diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 818ebcf3..6dfcbf30 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -256,6 +256,12 @@ class MyComponent
 end
 ```
 
+### `init_label_set`
+
+The time series of a metric are not initialized until something happens. For counters, for example, this means that the time series do not exist until the counter is incremented for the first time.
+
+To get around this problem the client provides the `init_label_set` method that can be used to initialise the time series of a metric for a given label set.
+
 ### Reserved labels
 
 The following labels are reserved by the client library, and attempting to use them in a
diff --git a/lib/prometheus/client/histogram.rb b/lib/prometheus/client/histogram.rb
index 893282ef..7c32d016 100644
--- a/lib/prometheus/client/histogram.rb
+++ b/lib/prometheus/client/histogram.rb
@@ -94,6 +94,16 @@ def values
         end
       end
 
+      def init_label_set(labels)
+        base_label_set = label_set_for(labels)
+
+        @store.synchronize do
+          (buckets + ["+Inf", "sum"]).each do |bucket|
+            @store.set(labels: base_label_set.merge(le: bucket.to_s), val: 0)
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
       private
 
       # Modifies the passed in parameter
diff --git a/lib/prometheus/client/metric.rb b/lib/prometheus/client/metric.rb
index 1bb43347..92de2530 100644
--- a/lib/prometheus/client/metric.rb
+++ b/lib/prometheus/client/metric.rb
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ def with_labels(labels)
                        store_settings: @store_settings)
       end
 
+      def init_label_set(labels)
+        @store.set(labels: label_set_for(labels), val: 0)
+      end
+
       # Returns all label sets with their values
       def values
         @store.all_values
diff --git a/lib/prometheus/client/summary.rb b/lib/prometheus/client/summary.rb
index 9f65faa8..43a15126 100644
--- a/lib/prometheus/client/summary.rb
+++ b/lib/prometheus/client/summary.rb
@@ -45,6 +45,15 @@ def values
         end
       end
 
+      def init_label_set(labels)
+        base_label_set = label_set_for(labels)
+
+        @store.synchronize do
+          @store.set(labels: base_label_set.merge(quantile: "count"), val: 0)
+          @store.set(labels: base_label_set.merge(quantile: "sum"), val: 0)
+        end
+      end
+
       private
 
       def reserved_labels
diff --git a/spec/prometheus/client/counter_spec.rb b/spec/prometheus/client/counter_spec.rb
index 806c55b6..bd7d794f 100644
--- a/spec/prometheus/client/counter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/prometheus/client/counter_spec.rb
@@ -79,4 +79,16 @@
       end.to change { counter.get }.by(100.0)
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#init_label_set' do
+    let(:expected_labels) { [:test] }
+
+    it 'initializes the metric for a given label set' do
+      expect(counter.values).to eql({})
+
+      counter.init_label_set(test: 'value')
+
+      expect(counter.values).to eql({test: 'value'} => 0.0)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/prometheus/client/gauge_spec.rb b/spec/prometheus/client/gauge_spec.rb
index 9476272f..fedf3221 100644
--- a/spec/prometheus/client/gauge_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/prometheus/client/gauge_spec.rb
@@ -161,4 +161,16 @@
       end.to change { gauge.get }.by(-100.0)
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#init_label_set' do
+    let(:expected_labels) { [:test] }
+
+    it 'initializes the metric for a given label set' do
+      expect(gauge.values).to eql({})
+
+      gauge.init_label_set(test: 'value')
+
+      expect(gauge.values).to eql({test: 'value'} => 0.0)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/prometheus/client/histogram_spec.rb b/spec/prometheus/client/histogram_spec.rb
index c64c6218..473a6b5c 100644
--- a/spec/prometheus/client/histogram_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/prometheus/client/histogram_spec.rb
@@ -118,4 +118,20 @@
       )
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#init_label_set' do
+    let(:expected_labels) { [:status] }
+
+    it 'initializes the metric for a given label set' do
+      expect(histogram.values).to eql({})
+
+      histogram.init_label_set(status: 'bar')
+      histogram.init_label_set(status: 'foo')
+
+      expect(histogram.values).to eql(
+        { status: 'bar' } => { "2.5" => 0.0, "5" => 0.0, "10" => 0.0, "+Inf" => 0.0, "sum" => 0.0 },
+        { status: 'foo' } => { "2.5" => 0.0, "5" => 0.0, "10" => 0.0, "+Inf" => 0.0, "sum" => 0.0 },
+      )
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/prometheus/client/summary_spec.rb b/spec/prometheus/client/summary_spec.rb
index c69f754f..514cf8dc 100644
--- a/spec/prometheus/client/summary_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/prometheus/client/summary_spec.rb
@@ -99,4 +99,20 @@
       )
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#init_label_set' do
+    let(:expected_labels) { [:status] }
+
+    it 'initializes the metric for a given label set' do
+      expect(summary.values).to eql({})
+
+      summary.init_label_set(status: 'bar')
+      summary.init_label_set(status: 'foo')
+
+      expect(summary.values).to eql(
+        { status: 'bar' } => { "count" => 0.0, "sum" => 0.0 },
+        { status: 'foo' } => { "count" => 0.0, "sum" => 0.0 },
+      )
+    end
+  end
 end