diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/token/cache/stats.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/token/cache/stats.go
index 50f01395920..dbe745718e7 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/token/cache/stats.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authentication/token/cache/stats.go
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ var (
 		},
 		[]string{"status"},
 	)
-	fetchCount = metrics.NewGaugeVec(
-		&metrics.GaugeOpts{
+	fetchCount = metrics.NewCounterVec(
+		&metrics.CounterOpts{
 			Namespace:      "authentication",
 			Subsystem:      "token_cache",
 			Name:           "fetch_total",
@@ -51,13 +51,14 @@ var (
 		},
 		[]string{"status"},
 	)
-	blockCount = metrics.NewGauge(
+	activeFetchCount = metrics.NewGaugeVec(
 		&metrics.GaugeOpts{
 			Namespace:      "authentication",
 			Subsystem:      "token_cache",
-			Name:           "block_count",
+			Name:           "active_fetch_count",
 			StabilityLevel: metrics.ALPHA,
 		},
+		[]string{"status"},
 	)
 )
 
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ func init() {
 		requestLatency,
 		requestCount,
 		fetchCount,
-		blockCount,
+		activeFetchCount,
 	)
 }
 
@@ -74,9 +75,11 @@ const (
 	hitTag  = "hit"
 	missTag = "miss"
 
-	fetchActiveTag = "active"
 	fetchFailedTag = "error"
 	fetchOkTag     = "ok"
+
+	fetchInFlightTag = "in_flight"
+	fetchBlockedTag  = "blocked"
 )
 
 type statsCollector struct{}
@@ -101,12 +104,12 @@ func (statsCollector) authenticating() func(hit bool) {
 }
 
 func (statsCollector) blocking() func() {
-	blockCount.Inc()
-	return blockCount.Dec
+	activeFetchCount.WithLabelValues(fetchBlockedTag).Inc()
+	return activeFetchCount.WithLabelValues(fetchBlockedTag).Dec
 }
 
 func (statsCollector) fetching() func(ok bool) {
-	fetchCount.WithLabelValues(fetchActiveTag).Inc()
+	activeFetchCount.WithLabelValues(fetchInFlightTag).Inc()
 	return func(ok bool) {
 		var tag string
 		if ok {
@@ -115,6 +118,8 @@ func (statsCollector) fetching() func(ok bool) {
 			tag = fetchFailedTag
 		}
 
-		fetchCount.WithLabelValues(tag).Dec()
+		fetchCount.WithLabelValues(tag).Inc()
+
+		activeFetchCount.WithLabelValues(fetchInFlightTag).Dec()
 	}
 }