diff --git a/src/h2load.cc b/src/h2load.cc
index 10dbd20f..1c9bed26 100644
--- a/src/h2load.cc
+++ b/src/h2load.cc
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Config::Config()
       log_fd(-1),
       port(0),
       default_port(0),
+      connect_to_port(0),
       verbose(false),
       timing_script(false),
       base_uri_unix(false),
@@ -1565,9 +1566,11 @@ void resolve_host() {
 
   const auto &resolve_host =
       config.connect_to_host.empty() ? config.host : config.connect_to_host;
+  auto port =
+      config.connect_to_port == 0 ? config.port : config.connect_to_port;
 
-  rv = getaddrinfo(resolve_host.c_str(), util::utos(config.port).c_str(),
-                   &hints, &res);
+  rv =
+      getaddrinfo(resolve_host.c_str(), util::utos(port).c_str(), &hints, &res);
   if (rv != 0) {
     std::cerr << "getaddrinfo() failed: " << gai_strerror(rv) << std::endl;
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -1982,8 +1985,9 @@ Options:
               response  time when  using  one worker  thread, but  may
               appear slightly  out of order with  multiple threads due
               to buffering.  Status code is -1 for failed streams.
-  --connect-to=<HOST>
-              Host to connect instead of using the host in <URI>.
+  --connect-to=<HOST>[:<PORT>]
+              Host and port to connect  instead of using the authority
+              in <URI>.
   -v, --verbose
               Output debug information.
   --version   Display version information and exit.
@@ -2270,11 +2274,20 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         // --log-file
         logfile = optarg;
         break;
-      case 11:
+      case 11: {
         // --connect-to
-        config.connect_to_host = optarg;
+        auto p = util::split_hostport(StringRef{optarg});
+        int64_t port = 0;
+        if (p.first.empty() ||
+            (!p.second.empty() && (port = util::parse_uint(p.second)) == -1)) {
+          std::cerr << "--connect-to: Invalid value " << optarg << std::endl;
+          exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+        }
+        config.connect_to_host = p.first.str();
+        config.connect_to_port = port;
         break;
       }
+      }
       break;
     default:
       break;
diff --git a/src/h2load.h b/src/h2load.h
index c3ed12ee..ca689976 100644
--- a/src/h2load.h
+++ b/src/h2load.h
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ struct Config {
   int log_fd;
   uint16_t port;
   uint16_t default_port;
+  uint16_t connect_to_port;
   bool verbose;
   bool timing_script;
   std::string base_uri;
diff --git a/src/shrpx-unittest.cc b/src/shrpx-unittest.cc
index dd4fadf1..3cf38163 100644
--- a/src/shrpx-unittest.cc
+++ b/src/shrpx-unittest.cc
@@ -195,6 +195,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
       !CU_add_test(pSuite, "util_decode_hex", shrpx::test_util_decode_hex) ||
       !CU_add_test(pSuite, "util_extract_host",
                    shrpx::test_util_extract_host) ||
+      !CU_add_test(pSuite, "util_split_hostport",
+                   shrpx::test_util_split_hostport) ||
       !CU_add_test(pSuite, "gzip_inflate", test_nghttp2_gzip_inflate) ||
       !CU_add_test(pSuite, "buffer_write", nghttp2::test_buffer_write) ||
       !CU_add_test(pSuite, "pool_recycle", nghttp2::test_pool_recycle) ||
diff --git a/src/util.cc b/src/util.cc
index bb30fcd3..187fd3a8 100644
--- a/src/util.cc
+++ b/src/util.cc
@@ -1537,6 +1537,41 @@ StringRef extract_host(const StringRef &hostport) {
   return StringRef{std::begin(hostport), p};
 }
 
+std::pair<StringRef, StringRef> split_hostport(const StringRef &hostport) {
+  if (hostport.empty()) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  if (hostport[0] == '[') {
+    // assume this is IPv6 numeric address
+    auto p = std::find(std::begin(hostport), std::end(hostport), ']');
+    if (p == std::end(hostport)) {
+      return {};
+    }
+    if (p + 1 == std::end(hostport)) {
+      return {StringRef{std::begin(hostport) + 1, p}, {}};
+    }
+    if (*(p + 1) != ':' || p + 2 == std::end(hostport)) {
+      return {};
+    }
+    return {StringRef{std::begin(hostport) + 1, p},
+            StringRef{p + 2, std::end(hostport)}};
+  }
+
+  auto p = std::find(std::begin(hostport), std::end(hostport), ':');
+  if (p == std::begin(hostport)) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  if (p == std::end(hostport)) {
+    return {StringRef{std::begin(hostport), p}, {}};
+  }
+  if (p + 1 == std::end(hostport)) {
+    return {};
+  }
+
+  return {StringRef{std::begin(hostport), p},
+          StringRef{p + 1, std::end(hostport)}};
+}
+
 std::mt19937 make_mt19937() {
   std::random_device rd;
   return std::mt19937(rd());
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 38761e08..3443fe05 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -769,6 +769,13 @@ int sha1(uint8_t *buf, const StringRef &s);
 // NULL-terminated.
 StringRef extract_host(const StringRef &hostport);
 
+// split_hostport splits host and port in |hostport|.  Unlike
+// extract_host, square brackets enclosing host name is stripped.  If
+// port is not available, it returns empty string in the second
+// string.  The returned string might not be NULL-terminated.  On any
+// error, it returns a pair which has empty strings.
+std::pair<StringRef, StringRef> split_hostport(const StringRef &hostport);
+
 // Returns new std::mt19937 object.
 std::mt19937 make_mt19937();
 
diff --git a/src/util_test.cc b/src/util_test.cc
index d375b437..6ad313d2 100644
--- a/src/util_test.cc
+++ b/src/util_test.cc
@@ -628,4 +628,28 @@ void test_util_extract_host(void) {
   CU_ASSERT(util::extract_host(StringRef{}).empty());
 }
 
+void test_util_split_hostport(void) {
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef::from_lit("foo"), StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("foo")));
+  CU_ASSERT(
+      std::make_pair(StringRef::from_lit("foo"), StringRef::from_lit("80")) ==
+      util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("foo:80")));
+  CU_ASSERT(
+      std::make_pair(StringRef::from_lit("::1"), StringRef::from_lit("80")) ==
+      util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("[::1]:80")));
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef::from_lit("::1"), StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("[::1]")));
+
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef{}, StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef{}));
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef{}, StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("[::1]:")));
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef{}, StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("foo:")));
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef{}, StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("[::1:")));
+  CU_ASSERT(std::make_pair(StringRef{}, StringRef{}) ==
+            util::split_hostport(StringRef::from_lit("[::1]80")));
+}
+
 } // namespace shrpx
diff --git a/src/util_test.h b/src/util_test.h
index 41ba9fe2..cc34f7d2 100644
--- a/src/util_test.h
+++ b/src/util_test.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ void test_util_format_hex(void);
 void test_util_is_hex_string(void);
 void test_util_decode_hex(void);
 void test_util_extract_host(void);
+void test_util_split_hostport(void);
 
 } // namespace shrpx