diff --git a/gateway/metrics/exporter.go b/gateway/metrics/exporter.go
index 0d642dbd..25ff9141 100644
--- a/gateway/metrics/exporter.go
+++ b/gateway/metrics/exporter.go
@@ -14,9 +14,46 @@ import (
 	"log"
 
 	"github.com/openfaas/faas/gateway/requests"
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 )
 
-func AttachExternalWatcher(endpointURL url.URL, metricsOptions MetricOptions, label string, interval time.Duration) {
+// Exporter is a prometheus exporter
+type Exporter struct {
+	metricOptions MetricOptions
+	services      []requests.Function
+}
+
+// NewExporter creates a new exporter for the OpenFaaS gateway metrics
+func NewExporter(options MetricOptions) *Exporter {
+	return &Exporter{
+		metricOptions: options,
+		services:      []requests.Function{},
+	}
+}
+
+// Describe is to describe the metrics for Prometheus
+func (e *Exporter) Describe(ch chan<- *prometheus.Desc) {
+	e.metricOptions.GatewayFunctionInvocation.Describe(ch)
+	e.metricOptions.GatewayFunctionsHistogram.Describe(ch)
+	e.metricOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter.Describe(ch)
+}
+
+// Collect collects data to be consumed by prometheus
+func (e *Exporter) Collect(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) {
+	e.metricOptions.GatewayFunctionInvocation.Collect(ch)
+	e.metricOptions.GatewayFunctionsHistogram.Collect(ch)
+
+	e.metricOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter.Reset()
+	for _, service := range e.services {
+		e.metricOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter.
+			WithLabelValues(service.Name).
+			Set(float64(service.Replicas))
+	}
+	e.metricOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter.Collect(ch)
+}
+
+// StartServiceWatcher starts a ticker and collects service replica counts to expose to prometheus
+func (e *Exporter) StartServiceWatcher(endpointURL url.URL, metricsOptions MetricOptions, label string, interval time.Duration) {
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
 	quit := make(chan struct{})
 	proxyClient := http.Client{
@@ -57,11 +94,7 @@ func AttachExternalWatcher(endpointURL url.URL, metricsOptions MetricOptions, la
 					continue
 				}
 
-				for _, service := range services {
-					metricsOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter.
-						WithLabelValues(service.Name).
-						Set(float64(service.Replicas))
-				}
+				e.services = services
 
