diff --git a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/ServerInitializer.java b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/ServerInitializer.java
index 3211275595..c86cba8d6c 100644
--- a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/ServerInitializer.java
+++ b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/ServerInitializer.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpServerCodec;
 import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
 import org.pytorch.serve.http.ApiDescriptionRequestHandler;
+import org.pytorch.serve.http.ExtendedSSLHandler;
 import org.pytorch.serve.http.HttpRequestHandler;
 import org.pytorch.serve.http.HttpRequestHandlerChain;
 import org.pytorch.serve.http.InferenceRequestHandler;
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ public void initChannel(Channel ch) {
 
         int maxRequestSize = ConfigManager.getInstance().getMaxRequestSize();
         if (sslCtx != null) {
-            pipeline.addLast("ssl", sslCtx.newHandler(ch.alloc()));
+            pipeline.addLast("ssl", new ExtendedSSLHandler(sslCtx, connectorType));
         }
         pipeline.addLast("http", new HttpServerCodec());
         pipeline.addLast("aggregator", new HttpObjectAggregator(maxRequestSize));
diff --git a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/http/ExtendedSSLHandler.java b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/http/ExtendedSSLHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..99c092bdf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/http/ExtendedSSLHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package org.pytorch.serve.http;
+
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus;
+import io.netty.handler.ssl.OptionalSslHandler;
+import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
+import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslHandler;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.pytorch.serve.util.ConfigManager;
+import org.pytorch.serve.util.ConnectorType;
+import org.pytorch.serve.util.NettyUtils;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+public class ExtendedSSLHandler extends OptionalSslHandler {
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ExtendedSSLHandler.class);
+    /** the length of the ssl record header (in bytes) */
+    private static final int SSL_RECORD_HEADER_LENGTH = 5;
+
+    private ConnectorType connectorType;
+
+    public ExtendedSSLHandler(SslContext sslContext, ConnectorType connectorType) {
+        super(sslContext);
+        this.connectorType = connectorType;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void decode(ChannelHandlerContext context, ByteBuf in, List<Object> out)
+            throws Exception {
+        if (in.readableBytes() < SSL_RECORD_HEADER_LENGTH) {
+            return;
+        }
+        ConfigManager configMgr = ConfigManager.getInstance();
+        if (SslHandler.isEncrypted(in) || !configMgr.isSSLEnabled(connectorType)) {
+            super.decode(context, in, out);
+        } else {
+            logger.error("Recieved HTTP request!");
+            NettyUtils.sendJsonResponse(
+                    context,
+                    new StatusResponse(
+                            "This TorchServe instance only accepts HTTPS requests",
+                            HttpResponseStatus.FORBIDDEN.code()));
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/ConfigManager.java b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/ConfigManager.java
index bb3a6bc72e..37c1bfa749 100644
--- a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/ConfigManager.java
+++ b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/ConfigManager.java
@@ -105,9 +105,15 @@ public final class ConfigManager {
 
     public static final String PYTHON_EXECUTABLE = "python";
 
+    public static final Pattern ADDRESS_PATTERN =
+            Pattern.compile(
+                    "((https|http)://([^:^/]+)(:([0-9]+))?)|(unix:(/.*))",
+                    Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
+    private static Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\\$\\$([^$]+[^$])\\$\\$");
+
     private Pattern blacklistPattern;
     private Properties prop;
-    private static Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\\$\\$([^$]+[^$])\\$\\$");
+
     private boolean snapshotDisabled;
 
     private static ConfigManager instance;
@@ -718,6 +724,30 @@ public boolean isSnapshotDisabled() {
         return snapshotDisabled;
     }
 
+    public boolean isSSLEnabled(ConnectorType connectorType) {
+        String address = prop.getProperty(TS_INFERENCE_ADDRESS, "http://127.0.0.1:8080");
+        switch (connectorType) {
+            case MANAGEMENT_CONNECTOR:
+                address = prop.getProperty(TS_MANAGEMENT_ADDRESS, "http://127.0.0.1:8081");
+                break;
+            case METRICS_CONNECTOR:
+                address = prop.getProperty(TS_METRICS_ADDRESS, "http://127.0.0.1:8082");
+                break;
+            default:
+                break;
+        }
+        // String inferenceAddress = prop.getProperty(TS_INFERENCE_ADDRESS,
+        // "http://127.0.0.1:8080");
+        Matcher matcher = ConfigManager.ADDRESS_PATTERN.matcher(address);
+        if (!matcher.matches()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid binding address: " + address);
+        }
+
+        String protocol = matcher.group(2);
+
+        return "https".equalsIgnoreCase(protocol);
+    }
+
     public int getIniitialWorkerPort() {
         return Integer.parseInt(prop.getProperty(TS_INITIAL_WORKER_PORT, "9000"));
     }
diff --git a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/Connector.java b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/Connector.java
index ab4cb82f7a..b98ec8b28c 100644
--- a/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/Connector.java
+++ b/frontend/server/src/main/java/org/pytorch/serve/util/Connector.java
@@ -24,16 +24,10 @@
 import java.net.SocketAddress;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
-import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 
 public class Connector {
 
-    private static final Pattern ADDRESS_PATTERN =
-            Pattern.compile(
-                    "((https|http)://([^:^/]+)(:([0-9]+))?)|(unix:(/.*))",
-                    Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
-
     private static boolean useNativeIo = ConfigManager.getInstance().useNativeIo();
 
     private boolean uds;
@@ -75,7 +69,7 @@ private Connector(
     }
 
     public static Connector parse(String binding, ConnectorType connectorType) {
-        Matcher matcher = ADDRESS_PATTERN.matcher(binding);
+        Matcher matcher = ConfigManager.ADDRESS_PATTERN.matcher(binding);
         if (!matcher.matches()) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid binding address: " + binding);
         }