diff --git a/bin/http-server b/bin/http-server
index 4aad4404..ed92ab7d 100755
--- a/bin/http-server
+++ b/bin/http-server
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ var colors     = require('colors/safe'),
     httpServer = require('../lib/http-server'),
     portfinder = require('portfinder'),
     opener     = require('opener'),
-    fs         = require('fs');
+
+    fs         = require('fs'),
+    url        = require('url');
 var argv = require('minimist')(process.argv.slice(2), {
   alias: {
     tls: 'ssl'
@@ -160,6 +162,16 @@ function listen(port) {
     }
   }
 
+  if (proxy) {
+    try {
+      new url.URL(proxy)
+    }
+    catch (err) {
+      logger.info(colors.red('Error: Invalid proxy url'));
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+
   if (tls) {
     options.https = {
       cert: argv.C || argv.cert || 'cert.pem',
diff --git a/test/cli.test.js b/test/cli.test.js
index fe12c703..3520f442 100644
--- a/test/cli.test.js
+++ b/test/cli.test.js
@@ -101,3 +101,16 @@ test('setting mimeTypes via cli - directly', (t) => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+test('--proxy requires you to specify a protocol', (t) => {
+  t.plan(1);
+  
+  const options = ['.', '--proxy', 'google.com'];
+  const server = startServer(options);
+
+  tearDown(server, t);
+
+  server.on('exit', (code) => {
+    t.equal(code, 1);
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file