diff --git a/http-scm-0.rockspec b/http-scm-0.rockspec
index f00e3a64..5516d5a4 100644
--- a/http-scm-0.rockspec
+++ b/http-scm-0.rockspec
@@ -44,5 +44,6 @@ build = {
 		["http.websocket"] = "http/websocket.lua";
 		["http.zlib"] = "http/zlib.lua";
 		["http.compat.prosody"] = "http/compat/prosody.lua";
+		["http.compat.socket"] = "http/compat/socket.lua";
 	};
 }
diff --git a/http/compat/socket.lua b/http/compat/socket.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ba4e728b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/http/compat/socket.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+--[[
+Compatibility layer with luasocket's socket.http module
+Documentation: http://w3.impa.br/~diego/software/luasocket/http.html
+
+This module a few key differences:
+  - The `.create` member is not supported
+  - The user-agent will be from lua-http
+  - lua-http features (such as HTTPS and HTTP2) will be used where possible
+  - trailers are currently discarded
+  - error messages are differents
+]]
+
+local monotime = require "cqueues".monotime
+local ce = require "cqueues.errno"
+local request = require "http.request"
+local version = require "http.version"
+local reason_phrases = require "http.h1_reason_phrases"
+
+local _M = {
+	PROXY = nil; -- default proxy used for connections;
+	TIMEOUT = 60; -- timeout for all I/O operations;
+	-- default user agent reported to server.
+	USERAGENT = string.format("%s/%s (luasocket compatibility layer)",
+		version.name, version.version);
+}
+
+local function ltn12_pump_step(src, snk)
+    local chunk, src_err = src()
+    local ret, snk_err = snk(chunk, src_err)
+    if chunk and ret then return 1
+    else return nil, src_err or snk_err end
+end
+
+local function get_body_as_string(stream, deadline)
+	local body, err = stream:get_body_as_string(deadline and deadline-monotime())
+	if not body then
+		if err == ce.EPIPE then
+			return nil
+		else
+			return nil, err
+		end
+	end
+	return body
+end
+
+local function returns_1()
+	return 1
+end
+
+function _M.request(reqt, b)
+	local deadline = _M.TIMEOUT and (monotime()+_M.TIMEOUT)
+	local req, proxy, user_headers, get_body
+	if type(reqt) == "string" then
+		req = request.new_from_uri(reqt)
+		proxy = _M.PROXY
+		if b ~= nil then
+			assert(type(b) == "string", "body must be nil or string")
+			req.headers:upsert(":method", "POST")
+			req:set_body(b)
+            req.headers:upsert("content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
+		end
+		get_body = get_body_as_string
+	else
+		assert(reqt.create == nil, "'create' option not supported")
+		req = request.new_from_uri(reqt.url)
+		proxy = reqt.proxy or _M.PROXY
+		if reqt.host ~= nil then
+			req.host = reqt.host
+		end
+		if reqt.port ~= nil then
+			req.port = reqt.port
+		end
+		if reqt.method ~= nil then
+			assert(type(reqt.method) == "string", "'method' option must be nil or string")
+			req.headers:upsert(":method", reqt.method)
+		end
+		if reqt.redirect == false then
+			req.follow_redirects = false
+		else
+			req.max_redirects = 5 - (reqt.nredirects or 0)
+		end
+		user_headers = reqt.headers
+		local step = reqt.step or ltn12_pump_step
+		local src = reqt.source
+		if src ~= nil then
+			local co = coroutine.create(function()
+				while true do
+					assert(step(src, coroutine.yield))
+				end
+			end)
+			req:set_body(function()
+				-- Pass true through to coroutine to indicate success of last write
+				local ok, chunk, err = coroutine.resume(co, true)
+				if not ok then
+					error(chunk)
+				elseif err then
+					error(err)
+				else
+					return chunk
+				end
+			end)
+		end
+		local sink = reqt.sink
+		-- luasocket returns `1` when using a request table
+		if sink ~= nil then
+			get_body = function(stream, deadline) -- luacheck: ignore 431
+				local function res_body_source()
+					local chunk, err = stream:get_next_chunk(deadline and deadline-monotime())
+					if not chunk then
+						if err == ce.EPIPE then
+							return nil
+						else
+							return nil, err
+						end
+					end
+					return chunk
+				end
+				-- This loop is the same as ltn12.pump.all
+				while true do
+					local ok, err = step(res_body_source, sink)
+					if not ok then
+						if err then
+							return nil, err
+						else
+							return 1
+						end
+					end
+				end
+			end
+		else
+			get_body = returns_1
+		end
+	end
+	req.headers:upsert("user-agent", _M.USERAGENT)
+	if proxy then
+		error("PROXYs are not currently supported by lua-http")
+	end
+	if user_headers then
+		for name, field in pairs(user_headers) do
+			if name == "host" then
+				req.headers:upsert(":authority", field)
+			else
+				req.headers:append(name:lower(), field)
+			end
+		end
+	end
+	local res_headers, stream = req:go(deadline and deadline-monotime())
+	if not res_headers then
+		if stream == ce.EPIPE then
+			return nil, "closed"
+		elseif stream == ce.ETIMEDOUT then
+			return nil, "timeout"
+		else
+			return nil, stream
+		end
+	end
+	local code = res_headers:get(":status")
+	local status = reason_phrases[code]
+	-- In luasocket, status codes are returned as numbers
+	code = tonumber(code, 10) or code
+	local headers = {}
+	for name in res_headers:each() do
+		if name ~= ":status" and headers[name] == nil then
+			headers[name] = res_headers:get_comma_separated(name)
+		end
+	end
+	local body, err = get_body(stream, deadline)
+	stream:shutdown()
+	if not body then
+		if err == ce.ETIMEDOUT then
+			return nil, "timeout"
+		else
+			return nil, err
+		end
+	end
+	return body, code, headers, status
+end
+
+return _M
diff --git a/spec/compat_socket_spec.lua b/spec/compat_socket_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5ccb459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/compat_socket_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+local TEST_TIMEOUT = 2
+describe("http.compat.socket module", function()
+	local http = require "http.compat.socket"
+	local new_headers = require "http.headers".new
+	local server = require "http.server"
+	local util = require "http.util"
+	local cqueues = require "cqueues"
+	local function assert_loop(cq, timeout)
+		local ok, err, _, thd = cq:loop(timeout)
+		if not ok then
+			if thd then
+				err = debug.traceback(thd, err)
+			end
+			error(err, 2)
+		end
+	end
+	it("fails safely on an invalid host", function()
+		-- in the luasocket example they use 'wrong.host', but 'host' is now a valid TLD.
