diff --git a/dist.ini b/dist.ini
index 532b9a4..9dc13d6 100644
--- a/dist.ini
+++ b/dist.ini
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ copyright_holder = Jesse Luehrs
 dist = Plack-Client
 
 [Prereqs]
+Class::Load = 0
 HTTP::Request = 0
 Plack = 0.9910
 Plack::App::Proxy = 0
diff --git a/lib/Plack/Client.pm b/lib/Plack/Client.pm
index 588ef69..d05293b 100644
--- a/lib/Plack/Client.pm
+++ b/lib/Plack/Client.pm
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 # ABSTRACT: abstract interface to remote web servers and local PSGI apps
 
+use Class::Load;
 use HTTP::Message::PSGI;
 use HTTP::Request;
-use Plack::App::Proxy;
-use Plack::Middleware::ContentLength;
+use Plack::Request;
 use Plack::Response;
 use Scalar::Util qw(blessed reftype);
 
@@ -76,39 +76,44 @@ sub new {
     my $class = shift;
     my %params = @_;
 
-    die 'apps must be a hashref'
-        if exists($params{apps}) && ref($params{apps}) ne 'HASH';
-
     bless {
-        apps  => $params{apps},
-        proxy => Plack::App::Proxy->new->to_app,
+        backend      => {},
+        backend_args => \%params,
     }, $class;
 }
 
-=method apps
-
-  my $apps = $client->apps;
-
-Returns the C<apps> hashref that was passed to the constructor.
+=method backend
 
 =cut
 
-sub apps   { shift->{apps}  }
-sub _proxy { shift->{proxy} }
+sub backend {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($scheme) = @_;
+    $scheme = $self->_normalize_scheme($scheme);
+    return $self->{backend}->{$scheme};
+}
 
-=method app_for
+sub _set_backend {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($scheme, $backend) = @_;
+    $scheme = $self->_normalize_scheme($scheme);
+    $self->{backend}->{$scheme} = $backend;
+}
 
-  my $app = $client->app_for('foo');
+sub _normalize_scheme {
+    my $self = shift;
 
-Returns the app corresponding to the given app name (or undef, if no such app
-exists).
+    my $scheme = blessed($_[0]) ? $_[0]->scheme : $_[0];
+    $scheme =~ s/-ssl$//;
+    $scheme = 'http' if $scheme eq 'https';
 
-=cut
+    return $scheme;
+}
 
-sub app_for {
+sub _backend_args {
     my $self = shift;
-    my ($for) = @_;
-    return $self->apps->{$for};
+    my ($scheme) = @_;
+    return %{ $self->{backend_args}->{$scheme} || {} };
 }
 
 =method request
@@ -196,25 +201,21 @@ sub _http_request_to_env {
     my $self = shift;
     my ($req) = @_;
 
-    my $scheme = $req->uri->scheme;
-    my $app_name;
+    my $scheme    = $req->uri->scheme;
+    my $authority = $req->uri->authority;
+
     # hack around with this - psgi requires a host and port to exist, and
     # for the scheme to be either http or https
-    if ($scheme eq 'psgi-local') {
-        $app_name = $req->uri->authority;
-        $req->uri->scheme('http');
-        $req->uri->host('Plack::Client');
-        $req->uri->port(-1);
-    }
-    elsif ($scheme eq 'psgi-local-ssl') {
-        $app_name = $req->uri->authority;
-        $req->uri->scheme('https');
+    if ($scheme ne 'http' && $scheme ne 'https') {
+        if ($scheme =~ /-ssl$/) {
+            $req->uri->scheme('https');
+        }
+        else {
+            $req->uri->scheme('http');
+        }
         $req->uri->host('Plack::Client');
         $req->uri->port(-1);
     }
-    elsif ($scheme ne 'http' && $scheme ne 'https') {
-        die 'Invalid URL scheme ' . $scheme;
-    }
 
     # work around http::message::psgi bug - see github issue 163 for plack
     if (!$req->uri->path) {
@@ -227,8 +228,8 @@ sub _http_request_to_env {
     $env->{CONTENT_LENGTH} ||= length($req->content);
 
     $env->{'plack.client.url_scheme'} = $scheme;
-    $env->{'plack.client.app_name'}   = $app_name
-        if defined $app_name;
+    $env->{'plack.client.authority'}  = $authority
+        if defined $authority;
 
     return $env;
 }
@@ -239,30 +240,34 @@ sub _app_from_req {
 
     my $uri = $req->uri;
     my $scheme = $req->env->{'plack.client.url_scheme'} || $uri->scheme;
-    my $app_name = $req->env->{'plack.client.app_name'};
 
