diff --git a/proxmox-http/src/client/mod.rs b/proxmox-http/src/client/mod.rs
index 30e66d58..5ef81000 100644
--- a/proxmox-http/src/client/mod.rs
+++ b/proxmox-http/src/client/mod.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 //! Contains a lightweight wrapper around `hyper` with support for TLS connections.
 
 mod rate_limiter;
-pub use rate_limiter::RateLimiter;
+pub use rate_limiter::{RateLimit, RateLimiter};
 
 mod rate_limited_stream;
 pub use rate_limited_stream::RateLimitedStream;
diff --git a/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limited_stream.rs b/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limited_stream.rs
index 865a4261..c288849a 100644
--- a/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limited_stream.rs
+++ b/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limited_stream.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use hyper::client::connect::{Connection, Connected};
 
 use std::task::{Context, Poll};
 
-use super::RateLimiter;
+use super::{RateLimit, RateLimiter};
 
 /// A rate limited stream using [RateLimiter]
 pub struct RateLimitedStream<S> {
diff --git a/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limiter.rs b/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limiter.rs
index 37362b10..72605ca2 100644
--- a/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limiter.rs
+++ b/proxmox-http/src/client/rate_limiter.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,19 @@
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 use std::convert::TryInto;
 
+/// Rate limiter interface.
+pub trait RateLimit {
+    /// Update rate and bucket size
+    fn update_rate(&mut self, rate: u64, bucket_size: u64);
+
+    /// Returns the average rate (since `start_time`)
+    fn average_rate(&self, current_time: Instant) -> f64;
+
+    /// Register traffic, returning a proposed delay to reach the
+    /// expected rate.
+    fn register_traffic(&mut self, current_time: Instant, data_len: u64) -> Duration;
+}
+
 /// Token bucket based rate limiter
 pub struct RateLimiter {
     rate: u64, // tokens/second
@@ -34,27 +47,6 @@ impl RateLimiter {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Update rate and bucket size
-    pub fn update_rate(&mut self, rate: u64, bucket_size: u64) {
-        self.rate = rate;
-
-        if bucket_size < self.bucket_size && self.consumed_tokens > bucket_size {
-            self.consumed_tokens = bucket_size; // start again
-        }
-
-        self.bucket_size = bucket_size;
-    }
-
-    /// Returns the average rate (since `start_time`)
-    pub fn average_rate(&self, current_time: Instant) -> f64 {
-        let time_diff = current_time.saturating_duration_since(self.start_time).as_secs_f64();
-        if time_diff <= 0.0 {
-            0.0
-        } else {
-            (self.traffic as f64) / time_diff
-        }
-    }
-
     fn refill_bucket(&mut self, current_time: Instant) {
         let time_diff = match current_time.checked_duration_since(self.last_update) {
             Some(duration) => duration.as_nanos(),
@@ -73,9 +65,30 @@ impl RateLimiter {
 
         self.consumed_tokens = self.consumed_tokens.saturating_sub(allowed_traffic);
     }
+}
 
-    /// Register traffic, returning a proposed delay to reach the expected rate.
-    pub fn register_traffic(&mut self, current_time: Instant, data_len: u64) -> Duration {
+impl RateLimit for RateLimiter {
+
+    fn update_rate(&mut self, rate: u64, bucket_size: u64) {
+        self.rate = rate;
+
+        if bucket_size < self.bucket_size && self.consumed_tokens > bucket_size {
+            self.consumed_tokens = bucket_size; // start again
+        }
+
+        self.bucket_size = bucket_size;
+    }
+
+    fn average_rate(&self, current_time: Instant) -> f64 {
+        let time_diff = current_time.saturating_duration_since(self.start_time).as_secs_f64();
+        if time_diff <= 0.0 {
+            0.0
+        } else {
+            (self.traffic as f64) / time_diff
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn register_traffic(&mut self, current_time: Instant, data_len: u64) -> Duration {
         self.refill_bucket(current_time);
 
         self.traffic += data_len;