+		-- use 'wrong.invalid' instead for this test.
+		local r, e = http.request("http://wrong.invalid/")
+		assert.same(r, nil)
+		-- in luasocket, the error is documented as "host not found", but we allow something else
+		assert.same("string", type(e))
+	end)
+	it("works against builtin server with GET request", function()
+		local cq = cqueues.new()
+		local s = server.listen {
+			host = "localhost";
+			port = 0;
+		}
+		assert(s:listen())
+		local _, host, port = s:localname()
+		local authority = util.to_authority(host, port, "http")
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			s:run(function (stream)
+				local request_headers = assert(stream:get_headers())
+				s:pause()
+				assert.same("http", request_headers:get ":scheme")
+				assert.same("GET", request_headers:get ":method")
+				assert.same("/foo", request_headers:get ":path")
+				assert.same(authority, request_headers:get ":authority")
+				local headers = new_headers()
+				headers:append(":status", "200")
+				headers:append("connection", "close")
+				assert(stream:write_headers(headers, false))
+				assert(stream:write_chunk("hello world", true))
+			end)
+			s:close()
+		end)
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			local r, e = http.request("http://"..authority.."/foo")
+			assert.same("hello world", r)
+			assert.same(200, e)
+		end)
+		assert_loop(cq, TEST_TIMEOUT)
+		assert.truthy(cq:empty())
+	end)
+	it("works against builtin server with POST request", function()
+		local cq = cqueues.new()
+		local s = server.listen {
+			host = "localhost";
+			port = 0;
+		}
+		assert(s:listen())
+		local _, host, port = s:localname()
+		local authority = util.to_authority(host, port, "http")
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			s:run(function (stream)
+				s:pause()
+				local request_headers = assert(stream:get_headers())
+				assert.same("http", request_headers:get ":scheme")
+				assert.same("POST", request_headers:get ":method")
+				assert.same("/foo", request_headers:get ":path")
+				assert.same(authority, request_headers:get ":authority")
+				local body = assert(stream:get_body_as_string())
+				assert.same("a body", body)
+				local headers = new_headers()
+				headers:append(":status", "201")
+				headers:append("connection", "close")
+				assert(stream:write_headers(headers, false))
+				assert(stream:write_chunk("hello world", true))
+			end)
+			s:close()
+		end)
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			local r, e = http.request("http://"..authority.."/foo", "a body")
+			assert.same("hello world", r)
+			assert.same(201, e)
+		end)
+		assert_loop(cq, TEST_TIMEOUT)
+		assert.truthy(cq:empty())
+	end)
+	it("works against builtin server with complex request", function()
+		local cq = cqueues.new()
+		local s = server.listen {
+			host = "localhost";
+			port = 0;
+		}
+		assert(s:listen())
+		local _, host, port = s:localname()
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			s:run(function (stream)
+				s:pause()
+				local request_headers = assert(stream:get_headers())
+				assert.same("http", request_headers:get ":scheme")
+				assert.same("PUT", request_headers:get ":method")
+				assert.same("/path?query", request_headers:get ":path")
+				assert.same("otherhost.com:8080", request_headers:get ":authority")
+				assert.same("fun", request_headers:get "myheader")
+				assert.same("normalised", request_headers:get "camelcase")
+				assert(stream:write_continue())
+				local body = assert(stream:get_body_as_string())
+				assert.same("a body", body)
+				local headers = new_headers()
+				headers:append(":status", "404")
+				headers:append("connection", "close")
+				assert(stream:write_headers(headers, false))
+				assert(stream:write_chunk("hello world", true))
+			end)
+			s:close()
+		end)
+		cq:wrap(function()
+			local r, e = assert(http.request {
+				url = "http://example.com/path?query";
+				host = host;
+				port = port;
+				method = "PUT";
+				headers = {
+					host = "otherhost.com:8080";
+					myheader = "fun";
+					CamelCase = "normalised";
+				};
+				source = coroutine.wrap(function()
+					coroutine.yield("a body")
+				end);
+				sink = coroutine.wrap(function(b)
+					assert.same("hello world", b)
+					assert.same(nil, coroutine.yield(true))
+				end);
+			})
+			assert.same(1, r)
+			assert.same(404, e)
+		end)
+		assert_loop(cq, TEST_TIMEOUT)
+		assert.truthy(cq:empty())
+	end)
+end)