diff --git a/app/views/rubygems/show.html.erb b/app/views/rubygems/show.html.erb
index 373543457c8..054a6927348 100644
--- a/app/views/rubygems/show.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/rubygems/show.html.erb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
             <% end %>
           </div>
 
-          <div class="downloads">
+          <div class="downloads counter" data-href="<%= api_v1_download_path(@rubygem, :format => 'json') %>">
             <span>
               <strong><%= number_with_delimiter(@rubygem.downloads) %></strong> total downloads
             </span>
diff --git a/public/javascripts/application.js b/public/javascripts/application.js
index 8957e4ade2e..d61c91bac11 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/application.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/application.js
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
       });
     }, 5000);
   }
+
+  if ($('.downloads.counter').length > 0) {
+    setInterval(function() {
+      $.getJSON($('.downloads.counter').attr('data-href'), function(data) {
+        $('.downloads.counter strong:first')
+          .text(number_with_delimiter(data['total_downloads']));
+        $('.downloads.counter strong:last')
+          .text(number_with_delimiter(data['latest_version_downloads']));
+      });
+    }, 5000);
+  }
 });
 
 // http://kevinvaldek.com/number-with-delimiter-in-javascript