diff --git a/lib/node-http-proxy.js b/lib/node-http-proxy.js
index 5d7f507..01f2b9d 100644
--- a/lib/node-http-proxy.js
+++ b/lib/node-http-proxy.js
@@ -352,6 +352,9 @@ exports._getAgent = function _getAgent (options) {
   var Agent = options.https ? https.Agent : http.Agent,
       agent;
 
+  // require('http-proxy').setMaxSockets() should override http's default
+  // configuration value (which is pretty low).
+  options.maxSockets = options.maxSockets || maxSockets;
   agent = new Agent(options);
 
   return agent;