diff --git a/lib/node-http-proxy.js b/lib/node-http-proxy.js
index 87de4f5a2..e8a337424 100644
--- a/lib/node-http-proxy.js
+++ b/lib/node-http-proxy.js
@@ -113,8 +113,7 @@ exports.setMaxSockets = function (value) {
 exports.createServer = function () {
   var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments), 
       callback = typeof args[0] === 'function' && args.shift(),
-      options = {},
-      port, host, forward, silent, proxy, server;
+      options = {}, port, host, forward, silent, proxy, server;
   
   if (args.length >= 2) {
     port = args[0];
@@ -221,8 +220,10 @@ var HttpProxy = exports.HttpProxy = function (options) {
   
   var self          = this;
   options           = options || {};
+  options.target    = options.target || {};
+  
   this.forward      = options.forward;
-  this.https        = options.https;
+  this.target       = options.target;
   this.changeOrigin = options.changeOrigin || false;
   
   if (options.router) {
@@ -303,8 +304,14 @@ HttpProxy.prototype.close = function () {
 HttpProxy.prototype.proxyRequest = function (req, res, options) {
   var self = this, errState = false, location, outgoing, protocol, reverseProxy;
   
+  //
   // Create an empty options hash if none is passed.
-  options = options || {};
+  // If default options have been passed to the constructor 
+  // of this instance, use them by default.
+  //
+  options      = options || {};
+  options.host = options.host || this.target.host;
+  options.port = options.port || this.target.port;
   
   //
   // Check the proxy table for this instance to see if we need
@@ -375,7 +382,7 @@ HttpProxy.prototype.proxyRequest = function (req, res, options) {
   outgoing = {
     host: options.host,
     port: options.port,
-    agent: _getAgent(options.host, options.port, options.https || this.https),
+    agent: _getAgent(options.host, options.port, options.https || this.target.https),
     method: req.method,
     path: req.url,
     headers: req.headers
@@ -385,7 +392,7 @@ HttpProxy.prototype.proxyRequest = function (req, res, options) {
   // node.js core re-implements 'keep-alive'.
   outgoing.headers['connection'] = 'close';
   
-  protocol = _getProtocol(options.https || this.https, outgoing);
+  protocol = _getProtocol(options.https || this.target.https, outgoing);
   
   // Open new HTTP request to internal resource with will act as a reverse proxy pass
   reverseProxy = protocol.request(outgoing, function (response) {
@@ -594,8 +601,8 @@ HttpProxy.prototype.proxyWebSocketRequest = function (req, socket, head, options
   _socket(socket);
   
   // Remote host address
-  var protocolName = options.https || this.https ? 'https' : 'http',
-      agent        = _getAgent(options.host, options.port, options.https || this.https),
+  var protocolName = options.https || this.target.https ? 'https' : 'http',
+      agent        = _getAgent(options.host, options.port, options.https || this.target.https),
       remoteHost   = options.host + (options.port - 80 === 0 ? '' : ':' + options.port);
 
   // Change headers
diff --git a/test/helpers.js b/test/helpers.js
index 42834da67..0c326fa53 100644
--- a/test/helpers.js
+++ b/test/helpers.js
@@ -33,14 +33,22 @@ var loadHttps = exports.loadHttps = function () {
   };
 };
 
-var TestRunner = exports.TestRunner = function (protocol) {
-  this.options     = {};
-  this.protocol    = protocol;
-  this.testServers = [];
+var TestRunner = exports.TestRunner = function (protocol, target) {
+  this.options        = {};
+  this.options.target = {};
+  this.protocol       = protocol;
+  this.target         = target;
+  this.testServers    = [];
 
   if (protocol === 'https') {
     this.options.https = loadHttps();
   }
+  
+  if (target === 'https') {
+    this.options.target = {
+      https: loadHttps()
+    };
+  }
 };
 
 TestRunner.prototype.assertProxied = function (host, proxyPort, port, createProxy) {
@@ -213,8 +221,8 @@ TestRunner.prototype.startTargetServer = function (port, output, callback) {
     res.end();
   };
 
-  targetServer = this.options.https
-    ? https.createServer(this.options.https, handler)
+  targetServer = this.options.target.https
+    ? https.createServer(this.options.target.https, handler)
     : http.createServer(handler);
 
   targetServer.listen(port, function () {
diff --git a/test/node-http-proxy-test.js b/test/node-http-proxy-test.js
index 536b3aba4..4da2429dc 100644
--- a/test/node-http-proxy-test.js
+++ b/test/node-http-proxy-test.js
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ var badForwardOptions = {
 };
 
 var protocol = argv.https ? 'https' : 'http',
-    runner = new helpers.TestRunner(protocol);
+    target = argv.target ? argv.target : 'http',
+    runner = new helpers.TestRunner(protocol, target);
 
 vows.describe('node-http-proxy/' + protocol).addBatch({
   "When using server created by httpProxy.createServer()": {