diff --git a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers.go b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers.go
index 4af765fe2..e60e780d6 100644
--- a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers.go
+++ b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers.go
@@ -85,17 +85,18 @@ func (ps Peers) Endpoints() []string {
 	return endpoints
 }
 
-func Sender(p Peers) func(msgs []raftpb.Message) {
+func Sender(t *http.Transport, p Peers) func(msgs []raftpb.Message) {
+	c := &http.Client{Transport: t}
 	return func(msgs []raftpb.Message) {
 		for _, m := range msgs {
 			// TODO: reuse go routines
 			// limit the number of outgoing connections for the same receiver
-			go send(p, m)
+			go send(c, p, m)
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-func send(p Peers, m raftpb.Message) {
+func send(c *http.Client, p Peers, m raftpb.Message) {
 	// TODO (xiangli): reasonable retry logic
 	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
 		url := p.Pick(m.To)
@@ -116,16 +117,15 @@ func send(p Peers, m raftpb.Message) {
 			log.Println("etcdhttp: dropping message:", err)
 			return // drop bad message
 		}
-		if httpPost(url, data) {
+		if httpPost(c, url, data) {
 			return // success
 		}
 		// TODO: backoff
 	}
 }
 
-func httpPost(url string, data []byte) bool {
-	// TODO: set timeouts
-	resp, err := http.Post(url, "application/protobuf", bytes.NewBuffer(data))
+func httpPost(c *http.Client, url string, data []byte) bool {
+	resp, err := c.Post(url, "application/protobuf", bytes.NewBuffer(data))
 	if err != nil {
 		elog.TODO()
 		return false
diff --git a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers_test.go b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers_test.go
index f733635b1..e08bc7325 100644
--- a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers_test.go
+++ b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/peers_test.go
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func TestHttpPost(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for i, tt := range tests {
 		ts := httptest.NewServer(tt.h)
-		if g := httpPost(ts.URL, []byte("adsf")); g != tt.w {
+		if g := httpPost(http.DefaultClient, ts.URL, []byte("adsf")); g != tt.w {
 			t.Errorf("#%d: httpPost()=%t, want %t", i, g, tt.w)
 		}
 		if tr.Method != "POST" {
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func TestHttpPost(t *testing.T) {
 		ts.Close()
 	}
 
-	if httpPost("garbage url", []byte("data")) {
+	if httpPost(http.DefaultClient, "garbage url", []byte("data")) {
 		t.Errorf("httpPost with bad URL returned true unexpectedly!")
 	}
 }
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ func TestSend(t *testing.T) {
 		ps := Peers{
 			42: []string{strings.TrimPrefix(ts.URL, "http://")},
 		}
-		send(ps, tt.m)
+		send(http.DefaultClient, ps, tt.m)
 
 		if !tt.ok {
 			if tr != nil {
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index c424dc4dc..53350b996 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -151,6 +151,15 @@ func startEtcd() {
 		n = raft.RestartNode(id, peers.IDs(), 10, 1, snapshot, st, ents)
 	}
 
+	pt := &http.Transport{
+		// timeouts copied from http.DefaultTransport
+		Dial: (&net.Dialer{
+			Timeout:   30 * time.Second,
+			KeepAlive: 30 * time.Second,
+		}).Dial,
+		TLSHandshakeTimeout: 10 * time.Second,
+	}
+
 	s := &etcdserver.EtcdServer{
 		Store: st,
 		Node:  n,
@@ -158,7 +167,7 @@ func startEtcd() {
 			*wal.WAL
 			*snap.Snapshotter
 		}{w, snapshotter},
-		Send:       etcdhttp.Sender(*peers),
+		Send:       etcdhttp.Sender(pt, *peers),
 		Ticker:     time.Tick(100 * time.Millisecond),
 		SyncTicker: time.Tick(500 * time.Millisecond),
 		SnapCount:  *snapCount,