German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is recalling almost a million older vehicles from around the world due to possible problems with the brake booster, the company said on Saturday.

The recall affects models of the SUV series ML and GL (BR 164) and the R-Class (BR 251) luxury minivan produced between 2004 and 2015, it said.

The German federal transport authority (KBA) had also confirmed the recall, which it said covers 993,407 vehicles worldwide, including around 70,000 in Germany.

"We have found that in some of those vehicles, the function of the brake booster could be affected by advanced corrosion in the joint area of the housing," Mercedes-Benz said in a statement.

This could result in an increase in the brake pedal force needed to decelerate the vehicle and/or to a potentially increased stopping distance, it added.

The KBA said that "corrosion on the brake booster can in the worst case lead to the connection between the brake pedal and the braking system being interrupted."

"As a consequence, the service brake can stop functioning," it noted.

The move was based on an "analysis of isolated reports for certain vehicles," Mercedes-Benz said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"In rare cases of very severe corrosion, it might be possible for a particularly strong or hard braking maneuver to cause mechanical damage to the brake booster, whereby the connection between the brake pedal and brake system would fail," the statement read.

"In such a very rare case, it would not be possible to decelerate the vehicle via the service brake. Thus, the risk of a crash or injury would be increased."

The company said it would "start with the recall immediately" and contact the owners of the "potentially affected vehicles."

"The recall process will involve inspecting potentially affected vehicles and, depending on the results of the inspection, replacing the parts where necessary," the company said.

"Until the inspection takes place, we ask our customers not to drive their vehicles."