diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index 0d248f6553..e76231780b 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/cleanhttp"
 )
 
 // QueryOptions are used to parameterize a query
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 	config := &Config{
 		Address:    "127.0.0.1:8500",
 		Scheme:     "http",
-		HttpClient: &http.Client{},
+		HttpClient: cleanhttp.DefaultClient(),
 	}
 
 	if addr := os.Getenv("CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR"); addr != "" {
@@ -198,12 +200,12 @@ func NewClient(config *Config) (*Client, error) {
 	}
 
 	if parts := strings.SplitN(config.Address, "unix://", 2); len(parts) == 2 {
+		trans := cleanhttp.DefaultTransport()
+		trans.Dial = func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
+			return net.Dial("unix", parts[1])
+		}
 		config.HttpClient = &http.Client{
-			Transport: &http.Transport{
-				Dial: func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
-					return net.Dial("unix", parts[1])
-				},
-			},
+			Transport: trans,
 		}
 		config.Address = parts[1]
 	}
diff --git a/command/agent/check.go b/command/agent/check.go
index 97ac592eb4..ee0e16d08b 100644
--- a/command/agent/check.go
+++ b/command/agent/check.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/armon/circbuf"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/cleanhttp"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul/structs"
 )
 
@@ -313,13 +314,13 @@ func (c *CheckHTTP) Start() {
 	if c.httpClient == nil {
 		// Create the transport. We disable HTTP Keep-Alive's to prevent
 		// failing checks due to the keepalive interval.
-		trans := *http.DefaultTransport.(*http.Transport)
+		trans := cleanhttp.DefaultTransport()
 		trans.DisableKeepAlives = true
 
 		// Create the HTTP client.
 		c.httpClient = &http.Client{
 			Timeout:   10 * time.Second,
-			Transport: &trans,
+			Transport: trans,
 		}
 
 		// For long (>10s) interval checks the http timeout is 10s, otherwise the
diff --git a/command/agent/http_test.go b/command/agent/http_test.go
index 9869b258dd..154007eba9 100644
--- a/command/agent/http_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/http_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/cleanhttp"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul/structs"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/testutil"
 )
@@ -95,12 +96,12 @@ func TestHTTPServer_UnixSocket(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Ensure we can get a response from the socket.
 	path, _ := unixSocketAddr(srv.agent.config.Addresses.HTTP)
+	trans := cleanhttp.DefaultTransport()
+	trans.Dial = func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
+		return net.Dial("unix", path)
+	}
 	client := &http.Client{
-		Transport: &http.Transport{
-			Dial: func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
-				return net.Dial("unix", path)
-			},
-		},
+		Transport: trans,
 	}
 
 	// This URL doesn't look like it makes sense, but the scheme (http://) and
diff --git a/command/agent/ui_endpoint_test.go b/command/agent/ui_endpoint_test.go
index 1d964d622d..b640776d3b 100644
--- a/command/agent/ui_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/ui_endpoint_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/cleanhttp"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul/structs"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/testutil"
 )
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ func TestUiIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	req.URL.Host = srv.listener.Addr().String()
 
 	// Make the request
-	client := &http.Client{}
+	client := cleanhttp.DefaultClient()
 	resp, err := client.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
diff --git a/testutil/server.go b/testutil/server.go
index ac77b6c7a4..41b27d86f0 100644
--- a/testutil/server.go
+++ b/testutil/server.go
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/cleanhttp"
 )
 
 // offset is used to atomically increment the port numbers.
@@ -191,16 +193,16 @@ func NewTestServerConfig(t *testing.T, cb ServerConfigCallback) *TestServer {
 	var client *http.Client
 	if strings.HasPrefix(consulConfig.Addresses.HTTP, "unix://") {
 		httpAddr = consulConfig.Addresses.HTTP
+		trans := cleanhttp.DefaultTransport()
+		trans.Dial = func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
+			return net.Dial("unix", httpAddr[7:])
+		}
 		client = &http.Client{
-			Transport: &http.Transport{
-				Dial: func(_, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
-					return net.Dial("unix", httpAddr[7:])
-				},
-			},
+			Transport: trans,
 		}
 	} else {
 		httpAddr = fmt.Sprintf("127.0.0.1:%d", consulConfig.Ports.HTTP)
-		client = &http.Client{}
+		client = cleanhttp.DefaultClient()
 	}
 
 	server := &TestServer{