diff --git a/base/poco/Util/include/Poco/Util/Application.h b/base/poco/Util/include/Poco/Util/Application.h
index c8d18e1bce9..d1a2021eb67 100644
--- a/base/poco/Util/include/Poco/Util/Application.h
+++ b/base/poco/Util/include/Poco/Util/Application.h
@@ -261,6 +261,11 @@ namespace Util
         ///
         /// Throws a NullPointerException if no Application instance exists.
 
+        static Application * instanceRawPtr();
+        /// Returns a raw pointer to the Application sigleton.
+        ///
+        /// The caller should check whether the result is nullptr.
+
         const Poco::Timestamp & startTime() const;
         /// Returns the application start time (UTC).
 
@@ -448,6 +453,12 @@ namespace Util
     }
 
 
+    inline Application * Application::instanceRawPtr()
+    {
+        return _pInstance;
+    }
+
+
     inline const Poco::Timestamp & Application::startTime() const
     {
         return _startTime;