 				break
 			case <-quit:
diff --git a/gateway/metrics/exporter_test.go b/gateway/metrics/exporter_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..02a94cc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gateway/metrics/exporter_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package metrics
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/openfaas/faas/gateway/requests"
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
+	dto "github.com/prometheus/client_model/go"
+)
+
+type metricResult struct {
+	value  float64
+	labels map[string]string
+}
+
+func labels2Map(labels []*dto.LabelPair) map[string]string {
+	res := map[string]string{}
+	for _, l := range labels {
+		res[l.GetName()] = l.GetValue()
+	}
+	return res
+}
+
+func readGauge(g prometheus.Metric) metricResult {
+	m := &dto.Metric{}
+	g.Write(m)
+
+	return metricResult{
+		value:  m.GetGauge().GetValue(),
+		labels: labels2Map(m.GetLabel()),
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_Describe_DescribesThePrometheusMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	metricsOptions := BuildMetricsOptions()
+	exporter := NewExporter(metricsOptions)
+
+	ch := make(chan *prometheus.Desc)
+	defer close(ch)
+
+	go exporter.Describe(ch)
+
+	d := (<-ch)
+	expectedGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc := `Desc{fqName: "gateway_function_invocation_total", help: "Individual function metrics", constLabels: {}, variableLabels: [function_name code]}`
+	actualGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc := d.String()
+	if expectedGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc != actualGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc {
+		t.Errorf("Want %s, got: %s", expectedGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc, actualGatewayFunctionInvocationDesc)
+	}
+	d = (<-ch)
+	expectedGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc := `Desc{fqName: "gateway_functions_seconds", help: "Function time taken", constLabels: {}, variableLabels: [function_name]}`
+	actualGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc := d.String()
+	if expectedGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc != actualGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc {
+		t.Errorf("Want %s, got: %s", expectedGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc, actualGatewayFunctionsHistogramDesc)
+	}
+	d = (<-ch)
+	expectedServiceReplicasCounterDesc := `Desc{fqName: "gateway_service_count", help: "Docker service replicas", constLabels: {}, variableLabels: [function_name]}`
+	actualServiceReplicasCounterDesc := d.String()
+	if expectedServiceReplicasCounterDesc != actualServiceReplicasCounterDesc {
+		t.Errorf("Want %s, got: %s", expectedServiceReplicasCounterDesc, actualServiceReplicasCounterDesc)
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_Collect_CollectsTheNumberOfReplicasOfAService(t *testing.T) {
+	metricsOptions := BuildMetricsOptions()
+	exporter := NewExporter(metricsOptions)
+
+	expectedService := requests.Function{
+		Name:     "function_with_two_replica",
+		Replicas: 2,
+	}
+
+	exporter.services = []requests.Function{expectedService}
+
+	ch := make(chan prometheus.Metric)
+	defer close(ch)
+
+	go exporter.Collect(ch)
+
+	g := (<-ch).(prometheus.Gauge)
+	result := readGauge(g)
+	if expectedService.Name != result.labels["function_name"] {
+		t.Errorf("Want %s, got %s", expectedService.Name, result.labels["function_name"])
+	}
+	expectedReplicas := float64(expectedService.Replicas)
+	if expectedReplicas != result.value {
+		t.Errorf("Want %f, got %f", expectedReplicas, result.value)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/gateway/metrics/metrics.go b/gateway/metrics/metrics.go
index 2cb3da9a..d4da4679 100644
--- a/gateway/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/gateway/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ func BuildMetricsOptions() MetricOptions {
 }
 
 //RegisterMetrics registers with Prometheus for tracking
-func RegisterMetrics(metricsOptions MetricOptions) {
-	prometheus.Register(metricsOptions.GatewayFunctionInvocation)
-	prometheus.Register(metricsOptions.GatewayFunctionsHistogram)
-	prometheus.Register(metricsOptions.ServiceReplicasCounter)
+func RegisterExporter(exporter *Exporter) {
+	prometheus.MustRegister(exporter)
 }
diff --git a/gateway/server.go b/gateway/server.go
index e879d771..af5f297b 100644
--- a/gateway/server.go
+++ b/gateway/server.go
@@ -47,13 +47,15 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	metricsOptions := metrics.BuildMetricsOptions()
-	metrics.RegisterMetrics(metricsOptions)
-
 	var faasHandlers types.HandlerSet
 
 	servicePollInterval := time.Second * 5
 
+	metricsOptions := metrics.BuildMetricsOptions()
+	exporter := metrics.NewExporter(metricsOptions)
+	exporter.StartServiceWatcher(*config.FunctionsProviderURL, metricsOptions, "func", servicePollInterval)
+	metrics.RegisterExporter(exporter)
+
 	reverseProxy := types.NewHTTPClientReverseProxy(config.FunctionsProviderURL, config.UpstreamTimeout)
 
 	loggingNotifier := handlers.LoggingNotifier{}
@@ -84,8 +86,6 @@ func main() {
 	alertHandler := plugin.NewExternalServiceQuery(*config.FunctionsProviderURL)
 	faasHandlers.Alert = handlers.MakeAlertHandler(alertHandler)
 
-	metrics.AttachExternalWatcher(*config.FunctionsProviderURL, metricsOptions, "func", servicePollInterval)
-
 	if config.UseNATS() {
 		log.Println("Async enabled: Using NATS Streaming.")
 		natsQueue, queueErr := natsHandler.CreateNatsQueue(*config.NATSAddress, *config.NATSPort, natsHandler.DefaultNatsConfig{})