diff --git a/core/include/prometheus/histogram.h b/core/include/prometheus/histogram.h
index f5e7aae3..7de0e482 100644
--- a/core/include/prometheus/histogram.h
+++ b/core/include/prometheus/histogram.h
@@ -49,19 +49,29 @@ class PROMETHEUS_CPP_CORE_EXPORT Histogram {
   /// \copydoc Histogram::Histogram(const BucketBoundaries&)
   explicit Histogram(BucketBoundaries&& buckets);
 
-  /// \brief Observe the given amount.
+  /// \brief Observe the given value.
   ///
-  /// The given amount selects the 'observed' bucket. The observed bucket is
-  /// chosen for which the given amount falls into the half-open interval [b_n,
-  /// b_n+1). The counter of the observed bucket is incremented. Also the total
-  /// sum of all observations is incremented.
-  void Observe(double value);
+  /// The given value selects the 'observed' bucket. The observed bucket is
+  /// chosen for which the given value falls into the half-open interval [b_n,
+  /// b_n+1). The counter of the observed bucket is incremented by the given
+  /// quantity. Also the total sum of all observations is incremented by
+  /// value*quantity.
+  ///
+  /// Passing a quantity!=1 can be seen as a generalization for real numbers of
+  /// calling Observe(value, 1) in a loop. The collected bucket counts will be
+  /// truncated but resulting rounding errors (other than those caused by
+  /// summing floating points) will not accumulate over time nor over cumulative
+  /// bucket counts. Same for the cumulative sum of the histogram.
+  void Observe(double value, double quantity = 1.0);
 
   /// \brief Observe multiple data points.
   ///
   /// Increments counters given a count for each bucket. (i.e. the caller of
   /// this function must have already sorted the values into buckets).
   /// Also increments the total sum of all observations by the given value.
+  ///
+  /// See the details in Observe(double, double) about floats when passing
+  /// non-integer values as bucket increments.
   void ObserveMultiple(const std::vector<double>& bucket_increments,
                        double sum_of_values);
 
diff --git a/core/src/histogram.cc b/core/src/histogram.cc
index e4377386..29a40554 100644
--- a/core/src/histogram.cc
+++ b/core/src/histogram.cc
@@ -37,15 +37,15 @@ Histogram::Histogram(BucketBoundaries&& buckets)
   }
 }
 
-void Histogram::Observe(const double value) {
+void Histogram::Observe(const double value, const double quantity) {
   const auto bucket_index = static_cast<std::size_t>(
       std::distance(bucket_boundaries_.begin(),
                     std::lower_bound(bucket_boundaries_.begin(),
                                      bucket_boundaries_.end(), value)));
 
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_);
-  sum_.Increment(value);
-  bucket_counts_[bucket_index].Increment();
+  sum_.Increment(quantity * value);
+  bucket_counts_[bucket_index].Increment(quantity);
 }
 
 void Histogram::ObserveMultiple(const std::vector<double>& bucket_increments,
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ ClientMetric Histogram::Collect() const {
 
   auto metric = ClientMetric{};
 
-  auto cumulative_count = 0ULL;
+  auto cumulative_count = 0.0;
   metric.histogram.bucket.reserve(bucket_counts_.size());
   for (std::size_t i{0}; i < bucket_counts_.size(); ++i) {
     cumulative_count += bucket_counts_[i].Value();
diff --git a/core/tests/histogram_test.cc b/core/tests/histogram_test.cc
index ef8ecda6..73c58221 100644
--- a/core/tests/histogram_test.cc
+++ b/core/tests/histogram_test.cc
@@ -89,6 +89,31 @@ TEST(HistogramTest, cumulative_bucket_count) {
   EXPECT_EQ(h.bucket.at(2).cumulative_count, 7U);
 }
 
+TEST(HistogramTest, observe_float_test_bucket_counts) {
+  Histogram histogram{{1, 2}};
+  histogram.Observe(0.1, 2.6);
+  histogram.Observe(1.2, 3.6);
+  histogram.Observe(2.3, 4.6);
+  auto metric = histogram.Collect();
+  auto h = metric.histogram;
+  ASSERT_EQ(h.bucket.size(), 3U);
+  // rounding errors do not accumulate in the cumulative count:
+  EXPECT_EQ(h.bucket.at(0).cumulative_count, 2U); // 2.6, truncated
+  EXPECT_EQ(h.bucket.at(1).cumulative_count, 6U); // 2.6 + 3.6, truncated
+  EXPECT_EQ(h.bucket.at(2).cumulative_count, 10U); // 2.6 + 3.6 + 4.6, truncated
+}
+
+TEST(HistogramTest, observe_float_test_total_sum) {
+  Histogram histogram{{1, 2}};
+  histogram.Observe(0.1, 2.6);
+  histogram.Observe(1.2, 3.6);
+  histogram.Observe(2.3, 4.6);
+  auto metric = histogram.Collect();
+  auto h = metric.histogram;
+  EXPECT_EQ(h.sample_count, 10U);
+  EXPECT_FLOAT_EQ(h.sample_sum, 15.16);
+}
+
 TEST(HistogramTest, observe_multiple_test_bucket_counts) {
   Histogram histogram{{1, 2}};
   histogram.ObserveMultiple({5, 9, 3}, 20);