diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index d4b4b779f..73246a78a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -29,36 +29,41 @@ function requestAsEventEmitter(opts) {
 
 	const get = opts => {
 		const fn = opts.protocol === 'https:' ? https : http;
+		let req;
 
-		const req = fn.request(opts, res => {
-			const statusCode = res.statusCode;
+		try {
+			req = fn.request(opts, res => {
+				const statusCode = res.statusCode;
 
-			if (redirectUrl) {
-				res.url = redirectUrl;
-			}
+				if (redirectUrl) {
+					res.url = redirectUrl;
+				}
 
-			if (isRedirect(statusCode) && opts.followRedirect && 'location' in res.headers && (opts.method === 'GET' || opts.method === 'HEAD')) {
-				res.resume();
+				if (isRedirect(statusCode) && opts.followRedirect && 'location' in res.headers && (opts.method === 'GET' || opts.method === 'HEAD')) {
+					res.resume();
 
-				if (++redirectCount > 10) {
-					ee.emit('error', new got.MaxRedirectsError(statusCode, opts), null, res);
-					return;
-				}
+					if (++redirectCount > 10) {
+						ee.emit('error', new got.MaxRedirectsError(statusCode, opts), null, res);
+						return;
+					}
 
-				redirectUrl = urlLib.resolve(urlLib.format(opts), res.headers.location);
-				const redirectOpts = Object.assign({}, opts, urlLib.parse(redirectUrl));
+					redirectUrl = urlLib.resolve(urlLib.format(opts), res.headers.location);
+					const redirectOpts = Object.assign({}, opts, urlLib.parse(redirectUrl));
 
-				ee.emit('redirect', res, redirectOpts);
+					ee.emit('redirect', res, redirectOpts);
 
-				get(redirectOpts);
+					get(redirectOpts);
 
-				return;
-			}
+					return;
+				}
 
-			setImmediate(() => {
-				ee.emit('response', typeof unzipResponse === 'function' && req.method !== 'HEAD' ? unzipResponse(res) : res);
+				setImmediate(() => {
+					ee.emit('response', typeof unzipResponse === 'function' && req.method !== 'HEAD' ? unzipResponse(res) : res);
+				});
 			});
-		});
+		} catch (err) {
+			return ee.emit('error', new got.RequestError(err, opts));
+		}
 
 		req.once('error', err => {
 			const backoff = opts.retries(++retryCount, err);
diff --git a/test/error.js b/test/error.js
index c8ad3850d..780178379 100644
--- a/test/error.js
+++ b/test/error.js
@@ -51,6 +51,15 @@ test('options.body error message', async t => {
 	}
 });
 
+test('invalid url', async t => {
+	try {
+		await got('htttp://google.com');
+		t.fail('Exception was not thrown');
+	} catch (err) {
+		t.regex(err.message, /Protocol .+ not supported/);
+	}
+});
+
 test.after('cleanup', async () => {
 	await s.close();
 });