diff --git a/cmd/crictl/attach.go b/cmd/crictl/attach.go
index eef5fd57e8..35a1b9dd28 100644
--- a/cmd/crictl/attach.go
+++ b/cmd/crictl/attach.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
@@ -89,14 +88,19 @@ func Attach(client pb.RuntimeServiceClient, opts attachOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	attachURL := r.Url
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(attachURL, "http") {
-		attachURL = kubeletURLPrefix + attachURL
-	}
 
 	URL, err := url.Parse(attachURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	if URL.Host == "" {
+		URL.Host = kubeletURLPrefix
+	}
+	if URL.Scheme == "" {
+		URL.Scheme = kubeletURLSchema
+	}
+
 	logrus.Debugf("Attach URL: %v", URL)
 	return stream(opts.stdin, opts.tty, URL)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/crictl/exec.go b/cmd/crictl/exec.go
index 008dd58dd2..cc02a16e9f 100644
--- a/cmd/crictl/exec.go
+++ b/cmd/crictl/exec.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
-	"strings"
 
 	dockerterm "github.com/docker/docker/pkg/term"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -33,6 +32,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// TODO: make this configurable in kubelet.
+	kubeletURLSchema = "http"
 	kubeletURLPrefix = "http://127.0.0.1:10250"
 )
 
@@ -134,16 +134,20 @@ func Exec(client pb.RuntimeServiceClient, opts execOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	execURL := r.Url
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(execURL, "http") {
-		execURL = kubeletURLPrefix + execURL
-
-	}
 
 	URL, err := url.Parse(execURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if URL.Host == "" {
+		URL.Host = kubeletURLPrefix
+	}
+
+	if URL.Scheme == "" {
+		URL.Scheme = kubeletURLSchema
+	}
+
 	logrus.Debugf("Exec URL: %v", URL)
 	return stream(opts.stdin, opts.tty, URL)
 }