diff --git a/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.cc b/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.cc
index c395f0716f..0083ea0dec 100644
--- a/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.cc
+++ b/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.cc
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@ auto raft_server::begin_mutate(abort_source& as) -> begin_mutate_result {
     return timestamp_with_term{new_ts, term};
 }
 
+auto raft_server::begin_read(abort_source& as) -> begin_read_result {
+    const auto leader = _state.server->current_leader();
+    if (!leader) {
+        return need_wait_for_leader{_state.server->wait_for_leader(&as)};
+    }
+    if (leader != _state.server->id()) {
+        return raft::not_a_leader{leader};
+    }
+    return ok{};
+}
+
 groups_manager::groups_manager(netw::messaging_service& ms, 
         raft_group_registry& raft_gr, cql3::query_processor& qp,
         replica::database& db, service::migration_manager& mm, db::system_keyspace& sys_ks, gms::feature_service& features,
diff --git a/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.hh b/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.hh
index e81de65c75..22734eb850 100644
--- a/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.hh
+++ b/service/strong_consistency/groups_manager.hh
@@ -222,6 +222,14 @@ public:
     };
     using begin_mutate_result = std::variant<timestamp_with_term, raft::not_a_leader, need_wait_for_leader>;
     begin_mutate_result begin_mutate(abort_source&);
+
+    // Possible results:
+    //   ok - this node is the leader, proceed with read_barrier() locally
+    //   raft::not_a_leader - this node is not a leader, redirect to the leader
+    //   need_wait_for_leader - the leader is unknown, the caller needs to wait and retry
+    struct ok {};
+    using begin_read_result = std::variant<ok, raft::not_a_leader, need_wait_for_leader>;
+    begin_read_result begin_read(abort_source&);
 };
 
 }