diff --git a/api/BUILD.gn b/api/BUILD.gn
index 46703f93..1eb3876 100644
--- a/api/BUILD.gn
+++ b/api/BUILD.gn
@@ -438,6 +438,11 @@
   absl_deps = [ "//third_party/abseil-cpp/absl/memory" ]
 }
 
+rtc_source_set("ref_count") {
+  visibility = [ "*" ]
+  sources = [ "ref_count.h" ]
+}
+
 rtc_source_set("scoped_refptr") {
   visibility = [ "*" ]
   sources = [ "scoped_refptr.h" ]
diff --git a/api/ref_count.h b/api/ref_count.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5209277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/ref_count.h
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright 2011 The WebRTC Project Authors. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ *  Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license
+ *  that can be found in the LICENSE file in the root of the source
+ *  tree. An additional intellectual property rights grant can be found
+ *  in the file PATENTS.  All contributing project authors may
+ *  be found in the AUTHORS file in the root of the source tree.
+ */
+#ifndef API_REF_COUNT_H_
+#define API_REF_COUNT_H_
+
+namespace webrtc {
+
+// Refcounted objects should implement the following informal interface:
+//
+// void AddRef() const ;
+// RefCountReleaseStatus Release() const;
+//
+// You may access members of a reference-counted object, including the AddRef()
+// and Release() methods, only if you already own a reference to it, or if
+// you're borrowing someone else's reference. (A newly created object is a
+// special case: the reference count is zero on construction, and the code that
+// creates the object should immediately call AddRef(), bringing the reference
+// count from zero to one, e.g., by constructing an rtc::scoped_refptr).
+//
+// AddRef() creates a new reference to the object.
+//
+// Release() releases a reference to the object; the caller now has one less
+// reference than before the call. Returns kDroppedLastRef if the number of
+// references dropped to zero because of this (in which case the object destroys
+// itself). Otherwise, returns kOtherRefsRemained, to signal that at the precise
+// time the caller's reference was dropped, other references still remained (but
+// if other threads own references, this may of course have changed by the time
+// Release() returns).
+//
+// The caller of Release() must treat it in the same way as a delete operation:
+// Regardless of the return value from Release(), the caller mustn't access the
+// object. The object might still be alive, due to references held by other
+// users of the object, but the object can go away at any time, e.g., as the
+// result of another thread calling Release().
+//
+// Calling AddRef() and Release() manually is discouraged. It's recommended to
+// use rtc::scoped_refptr to manage all pointers to reference counted objects.
+// Note that rtc::scoped_refptr depends on compile-time duck-typing; formally
+// implementing the below RefCountInterface is not required.
+
+enum class RefCountReleaseStatus { kDroppedLastRef, kOtherRefsRemained };
+
+// Interfaces where refcounting is part of the public api should
+// inherit this abstract interface. The implementation of these
+// methods is usually provided by the RefCountedObject template class,
+// applied as a leaf in the inheritance tree.
+class RefCountInterface {
+ public:
+  virtual void AddRef() const = 0;
+  virtual RefCountReleaseStatus Release() const = 0;
+
+  // Non-public destructor, because Release() has exclusive responsibility for
+  // destroying the object.
+ protected:
+  virtual ~RefCountInterface() {}
+};
+
+}  // namespace webrtc
+
+#endif  // API_REF_COUNT_H_