diff --git a/internal/alertmanager/dedup_test.go b/internal/alertmanager/dedup_test.go
index 1d7e6443..59e6484b 100644
--- a/internal/alertmanager/dedup_test.go
+++ b/internal/alertmanager/dedup_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ func init() {
 	log.SetLevel(log.ErrorLevel)
 	for i, uri := range mock.ListAllMockURIs() {
 		name := fmt.Sprintf("dedup-mock-%d", i)
-		am := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(name, uri, alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(time.Second))
+		am, err := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(name, uri, alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(time.Second))
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
 		alertmanager.RegisterAlertmanager(am)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/alertmanager/models.go b/internal/alertmanager/models.go
index ce539911..9bf41f6a 100644
--- a/internal/alertmanager/models.go
+++ b/internal/alertmanager/models.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package alertmanager
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"sort"
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ type Alertmanager struct {
 	Name           string        `json:"name"`
 	// whenever this instance should be proxied
 	ProxyRequests bool
+	// transport instances are specific to URI scheme we collect from
+	transport transport.Transport
 	// lock protects data access while updating
 	lock sync.RWMutex
 	// fields for storing pulled data
@@ -56,9 +59,19 @@ func (am *Alertmanager) detectVersion() string {
 		return defaultVersion
 	}
 	ver := alertmanagerVersion{}
-	err = transport.ReadJSON(url, am.RequestTimeout, &ver)
+
+	// read raw body from the source
+	source, err := am.transport.Read(url)
+	defer source.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] %s request failed: %s", am.Name, url, err)
+		return defaultVersion
+	}
+
+	// decode body as JSON
+	err = json.NewDecoder(source).Decode(&ver)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("[%s] %s request failed: %s", am.Name, url, err.Error())
+		log.Errorf("[%s] %s failed to decode as JSON: %s", am.Name, url, err)
 		return defaultVersion
 	}
 
@@ -91,8 +104,24 @@ func (am *Alertmanager) pullSilences(version string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// generate full URL to collect silences from
+	url, err := mapper.AbsoluteURL(am.URI)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] Failed to generate silences endpoint URL: %s", am.Name, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
 	start := time.Now()
-	silences, err := mapper.GetSilences(am.URI, am.RequestTimeout)
+	// read raw body from the source
+	source, err := am.transport.Read(url)
+	defer source.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] %s request failed: %s", am.Name, url, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// decode body text
+	silences, err := mapper.Decode(source)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -134,8 +163,24 @@ func (am *Alertmanager) pullAlerts(version string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// generate full URL to collect alerts from
+	url, err := mapper.AbsoluteURL(am.URI)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] Failed to generate alerts endpoint URL: %s", am.Name, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
 	start := time.Now()
-	groups, err := mapper.GetAlerts(am.URI, am.RequestTimeout)
+	// read raw body from the source
+	source, err := am.transport.Read(url)
+	defer source.Close()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] %s request failed: %s", am.Name, url, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// decode body text
+	groups, err := mapper.Decode(source)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/alertmanager/upstream.go b/internal/alertmanager/upstream.go
index 285b973c..a6701881 100644
--- a/internal/alertmanager/upstream.go
+++ b/internal/alertmanager/upstream.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cloudflare/unsee/internal/models"
+	"github.com/cloudflare/unsee/internal/transport"
 
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ var (
 )
 
 // NewAlertmanager creates a new Alertmanager instance
-func NewAlertmanager(name, uri string, opts ...Option) *Alertmanager {
+func NewAlertmanager(name, uri string, opts ...Option) (*Alertmanager, error) {
 	am := &Alertmanager{
 		URI:            uri,
 		RequestTimeout: time.Second * 10,
@@ -40,7 +41,13 @@ func NewAlertmanager(name, uri string, opts ...Option) *Alertmanager {
 		opt(am)
 	}
 
-	return am
+	var err error
+	am.transport, err = transport.NewTransport(am.URI, am.RequestTimeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		return am, err
+	}
+
+	return am, nil
 }
 
 // RegisterAlertmanager will add an Alertmanager instance to the list of
diff --git a/internal/alertmanager/version.go b/internal/alertmanager/version.go
index 0ff58e26..0fd021d6 100644
--- a/internal/alertmanager/version.go
+++ b/internal/alertmanager/version.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package alertmanager
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cloudflare/unsee/internal/transport"
@@ -30,7 +31,15 @@ func GetVersion(uri string, timeout time.Duration) string {
 		return defaultVersion
 	}
 	ver := alertmanagerVersion{}
-	err = transport.ReadJSON(url, timeout, &ver)
+
+	t, err := transport.NewTransport(uri, timeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("Unable to get the version information from %s", url)
+		return defaultVersion
+	}
+
+	source, err := t.Read(url)
+	err = json.NewDecoder(source).Decode(&ver)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("%s request failed: %s", url, err.Error())
 		return defaultVersion
diff --git a/internal/filters/filter_test.go b/internal/filters/filter_test.go
index c329afb2..3b7f8547 100644
--- a/internal/filters/filter_test.go
+++ b/internal/filters/filter_test.go
@@ -485,7 +485,10 @@ var tests = []filterTest{
 func TestFilters(t *testing.T) {
 	log.SetLevel(log.ErrorLevel)
 
-	am := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager("test", "http://localhost", alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(time.Second))
+	am, err := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager("test", "http://localhost", alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(time.Second))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
 	for _, ft := range tests {
 		alert := models.Alert(ft.Alert)
 		if &ft.Silence != nil {
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index b517c54d..50f8fc2c 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -60,10 +60,13 @@ func setupRouter(router *gin.Engine) {
 
 func setupUpstreams() {
 	for _, s := range config.Config.Alertmanager.Servers {
-		am := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(s.Name, s.URI, alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(s.Timeout), alertmanager.WithProxy(s.Proxy))
-		err := alertmanager.RegisterAlertmanager(am)
+		am, err := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(s.Name, s.URI, alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(s.Timeout), alertmanager.WithProxy(s.Proxy))
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatalf("Failed to configure Alertmanager '%s' with URI '%s': %s", s.Name, s.URI, err)
+			log.Fatalf("Failed to create Alertmanager '%s' with URI '%s': %s", s.Name, s.URI, err)
+		}
+		err = alertmanager.RegisterAlertmanager(am)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Failed to register Alertmanager '%s' with URI '%s': %s", s.Name, s.URI, err)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/proxy_test.go b/proxy_test.go
index 18ed8c9f..330bcc27 100644
--- a/proxy_test.go
+++ b/proxy_test.go
@@ -90,12 +90,15 @@ var proxyTests = []proxyTest{
 
 func TestProxy(t *testing.T) {
 	r := ginTestEngine()
-	am := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(
+	am, err := alertmanager.NewAlertmanager(
 		"dummy",
 		"http://localhost:9093",
 		alertmanager.WithRequestTimeout(time.Second*5),
 		alertmanager.WithProxy(true),
 	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
 	setupRouterProxyHandlers(r, am)
 
 	httpmock.Activate()