diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c9bc70175..415023116 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "bluebird": "~1.2.4",
     "chalk": "~0.4",
-    "forever-agent": "0.5.2",
+    "forever-agent": "~0.5.2",
     "lodash-node": "~2.4"
   },
   "repository": {
diff --git a/src/lib/connectors/_custom_agent.js b/src/lib/connectors/_custom_agent.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ce924171
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/connectors/_custom_agent.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+var ForeverAgent = require('forever-agent');
+var ForeverSSLAgent = require('forever-agent').SSL;
+
+var NativeAgent = require('http').Agent;
+var NativeSSLAgent = require('https').Agent;
+
+var inherits = require('util').inherits;
+var nativeKeepAlive = (function () {
+  var a = new NativeAgent();
+  return !!a.freeSockets;
+}());
+
+function WrapForeverAgent(opts) {
+  ForeverAgent.call(this, opts);
+  var _addRequest = this.addRequest;
+  this.addRequest = function (req, host, port) {
+    req.useChunkedEncodingByDefault = false;
+    _addRequest.call(this, req, host, port);
+  };
+}
+inherits(WrapForeverAgent, ForeverAgent);
+
+function WrapForeverSSLAgent(opts) {
+  ForeverSSLAgent.call(this, opts);
+  var _addRequest = this.addRequest;
+  this.addRequest = function (req, host, port) {
+    req.useChunkedEncodingByDefault = false;
+    _addRequest.call(this, req, host, port);
+  };
+}
+inherits(WrapForeverSSLAgent, ForeverSSLAgent);
+
+function WrapNativeAgent(opts) { NativeAgent.call(this, opts); }
+inherits(WrapNativeAgent, NativeAgent);
+
+function WrapNativeSSLAgent(opts) { NativeSSLAgent.call(this, opts); }
+inherits(WrapNativeSSLAgent, NativeSSLAgent);
+
+
+if (nativeKeepAlive) {
+  module.exports = WrapNativeAgent;
+  module.exports.SSL = WrapNativeSSLAgent;
+} else {
+  module.exports = WrapForeverAgent;
+  module.exports.SSL = WrapForeverSSLAgent;
+}
+
+module.exports.supportsNativeKeepAlive = nativeKeepAlive;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/connectors/_custom_forever_agent.js b/src/lib/connectors/_custom_forever_agent.js
deleted file mode 100644
index c40ba3a6e..000000000
--- a/src/lib/connectors/_custom_forever_agent.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-module.exports = CustomForeverAgent;
-
-var ForeverAgent = require('forever-agent');
-var inherits = require('util').inherits;
-
-function CustomForeverAgent(opts) {
-  ForeverAgent.call(this, opts);
-}
-inherits(CustomForeverAgent, ForeverAgent);
-
-CustomForeverAgent.prototype.addRequest = function (req, host, port) {
-  // force this, so that requests will always use the connection pool
-  req.useChunkedEncodingByDefault = false;
-  ForeverAgent.prototype.addRequest.call(this, req, host, port);
-};
-
-CustomForeverAgent.SSL = ForeverAgent.SSL;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/connectors/http.js b/src/lib/connectors/http.js
index 92ef9c4a9..3bb0d98ea 100644
--- a/src/lib/connectors/http.js
+++ b/src/lib/connectors/http.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ var handles = {
 };
 var _ = require('../utils');
 var qs = require('querystring');
-var ForeverAgent = require('./_custom_forever_agent');
+var ForeverAgent = require('./_custom_agent');
 var ConnectionAbstract = require('../connection');
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/unit/specs/http_connector.js b/test/unit/specs/http_connector.js
index 6d5e3eadf..219219e0e 100644
--- a/test/unit/specs/http_connector.js
+++ b/test/unit/specs/http_connector.js
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 describe('Http Connector', function () {
 
+  var _ = require('lodash-node');
   var expect = require('expect.js');
   var nock = require('nock');
   var sinon = require('sinon');
   var util = require('util');
-  var ForeverAgent = require('forever-agent');
   var http = require('http');
   var https = require('https');
+  var CustomAgent = require('../../../src/lib/connectors/_custom_agent');
 
   var Host = require('../../../src/lib/host');
   var errors = require('../../../src/lib/errors');
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ describe('Http Connector', function () {
       con.request({}, function () {
         expect(http.request.callCount).to.be(1);
         expect(https.request.callCount).to.be(0);
-        expect(http.request.lastCall.args[0].agent).to.be.a(ForeverAgent);
+        expect(http.request.lastCall.args[0].agent).to.be.a(CustomAgent);
         done();
       });
     });
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ describe('Http Connector', function () {
       con.request({}, function () {
         expect(http.request.callCount).to.be(0);
         expect(https.request.callCount).to.be(1);
-        expect(https.request.lastCall.args[0].agent).to.be.a(ForeverAgent.SSL);
+        expect(https.request.lastCall.args[0].agent).to.be.a(CustomAgent.SSL);
         done();
       });
     });
@@ -357,38 +358,47 @@ describe('Http Connector', function () {
   });
 
   describe('Connection cleanup', function () {
+    // skip these tests if native keep alive requests are supported
+    if (CustomAgent.supportsNativeKeepAlive) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     it('destroys any connections created', function (done) {
       this.timeout(null);
       var cp = require('child_process');
       var path = require('path');
-      var fixtures = path.join(__dirname, '../../fixtures/');
+      var fixture = _.partial(path.join, __dirname, '../../fixtures');
       var timeout; // start the timeout once we hear back from the client
 
-      var server = cp.fork(fixtures + 'keepalive_server.js');
-      var client = cp.fork(fixtures + 'keepalive.js');
+      var server = cp.fork(fixture('keepalive_server.js'))
+        .on('message', function (port) {
+          console.log('server sent port number', port);
+          client.send(port);
+        })
+        .once('exit', function () {
+          console.log('server closed');
+        });
 
-      server.on('message', function (port) {
-        client.send(port);
-      });
+      var client = cp.fork(fixture('keepalive.js'))
+        .on('message', function (output) {
+          console.log('client sent output', output);
+          expect(output).to.have.property('remaining', 0);
+          expect(output).to.have.property('timeouts', 0);
+          server.kill('SIGKILL');
+          if (client.connected) {
+            client.disconnect();
+          }
 
-      client.on('message', function (output) {
-        expect(output).to.have.property('remaining', 0);
-        expect(output).to.have.property('timeouts', 0);
-        server.kill('SIGKILL');
-        if (client.connected) {
-          client.disconnect();
-        }
-
-        timeout = setTimeout(function () {
-          client.removeListener('exit');
-          done(new Error('process should have closed by now'));
-        }, 2000);
-      });
-
-      client.on('exit', function () {
-        clearTimeout(timeout);
-        done();
-      });
+          timeout = setTimeout(function () {
+            client.removeListener('exit');
+            done(new Error('process should have closed by now'));
+          }, 2000);
+        })
+        .on('exit', function () {
+          console.log('client closed');
+          clearTimeout(timeout);
+          done();
+        });
     });
 
     it('properly removes all elements from the socket', function () {