diff --git a/src/TibiaNewslist.go b/src/TibiaNewslist.go
index 0c3c947..a95be11 100644
--- a/src/TibiaNewslist.go
+++ b/src/TibiaNewslist.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func TibiaNewslistImpl(days int, BoxContentHTML string, handlerURL string) (News
 		OneNews.TibiaURL = NewsSplit[0] + NewsID
 
 		if TibiaDataHost != "" {
-			OneNews.ApiURL = "https://" + TibiaDataHost + "/v4/news/id/" + NewsID
+			OneNews.ApiURL = TibiaDataProtocol + "://" + TibiaDataHost + "/v4/news/id/" + NewsID
 		}
 
 		// add to NewsListData for response
diff --git a/src/main.go b/src/main.go
index d9e897c..61a9a3b 100644
--- a/src/main.go
+++ b/src/main.go
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@ var (
 	TibiaDataRestrictionMode bool
 
 	// TibiaData app settings
-	TibiaDataHost       string     // set through env TIBIADATA_HOST
 	TibiaDataAPIDetails APIDetails // containing information from build
+	TibiaDataHost       string     // set through env TIBIADATA_HOST
+	TibiaDataProtocol   = "https"  // can be overridden by env TIBIADATA_PROTOCOL
 
 	// TibiaData app details set to release/build on GitHub
 	TibiaDataBuildRelease = "unknown"     // will be set by GitHub Actions (to release number)
@@ -48,22 +49,8 @@ var (
 // @BasePath  /
 
 func init() {
-	// Generating TibiaDataUserAgent with TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator function
-	TibiaDataUserAgent = TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator(TibiaDataAPIversion)
-
-	// Initiate the validator
-	err := validation.Initiate(TibiaDataUserAgent)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-}
-
-func main() {
-	// logging start of TibiaData
-	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API starting..")
-
-	// Running the TibiaDataInitializer function
-	TibiaDataInitializer()
+	// logging init of TibiaData
+	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API initializing..")
 
 	// Logging build information
 	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API release: %s", TibiaDataBuildRelease)
@@ -81,11 +68,31 @@ func main() {
 	if getEnvAsBool("DEBUG_MODE", false) {
 		// Setting debug to true for more logging
 		TibiaDataDebug = true
+	}
+	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API debug-mode: %t", TibiaDataDebug)
 
+	// Running the TibiaDataInitializer function
+	TibiaDataInitializer()
+
+	// Generating TibiaDataUserAgent with TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator function
+	TibiaDataUserAgent = TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator(TibiaDataAPIversion)
+
+	if TibiaDataDebug {
 		// Logging user-agent string
 		log.Printf("[debug] TibiaData API User-Agent: %s", TibiaDataUserAgent)
 	}
-	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API debug-mode: %t", TibiaDataDebug)
+
+	// Initiate the validator
+	err := validation.Initiate(TibiaDataUserAgent)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+}
+
+func main() {
+	// logging start of TibiaData
+	log.Printf("[info] TibiaData API starting..")
 
 	// Starting the webserver
 	runWebServer()
@@ -100,7 +107,12 @@ func TibiaDataInitializer() {
 
 	// Adding information of host
 	if isEnvExist("TIBIADATA_HOST") {
-		TibiaDataHost = "+https://" + getEnv("TIBIADATA_HOST", "")
+		TibiaDataHost = getEnv("TIBIADATA_HOST", "")
+		log.Println("[info] TibiaData API hostname: " + TibiaDataHost)
+	}
+	if isEnvExist("TIBIADATA_PROTOCOL") {
+		TibiaDataProtocol = getEnv("TIBIADATA_PROTOCOL", "https")
+		log.Println("[info] TibiaData API protocol: " + TibiaDataProtocol)
 	}
 
 	// Setting TibiaDataProxyDomain
diff --git a/src/main_test.go b/src/main_test.go
index 5ff7b53..1b8868c 100644
--- a/src/main_test.go
+++ b/src/main_test.go
@@ -7,19 +7,30 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
-	const expectedUserAgent = "TibiaData-API/v4 (release/unknown; build/manual; commit/-; edition/open-source; unittest.example.com)"
+	const (
+		expectedUserAgent     = "TibiaData-API/v4 (release/unknown; build/manual; commit/-; edition/open-source)"
+		expectedUserAgentHost = "TibiaData-API/v4 (release/unknown; build/manual; commit/-; edition/open-source; +https://unittest.example.com)"
+	)
 
+	TibiaDataHost = ""
 	TibiaDataUserAgent = TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator(TibiaDataAPIversion)
 	assert.Equal(t, expectedUserAgent, TibiaDataUserAgent)
+
+	TibiaDataHost = "unittest.example.com"
+	TibiaDataUserAgent = TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator(TibiaDataAPIversion)
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedUserAgentHost, TibiaDataUserAgent)
 }
 
 func TestTibiaDataInitializer(t *testing.T) {
 	assert := assert.New(t)
 
+	TibiaDataHost = "unittest.example.com"
+
 	// Call the function to be tested
 	TibiaDataInitializer()
 
 	// Check that the variables have been set correctly
 	assert.Equal("open-source", TibiaDataBuildEdition)
+	assert.Equal("https", TibiaDataProtocol)
 	assert.Equal("unittest.example.com", TibiaDataHost)
 }
diff --git a/src/webserver.go b/src/webserver.go
index 66dfcd1..41e131c 100644
--- a/src/webserver.go
+++ b/src/webserver.go
@@ -1183,8 +1183,13 @@ func TibiaDataUserAgentGenerator(version int) string {
 		"build/" + TibiaDataBuildBuilder,
 		"commit/" + TibiaDataBuildCommit,
 		"edition/" + TibiaDataBuildEdition,
-		TibiaDataHost,
 	}
+
+	// adding TibiaDataHost if set
+	if TibiaDataHost != "" {
+		useragentDetails = append(useragentDetails, "+"+TibiaDataProtocol+"://"+TibiaDataHost)
+	}
+
 	useragent += " (" + strings.Join(useragentDetails, "; ") + ")"
 
 	return useragent