diff --git a/reactor-netty5-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/transport/ClientTransportConfig.java b/reactor-netty5-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/transport/ClientTransportConfig.java
index 2ae75df593..3b52bb324b 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/transport/ClientTransportConfig.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/transport/ClientTransportConfig.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public int channelHash() {
 	 *
 	 * @return the {@link ConnectionProvider}
 	 */
-	public final ConnectionProvider connectionProvider() {
+	public ConnectionProvider connectionProvider() {
 		return connectionProvider;
 	}
 
diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
index 40a11f0fa2..4493fb9239 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConfig.java
@@ -114,6 +114,11 @@ public ChannelOperations.OnSetup channelOperationsProvider() {
 		return (ch, c, msg) -> new HttpClientOperations(ch, c, cookieEncoder, cookieDecoder);
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public ConnectionProvider connectionProvider() {
+		return httpConnectionProvider().http1ConnectionProvider();
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Return the configured {@link ClientCookieDecoder} or the default {@link ClientCookieDecoder#STRICT}.
 	 *
@@ -320,7 +325,7 @@ public WebsocketClientSpec websocketClientSpec() {
 	Function<String, String> uriTagValue;
 	WebsocketClientSpec websocketClientSpec;
 
-	HttpClientConfig(ConnectionProvider connectionProvider, Map<ChannelOption<?>, ?> options,
+	HttpClientConfig(HttpConnectionProvider connectionProvider, Map<ChannelOption<?>, ?> options,
 			Supplier<? extends SocketAddress> remoteAddress) {
 		super(connectionProvider, options, remoteAddress);
 		this.acceptGzip = false;
@@ -443,6 +448,10 @@ void deferredConf(Function<HttpClientConfig, Mono<HttpClientConfig>> deferrer) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	HttpConnectionProvider httpConnectionProvider() {
+		return (HttpConnectionProvider) super.connectionProvider();
+	}
+
 	void protocols(HttpProtocol... protocols) {
 		this.protocols = protocols;
 		int _protocols = 0;
diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConnect.java b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConnect.java
index 098f445895..38caf34ab6 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConnect.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientConnect.java
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
 import reactor.netty5.channel.AbortedException;
 import reactor.netty5.http.HttpOperations;
 import reactor.netty5.http.HttpProtocol;
-import reactor.netty5.resources.ConnectionProvider;
 import reactor.netty5.transport.AddressUtils;
 import reactor.netty5.transport.ProxyProvider;
 import reactor.util.Logger;
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@ class HttpClientConnect extends HttpClient {
 
 	final HttpClientConfig config;
 
-	HttpClientConnect(ConnectionProvider provider) {
+	HttpClientConnect(HttpConnectionProvider provider) {
 		this.config = new HttpClientConfig(
 				provider,
 				Collections.singletonMap(ChannelOption.AUTO_READ, false),
@@ -194,7 +193,7 @@ public void subscribe(CoreSubscriber<? super Connection> actual) {
 
 				AddressResolverGroup<?> resolver = _config.resolverInternal();
 
-				_config.connectionProvider()
+				_config.httpConnectionProvider()
 						.acquire(_config, observer, handler, resolver)
 						.subscribe(new ClientTransportSubscriber(sink));
 
diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientTest.java b/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientTest.java
index 1f63659f7c..ff5c095979 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientTest.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpClientTest.java
@@ -3057,7 +3057,7 @@ private void doTestIssue1943(HttpProtocol protocol) {
 		HttpClientConfig config = client.configuration();
 
 		LoopResources loopResources1 = config.loopResources();
-		ConnectionProvider provider1 = ((HttpConnectionProvider) config.connectionProvider()).http1ConnectionProvider();
+		ConnectionProvider provider1 = config.connectionProvider();
 		AddressResolverGroup<?> resolverGroup1 = config.defaultAddressResolverGroup();
 
 		try {
@@ -3074,7 +3074,7 @@ private void doTestIssue1943(HttpProtocol protocol) {
 		HttpResources.reset();
 
 		LoopResources loopResources2 = config.loopResources();
-		ConnectionProvider provider2 = ((HttpConnectionProvider) config.connectionProvider()).http1ConnectionProvider();
+		ConnectionProvider provider2 = config.connectionProvider();
 		AddressResolverGroup<?> resolverGroup2 = config.defaultAddressResolverGroup();
 
 		assertThat(loopResources1).isNotSameAs(loopResources2);
diff --git a/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpConnectionProviderTest.java b/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpConnectionProviderTest.java
index 1f7800df6d..2e87fba4c0 100644
--- a/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpConnectionProviderTest.java
+++ b/reactor-netty5-http/src/test/java/reactor/netty5/http/client/HttpConnectionProviderTest.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import reactor.netty5.http.HttpResources;
 import reactor.netty5.resources.ConnectionProvider;
+import reactor.util.annotation.Nullable;
 
 import java.time.Duration;
 
