res
 
         return None
+
+
+# ============================================================================
+class RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer(tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile):
+    def __init__(self, max_size, redis_url, params, name, timeout=30):
+        redis_url = res_template(redis_url, params)
+        super(RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer, self).__init__(max_size=max_size)
+        self.redis, self.key = RedisIndexSource.parse_redis_url(redis_url)
+        self.timeout = timeout
+
+        self.redis.incrby(self.key, 1)
+        self.redis.expire(self.key, self.timeout)
+
+    def write(self, buf):
+        super(RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer, self).write(buf)
+        self.redis.expire(self.key, self.timeout)
+
+    def close(self):
+        try:
+            super(RedisPendingCounterTempBuffer, self).close()
+        except:
+            traceback.print_exc()
+
+        self.redis.incrby(self.key, -1)
+        self.redis.expire(self.key, self.timeout)
+
diff --git a/tests/test_record_dedup.py b/tests/test_record_dedup.py
index 724a32cd..9b01e9e3 100644
--- a/tests/test_record_dedup.py
+++ b/tests/test_record_dedup.py
@@ -50,3 +50,7 @@ class TestRecordDedup(HttpBinLiveTests, CollsDirMixin, BaseConfigTest, FakeRedis
 
         # ensure only one response/request pair written
         assert records == ['response', 'request']
+
+    def test_redis_pending_count(self):
+        res = self.redis.get("pywb:test-dedup:pending")
+        assert res == b'0'