-    my $app;
-    if ($scheme eq 'psgi-local') {
-        if (!defined $app_name) {
-            $app_name = $uri->authority;
-            $app_name =~ s/(.*):.*/$1/; # in case a port was added at some point
-        }
-        $app = $self->app_for($app_name);
-        die "Unknown app: $app_name" unless $app;
-        $app = Plack::Middleware::ContentLength->wrap($app);
-    }
-    elsif ($scheme eq 'http' || $scheme eq 'https') {
-        my $uri = $uri->clone;
-        $uri->path('/');
-        $req->env->{'plack.proxy.remote'} = $uri->as_string;
-        $app = $self->_proxy;
-    }
+    my $backend = $self->_scheme_to_backend($scheme);
+    my $app = $backend->app_from_req($req);
 
     die "Couldn't find app" unless $app;
 
     return $app;
 }
 
+sub _scheme_to_backend {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($scheme) = @_;
+
+    $scheme = $self->_normalize_scheme($scheme);
+
+    my $backend = $self->backend($scheme);
+    return $backend if $backend;
+
+    (my $scheme_class = $scheme) =~ s/-/_/;
+    $scheme_class = "Plack::Client::Backend::$scheme_class";
+    Class::Load::load_class($scheme_class);
+
+    $backend = $scheme_class->new($self->_backend_args($scheme));
+    $self->_set_backend($scheme, $backend);
+
+    return $self->backend($scheme);
+}
+
 sub _resolve_response {
     my $self = shift;
     my ($psgi_res) = @_;
diff --git a/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/http.pm b/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/http.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9982cd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/http.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package Plack::Client::Backend::http;
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Plack::App::Proxy;
+
+sub new {
+    my $class = shift;
+    my %params = @_;
+
+    bless {
+        proxy => Plack::App::Proxy->new->to_app,
+    }, $class;
+}
+
+sub proxy { shift->{proxy} }
+
+sub app_from_req {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($req) = @_;
+
+    my $uri = $req->uri->clone;
+    $uri->path('/');
+    $req->env->{'plack.proxy.remote'} = $uri->as_string;
+    return $self->proxy;
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/psgi_local.pm b/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/psgi_local.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..212479e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Plack/Client/Backend/psgi_local.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package Plack::Client::Backend::psgi_local;
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Plack::Middleware::ContentLength;
+
+sub new {
+    my $class = shift;
+    my %params = @_;
+
+    die 'apps must be a hashref'
+        if exists($params{apps}) && ref($params{apps}) ne 'HASH';
+
+    bless {
+        apps => $params{apps},
+    }, $class;
+}
+
+sub apps { shift->{apps} }
+
+sub app_for {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($for) = @_;
+    return $self->apps->{$for};
+}
+
+sub app_from_req {
+    my $self = shift;
+    my ($req) = @_;
+
+    my $app_name = $req->env->{'plack.client.authority'};
+    if (!defined $app_name) {
+        $app_name = $req->uri->authority;
+        $app_name =~ s/(.*):.*/$1/; # in case a port was added at some point
+    }
+    my $app = $self->app_for($app_name);
+    die "Unknown app: $app_name" unless $app;
+    return Plack::Middleware::ContentLength->wrap($app);
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/t/01-basic.t b/t/01-basic.t
index 0be56ac..6e185b4 100644
--- a/t/01-basic.t
+++ b/t/01-basic.t
@@ -35,11 +35,8 @@ test_tcp_plackup(
             ]
         },
     };
-    my $client = Plack::Client->new(apps => $apps);
+    my $client = Plack::Client->new('psgi-local' => {apps => $apps});
     isa_ok($client, 'Plack::Client');
-    is($client->apps, $apps, "got apps back");
-    is($client->app_for('foo'), $apps->{foo}, "got the right app");
-    is($client->app_for('bar'), undef, "didn't get nonexistent app");
 
     {
         my $res = $client->get('psgi-local://foo/');
diff --git a/t/02-inputs.t b/t/02-inputs.t
index 04d5312..09e471c 100644
--- a/t/02-inputs.t
+++ b/t/02-inputs.t
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ test_tcp_plackup(
     };
     my $base_uri = 'psgi-local://foo';
 
-    test_responses($base_uri, Plack::Client->new(apps => $apps));
+    test_responses(
+        $base_uri,
+        Plack::Client->new('psgi-local' => {apps => $apps})
+    );
 }
 
 sub test_responses {
diff --git a/t/03-delayed-response.t b/t/03-delayed-response.t
index 9d9b258..26d9037 100644
--- a/t/03-delayed-response.t
+++ b/t/03-delayed-response.t
@@ -51,7 +51,10 @@ test_tcp_plackup(
     };
     my $base_uri = 'psgi-local://foo';
 
-    test_responses($base_uri, Plack::Client->new(apps => $apps));
+    test_responses(
+        $base_uri,
+        Plack::Client->new('psgi-local' => {apps => $apps})
+    );
 }
 
 sub test_responses {
diff --git a/t/04-streaming.t b/t/04-streaming.t
index a494681..17a42e6 100644
--- a/t/04-streaming.t
+++ b/t/04-streaming.t
@@ -52,7 +52,10 @@ test_tcp_plackup(
     };
     my $base_uri = 'psgi-local://foo';
 
-    test_responses($base_uri, Plack::Client->new(apps => $apps));
+    test_responses(
+        $base_uri,
+        Plack::Client->new('psgi-local' => {apps => $apps})
+    );
 }
 
 sub test_responses {