diff --git a/src/histogram.cc b/src/histogram.cc
index 765397be2e9..a49f94f12dd 100644
--- a/src/histogram.cc
+++ b/src/histogram.cc
@@ -2032,6 +2032,7 @@ HistogramBase::HistogramBase(Environment* env,
       HistogramImpl::InternalFields::kImplField,
       static_cast<HistogramImpl*>(this),
       EmbedderDataTag::kDefault);
+  ReportExternalMemory();
 }
 
 HistogramBase::HistogramBase(Environment* env,
@@ -2043,6 +2044,21 @@ HistogramBase::HistogramBase(Environment* env,
       HistogramImpl::InternalFields::kImplField,
       static_cast<HistogramImpl*>(this),
       EmbedderDataTag::kDefault);
+  ReportExternalMemory();
+}
+
+HistogramBase::~HistogramBase() {
+  env()->external_memory_accounter()->Decrease(env()->isolate(),
+                                               external_memory_);
+}
+
+// Reports the size of the native histogram to V8 so that the garbage
+// collector accounts for it. Every object that refers to a native histogram
+// reports its full size, including objects that share one after cloning.
+void HistogramBase::ReportExternalMemory() {
+  external_memory_ = histogram()->GetMemorySize();
+  env()->external_memory_accounter()->Increase(env()->isolate(),
+                                               external_memory_);
 }
 
 void HistogramBase::MemoryInfo(MemoryTracker* tracker) const {
diff --git a/src/histogram.h b/src/histogram.h
index f526e9cb1cc..473ebf97136 100644
--- a/src/histogram.h
+++ b/src/histogram.h
@@ -334,6 +334,8 @@ class HistogramBase final : public BaseObject, public HistogramImpl {
       v8::Local<v8::Object> wrap,
       std::shared_ptr<Histogram> histogram);
 
+  ~HistogramBase() override;
+
   BaseObject::TransferMode GetTransferMode() const override {
     return TransferMode::kCloneable;
   }
@@ -361,6 +363,11 @@ class HistogramBase final : public BaseObject, public HistogramImpl {
   };
 
  private:
+  void ReportExternalMemory();
+
+  // The native memory reported to V8 while this object is alive.
+  size_t external_memory_ = 0;
+
   static v8::CFunction fast_record_;
   static v8::CFunction fast_record_delta_;
 };
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-perf-hooks-histogram-external-memory.js b/test/parallel/test-perf-hooks-histogram-external-memory.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0cca4a7a803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-perf-hooks-histogram-external-memory.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Tests that histogram objects report the memory of their native histogram to
+// V8, so that creating many short-lived histograms triggers garbage
+// collection.
+
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { setImmediate: setImmediatePromise } = require('timers/promises');
+const {
+  PerformanceObserver,
+  constants: { NODE_PERFORMANCE_GC_FLAGS_ALL_EXTERNAL_MEMORY },
+  createHistogram,
+} = require('perf_hooks');
+
+let externalMemoryGCs = 0;
+const observer = new PerformanceObserver((list) => {
+  for (const entry of list.getEntries()) {
+    if (entry.detail.flags & NODE_PERFORMANCE_GC_FLAGS_ALL_EXTERNAL_MEMORY)
+      externalMemoryGCs++;
+  }
+});
+observer.observe({ entryTypes: ['gc'] });
+
+// With the default options, a histogram holds 45,056 64-bit counts, about
+// 352 KiB. V8 starts a garbage collection once external memory has grown by
+// 64 MiB, so 400 unreferenced snapshots (about 137 MiB) must trigger one.
+const histogram = createHistogram();
+for (let i = 0; i < 400; i++) histogram.snapshot();
+
+(async () => {
+  // Performance entries for garbage collections are delivered asynchronously.
+  for (let i = 0; i < 10 && externalMemoryGCs === 0; i++)
+    await setImmediatePromise();
+  observer.disconnect();
+  assert.ok(externalMemoryGCs > 0,
+            'Expected a garbage collection caused by external memory');
+})().then(common.mustCall());