diff --git a/http/h1_stream.lua b/http/h1_stream.lua
index 67c899b1..fc5731dc 100644
--- a/http/h1_stream.lua
+++ b/http/h1_stream.lua
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ local function new_stream(connection)
 
 		req_method = nil; -- string
 		peer_version = nil; -- 1.0 or 1.1
+		use_absolute_target = nil; -- tristate boolean
 		has_main_headers = false;
 		headers_in_progress = nil;
 		headers_fifo = new_fifo();
@@ -648,8 +649,32 @@ function stream_methods:write_headers(headers, end_stream, timeout)
 				assert(not headers:has(":path"), "CONNECT requests should not have a path")
 			else
 				-- RFC 7230 Section 5.4: A client MUST send a Host header field in all HTTP/1.1 request messages.
-				assert(self.connection.version < 1.1 or headers:has(":authority"), "missing authority")
+				local has_authority = headers:has(":authority")
+				assert(has_authority or self.connection.version < 1.1, "missing authority")
 				target = assert(headers:get(":path"), "missing path")
+
+				local use_absolute_target = self.use_absolute_target
+				if use_absolute_target then
+					assert(has_authority, "request-target absolute-form requires an authority")
+				elseif use_absolute_target == nil then
+					use_absolute_target = has_authority
+				end
+				if use_absolute_target then
+					-- RFC 7230 Section 5.3.2
+					-- When making a request to a proxy, other than a CONNECT or server-wide
+					-- OPTIONS request (as detailed below), a client MUST send the target
+					-- URI in absolute-form as the request-target.
+					-- ...
+					-- To allow for transition to the absolute-form for all requests in some
+					-- future version of HTTP, a server MUST accept the absolute-form in
+					-- requests, even though HTTP/1.1 clients will only send them in
+					-- requests to proxies.
+					if target == "*" then
+						target = headers:get(":scheme") .. "://" .. headers:get(":authority")
+					else
+						target = headers:get(":scheme") .. "://" .. headers:get(":authority") .. target
+					end
+				end
 			end
 			if self.connection.req_locked then
 				-- Wait until previous request has been fully written
diff --git a/http/request.lua b/http/request.lua
index f9b65d67..85bbf237 100644
--- a/http/request.lua
+++ b/http/request.lua
@@ -358,6 +358,7 @@ function request_methods:go(timeout)
 	local port = self.port
 	local tls = self.tls
 	local version = self.version
+	local use_absolute_target
 
 	-- RFC 6797 Section 8.3
 	if not tls and self.hsts and self.hsts:check(host) then
@@ -456,17 +457,14 @@ function request_methods:go(timeout)
 				if request_headers:get(":method") == "CONNECT" then
 					error("cannot use HTTP Proxy with CONNECT method")
 				end
-				-- TODO: Check if :path already has authority?
-				local old_url = self:to_uri(false)
 				host = assert(proxy.host, "proxy is missing host")
 				port = proxy.port or http_util.scheme_to_port[proxy.scheme]
-				-- proxy requests get a uri that includes host as their path
-				if not cloned_headers then
-					request_headers = request_headers:clone()
-					cloned_headers = true -- luacheck: ignore 311
-				end
-				request_headers:upsert(":path", old_url)
+				use_absolute_target = true
 				if proxy.userinfo then
+					if not cloned_headers then
+						request_headers = request_headers:clone()
+						cloned_headers = true -- luacheck: ignore 311
+					end
 					request_headers:upsert("proxy-authorization", "basic " .. basexx.to_base64(proxy.userinfo), true)
 				end
 			end
@@ -520,6 +518,10 @@ function request_methods:go(timeout)
 		end
 	end
 
+	if use_absolute_target and connection.version < 2 then
+		stream.use_absolute_target = use_absolute_target
+	end
+
 	local body = self.body
 	do -- Write outgoing headers
 		local ok, err, errno = stream:write_headers(request_headers, body == nil, deadline and deadline-monotime())