@@ -34,8 +35,7 @@ void maxConnectionsCustomConnectionProvider() {
 		ConnectionProvider provider = ConnectionProvider.create("maxConnectionsCustomConnectionProvider", 1);
 		try {
 			HttpClient client = HttpClient.create(provider);
-			HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider =
-					(HttpConnectionProvider) client.configuration().connectionProvider();
+			HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider = client.configuration().httpConnectionProvider();
 			assertThat(configuredConnectionProvider.maxConnections())
 					.isEqualTo(provider.maxConnections());
 			// Http2ConnectionProvider inherits the configuration from the configured provider
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ void maxConnectionsCustomConnectionProvider() {
 	@Test
 	void maxConnectionsDefaultConnectionProvider() {
 		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();
-		HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider =
-				(HttpConnectionProvider) client.configuration().connectionProvider();
+		HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider = client.configuration().httpConnectionProvider();
 		assertThat(configuredConnectionProvider.maxConnections())
 				.isEqualTo(((ConnectionProvider) HttpResources.get()).maxConnections());
 		// Http2ConnectionProvider inherits the configuration from HttpResources
@@ -66,8 +65,7 @@ void maxConnectionsPerHostCustomConnectionProvider() {
 		ConnectionProvider provider = ConnectionProvider.create("maxConnectionsPerHostCustomConnectionProvider", 1);
 		try {
 			HttpClient client = HttpClient.create(provider);
-			HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider =
-					(HttpConnectionProvider) client.configuration().connectionProvider();
+			HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider = client.configuration().httpConnectionProvider();
 			assertThat(configuredConnectionProvider.maxConnectionsPerHost())
 					.isEqualTo(provider.maxConnectionsPerHost());
 			// Http2ConnectionProvider inherits the configuration from the configured provider
@@ -83,8 +81,7 @@ void maxConnectionsPerHostCustomConnectionProvider() {
 	@Test
 	void maxConnectionsPerHostDefaultConnectionProvider() {
 		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();
-		HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider =
-				(HttpConnectionProvider) client.configuration().connectionProvider();
+		HttpConnectionProvider configuredConnectionProvider = client.configuration().httpConnectionProvider();
 		assertThat(configuredConnectionProvider.maxConnectionsPerHost())
 				.isEqualTo(((ConnectionProvider) HttpResources.get()).maxConnectionsPerHost());
 		// Http2ConnectionProvider inherits the configuration from HttpResources
@@ -92,4 +89,43 @@ void maxConnectionsPerHostDefaultConnectionProvider() {
 				.isEqualTo(HttpResources.get().getOrCreateHttp2ConnectionProvider(HTTP2_CONNECTION_PROVIDER_FACTORY)
 						.maxConnectionsPerHost());
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	void returnOriginalConnectionProvider() {
+		testReturnOriginalConnectionProvider(HttpClient.create(), null);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void returnOriginalConnectionProviderNewConnection() {
+		ConnectionProvider provider = ConnectionProvider.newConnection();
+		testReturnOriginalConnectionProvider(HttpClient.create(provider), provider);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void returnOriginalConnectionProviderUsingBuilder() {
+		ConnectionProvider provider =
+				ConnectionProvider.builder("provider")
+				                  .maxConnections(1)
+				                  .disposeTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(1L))
+				                  .pendingAcquireTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(1L))
+				                  .maxIdleTime(Duration.ofSeconds(1L))
+				                  .maxLifeTime(Duration.ofSeconds(10L))
+				                  .lifo()
+				                  .build();
+
+		testReturnOriginalConnectionProvider(HttpClient.create(provider), provider);
+	}
+
+	private void testReturnOriginalConnectionProvider(HttpClient httpClient, @Nullable ConnectionProvider originalProvider) {
+		ConnectionProvider provider = httpClient.configuration().connectionProvider();
+		try {
+			assertThat(provider).isSameAs(originalProvider != null ? originalProvider : HttpResources.get());
+		}
+		finally {
+			if (originalProvider != null) {
+				provider.disposeLater()
+				        .block(Duration.ofSeconds(5));
+			}
+		}
+	}
 }