diff --git a/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/ProxyServlet.java b/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/ProxyServlet.java
index 0ee7c04f..2b6694df 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/ProxyServlet.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/ProxyServlet.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.apache.http.client.utils.URIUtils;
 import org.apache.http.entity.InputStreamEntity;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClientBuilder;
 import org.apache.http.impl.conn.tsccm.ThreadSafeClientConnManager;
 import org.apache.http.message.BasicHeader;
 import org.apache.http.message.BasicHttpEntityEnclosingRequest;
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ protected void initTarget() throws ServletException {
    * SystemDefaultHttpClient uses PoolingClientConnectionManager. In any case, it should be thread-safe. */
   @SuppressWarnings({"unchecked", "deprecation"})
   protected HttpClient createHttpClient(HttpParams hcParams) {
+    /*
     try {
       //as of HttpComponents v4.2, this class is better since it uses System
       // Properties:
@@ -182,6 +184,10 @@ protected HttpClient createHttpClient(HttpParams hcParams) {
 
     //Fallback on using older client:
     return new DefaultHttpClient(new ThreadSafeClientConnManager(), hcParams);
+    */
+    
+    return HttpClientBuilder.create().useSystemProperties().disableCookieManagement().disableRedirectHandling()
+        .setSSLSocketFactory(SNISSLSocketFactory.createFromSystem()).build();
   }
 
   /** The http client used.
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/SNISSLSocketFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/SNISSLSocketFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac291851
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/mitre/dsmiley/httpproxy/SNISSLSocketFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright MITRE
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.mitre.dsmiley.httpproxy;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
+import org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLConnectionSocketFactory;
+import org.apache.http.conn.ssl.X509HostnameVerifier;
+import org.apache.http.protocol.HttpContext;
+import org.apache.http.util.TextUtils;
+
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLParameters;
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocket;
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * An SSL Socket Factory supporting <a href="">SNI</a>,
+ * at least on the Sun/Oracle JDK.  {@link SSLConnectionSocketFactory} was introduced in
+ * HttpClient 4.3; previously this was possible using
+ * {@link org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLSocketFactory} which is deprecated.
+ */
+public class SNISSLSocketFactory extends SSLConnectionSocketFactory {
+  /** Use commons-logging because that's what HttpClient uses (no new dependencies). */
+  private final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(getClass());
+
+  public static SNISSLSocketFactory createFromSystem() {
+    // See HttpClientBuilder.build when it creates an SSLSocketFactory when systemProperties==true
+    return new SNISSLSocketFactory(
+            (SSLSocketFactory) SSLSocketFactory.getDefault(),
+            split(System.getProperty("https.protocols")),
+            split(System.getProperty("https.cipherSuites")),
+            null);//hostnameVerifier will default
+  }
+
+//  public SNISSLSocketFactory(SSLSocketFactory sslSocketFactory,
+//                             String[] supportedProtocols, String[] supportedCipherSuites,
+//                             HostnameVerifier hostnameVerifier) {
+//    super(sslSocketFactory, supportedProtocols, supportedCipherSuites, hostnameVerifier)
+//  }
+
+// copy of HttpClientBuilder.split
+  private static String[] split(String s) {
+    return TextUtils.isBlank(s) ? null : s.split(" *, *");
+  }
+
+  // note: the constructors of our superclass are all either introduced in v4.4 or are
+  // v4.4+
+
+  /** Note: We support HttpClient v4.3 so we must use a deprecated constructor. */
+  @SuppressWarnings({"deprecation"})
+  public SNISSLSocketFactory(SSLSocketFactory sslSocketFactory,
+                             String[] supportedProtocols, String[] supportedCipherSuites,
+                             X509HostnameVerifier hostnameVerifier) {
+    super(sslSocketFactory, supportedProtocols, supportedCipherSuites, hostnameVerifier);
+  }
+
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritDoc}
+   */
+  @Override
+  public Socket createSocket(HttpContext context) throws IOException {
+    return SSLSocketFactory.getDefault().createSocket();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public Socket connectSocket(
+          int connectTimeout,
+          Socket socket,
+          HttpHost host,
+          InetSocketAddress remoteAddress,
+          InetSocketAddress localAddress,
+          HttpContext context) throws IOException {
+    // For SNI support, we call setHost(hostname) on the socket. But this method isn't part of
+    // the SNLSocket JDK class; it's on a Sun/Oracle implementation class:
+    // sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl  So we invoke it via reflection.
+    /*
+    try {
+      socket.getClass().getDeclaredMethod("setHost", String.class)
+              .invoke(socket, host.getHostName());
+    } catch (NoSuchMethodException | IllegalAccessException | InvocationTargetException ex) {
+      log.debug("Couldn't invoke setHost on " + socket.getClass() + " for SNI support.", ex);
+    }
+    */
+    if (socket instanceof SSLSocket) {
+
+      // see https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/security/jsse/JSSERefGuide.html#SNIExtension
+
+      final SSLSocket sslSocket = (SSLSocket) socket;
+      final javax.net.ssl.SNIHostName serverName = new javax.net.ssl.SNIHostName(host.getHostName());
+      final List<javax.net.ssl.SNIServerName> serverNames = new ArrayList<>(1);
+      serverNames.add(serverName);
+
+      final SSLParameters params = sslSocket.getSSLParameters();
+      params.setServerNames(serverNames);
+      sslSocket.setSSLParameters(params);
+    }
+
+    return super.connectSocket(connectTimeout, socket, host, remoteAddress,
+            localAddress, context);
+  }
+}