diff --git a/lib/http.js b/lib/http.js
index b5a9a1bdcb..5f051ed96b 100644
--- a/lib/http.js
+++ b/lib/http.js
@@ -851,11 +851,18 @@ function Client ( ) {
       self.destroy(ret);
     } else if (parser.incoming && parser.incoming.upgrade) {
       var bytesParsed = ret;
-      var upgradeHead = d.slice(start + bytesParsed, end - start);
-      parser.incoming.upgradeHead = upgradeHead;
-      var req = self._outgoing[0];
       self.ondata = null;
       self.onend = null
+
+      var req = self._outgoing[0];
+
+      var upgradeHead = d.slice(start + bytesParsed + 1, end);
+
+      if (self.listeners('upgrade').length) {
+        self.emit('upgrade', req, self, upgradeHead);
+      } else {
+        self.destroy();
+      }
     }
   };
 
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http-upgrade-client.js b/test/simple/test-http-upgrade-client.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ca008588b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-http-upgrade-client.js
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+// Verify that the 'upgrade' header causes an 'upgrade' event to be emitted to
+// the HTTP client. This test uses a raw TCP server to better control server
+// behavior.
+
+require('../common');
+
+var http = require('http');
+var net = require('net');
+var sys = require('sys');
+
+var PORT = 5000 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000);
+
+// Parse a string of data, returning an object if headers are complete, and
+// undefined otherwise
+var parseHeaders = function(data) {
+    var m = data.search(/\r\n\r\n/);
+    if (!m) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    var o = {};
+    data.substring(0, m.index).split('\r\n').forEach(function(h) {
+        var foo = h.split(':');
+        if (foo.length < 2) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        o[foo[0].trim().toLowerCase()] = foo[1].trim().toLowerCase();
+    });
+
+    return o;
+};
+
+// Create a TCP server 
+var srv = net.createServer(function(c) {
+    var data = '';
+    c.addListener('data', function(d) {
+        data += d.toString('utf8');
+
+        // We found the end of the headers; make sure that we have an 'upgrade'
+        // header and send back a response
+        var headers = parseHeaders(data);
+        if (!headers) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        assert.ok('upgrade' in headers);
+
+        c.write('HTTP/1.1 101\r\n');
+        c.write('connection: upgrade\r\n');
+        c.write('upgrade: ' + headers.upgrade + '\r\n');
+        c.write('\r\n');
+        c.write('nurtzo');
+
+        c.end();
+    });
+});
+srv.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1');
+
+var gotUpgrade = false;
+var hc = http.createClient(PORT, '127.0.0.1');
+hc.addListener('upgrade', function(req, socket, upgradeHead) {
+    // XXX: This test isn't fantastic, as it assumes that the entire response
+    //      from the server will arrive in a single data callback
+    assert.equal(upgradeHead, 'nurtzo');
+
+    socket.end();
+    srv.close();
+
+    gotUpgrade = true;
+});
+hc.request('/', {
+    'Connection' : 'Upgrade',
+    'Upgrade' : 'WebSocket'
+}).end();
+
+process.addListener('exit', function() {
+    assert.ok(gotUpgrade);
+});
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http-upgrade.js b/test/simple/test-http-upgrade-server.js
similarity index 100%
rename from test/simple/test-http-upgrade.js
rename to test/simple/test-http-upgrade-server.js
diff --git a/test/simple/test-http-upgrade2.js b/test/simple/test-http-upgrade-server2.js
similarity index 100%
rename from test/simple/test-http-upgrade2.js
rename to test/simple/test-http-upgrade-server2.js