diff --git a/kong.conf.default b/kong.conf.default
index 1b849c763942..cdca4f01aa3d 100644
--- a/kong.conf.default
+++ b/kong.conf.default
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@
                                  # stack traces to help improve Kong.
 
 
-#proxy_server                    # Proxy server defined as a URL. Kong will only use
+#proxy_server =                  # Proxy server defined as a URL. Kong will only use
                                  # option if any component is explictly configured
                                  # to use proxy.
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/kong/clustering/utils.lua b/kong/clustering/utils.lua
index d631f8acb01e..79b1fd8ca341 100644
--- a/kong/clustering/utils.lua
+++ b/kong/clustering/utils.lua
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ local ocsp = require("ngx.ocsp")
 local http = require("resty.http")
 local ws_client = require("kong.resty.websocket.client")
 local ws_server = require("resty.websocket.server")
-local parse_url = require("kong.tools.utils").parse_url
+local utils = require("kong.tools.utils")
+local meta = require("kong.meta")
+local parse_url = require "socket.url".parse
 
 local type = type
 local tonumber = tonumber
diff --git a/kong/conf_loader/init.lua b/kong/conf_loader/init.lua
index d721e9bcfa21..04ec5ed58fe8 100644
--- a/kong/conf_loader/init.lua
+++ b/kong/conf_loader/init.lua
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ local openssl_pkey = require "resty.openssl.pkey"
 local openssl_x509 = require "resty.openssl.x509"
 local pl_stringio = require "pl.stringio"
 local pl_stringx = require "pl.stringx"
+local socket_url = require "socket.url"
 local constants = require "kong.constants"
 local listeners = require "kong.conf_loader.listeners"
 local pl_pretty = require "pl.pretty"
@@ -987,7 +988,7 @@ local function check_and_infer(conf, opts)
   end
 
   if conf.proxy_server then
-    local parsed, err = utils.parse_url(conf.proxy_server)
+    local parsed, err = socket_url.parse(conf.proxy_server)
     if err then
       errors[#errors + 1] = "proxy_server is invalid: " .. err
 
diff --git a/kong/tools/utils.lua b/kong/tools/utils.lua
index 98cba939cfbb..39f74f31b85b 100644
--- a/kong/tools/utils.lua
+++ b/kong/tools/utils.lua
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ local lower         = string.lower
 local fmt           = string.format
 local find          = string.find
 local gsub          = string.gsub
-local match         = string.match
 local split         = pl_stringx.split
 local re_find       = ngx.re.find
 local re_match      = ngx.re.match
@@ -1567,75 +1566,4 @@ _M.sha256_hex       = sha256_hex
 _M.sha256_base64    = sha256_base64
 _M.sha256_base64url = sha256_base64url
 
-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- From https://github.com/lunarmodules/luasocket/blob/master/src/url.lua
--- Parses a url and returns a table with all its parts according to RFC 2396
--- The following grammar describes the names given to the URL parts
--- <url> ::= <scheme>://<authority>/<path>;<params>?<query>#<fragment>
--- <authority> ::= <userinfo>@<host>:<port>
--- <userinfo> ::= <user>[:<password>]
--- <path> :: = {<segment>/}<segment>
--- Input
---   url: uniform resource locator of request
---   default: table with default values for each field
--- Returns
---   table with the following fields, where RFC naming conventions have
---   been preserved:
---     scheme, authority, userinfo, user, password, host, port,
---     path, params, query, fragment
--- Obs:
---   the leading '/' in {/<path>} is considered part of <path>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-_M.parse_url = function(url, default)
-  -- initialize default parameters
-  local parsed = {}
-  for i,v in pairs(default or parsed) do parsed[i] = v end
-  -- empty url is parsed to nil
-  if not url or url == "" then return nil, "invalid url" end
-  -- remove whitespace
-  -- url = string.gsub(url, "%s", "")
-  -- get scheme
-  url = gsub(url, "^([%w][%w%+%-%.]*)%:",
-      function(s) parsed.scheme = s; return "" end)
-  -- get authority
-  url = gsub(url, "^//([^/]*)", function(n)
-      parsed.authority = n
-      return ""
-  end)
-  -- get fragment
-  url = gsub(url, "#(.*)$", function(f)
-      parsed.fragment = f
-      return ""
-  end)
-  -- get query string
-  url = gsub(url, "%?(.*)", function(q)
-      parsed.query = q
-      return ""
-  end)
-  -- get params
-  url = gsub(url, "%;(.*)", function(p)
-      parsed.params = p
-      return ""
-  end)
-  -- path is whatever was left
-  if url ~= "" then parsed.path = url end
-  local authority = parsed.authority
-  if not authority then return parsed end
-  authority = gsub(authority,"^([^@]*)@",
-    function(u) parsed.userinfo = u; return "" end)
-  authority = gsub(authority, ":([^:%]]*)$",
-    function(p) parsed.port = p; return "" end)
-  if authority ~= "" then
-    -- IPv6?
-    parsed.host = match(authority, "^%[(.+)%]$") or authority
-  end
-  local userinfo = parsed.userinfo
-  if not userinfo then return parsed end
-  userinfo = gsub(userinfo, ":([^:]*)$",
-    function(p) parsed.password = p; return "" end)
-  parsed.user = userinfo
-  return parsed
-end
-
 return _M