diff --git a/examples/custom-tls.rs b/examples/custom-tls.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d97f8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/custom-tls.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+use std::fmt;
+use std::io;
+use std::net::TcpStream;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use ureq::{Error, ReadWrite, TlsConnector};
+
+pub fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
+    let pass = PassThrough {
+        handshake_fail: false,
+    };
+
+    let agent = ureq::builder().tls_connector(Arc::new(pass)).build();
+
+    let _response = agent.get("https://httpbin.org/").call();
+
+    // Uncomment this if handshake_fail is set to true above.
+    // assert_eq!(
+    //     _response.unwrap_err().to_string(),
+    //     "https://httpbin.org/: Network Error: Tls handshake failed"
+    // );
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// A pass-through tls connector that just uses the plain socket without any encryption.
+/// This is not a good idea for production code. The `handshake_fail` can be set to true
+/// to simulate a TLS handshake failure.
+struct PassThrough {
+    handshake_fail: bool,
+}
+
+impl TlsConnector for PassThrough {
+    fn connect(&self, _dns_name: &str, tcp_stream: TcpStream) -> Result<Box<dyn ReadWrite>, Error> {
+        if self.handshake_fail {
+            let io_err = io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::InvalidData, PassThroughError);
+            return Err(io_err.into());
+        }
+
+        Ok(Box::new(CustomTlsStream(tcp_stream)))
+    }
+}
+
+struct CustomTlsStream(TcpStream);
+
+impl ReadWrite for CustomTlsStream {
+    fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream> {
+        Some(&self.0)
+    }
+}
+
+impl io::Read for CustomTlsStream {
+    fn read(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+        self.0.read(buf)
+    }
+}
+
+impl io::Write for CustomTlsStream {
+    fn write(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+        self.0.write(buf)
+    }
+
+    fn flush(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.0.flush()
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct PassThroughError;
+
+impl fmt::Display for PassThroughError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "Tls handshake failed")
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::error::Error for PassThroughError {
+    fn source(&self) -> Option<&(dyn std::error::Error + 'static)> {
+        None
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 731845c..da55ea4 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -356,7 +356,6 @@ pub(crate) fn default_tls_config() -> std::sync::Arc<dyn TlsConnector> {
 // calls at the top of the crate (`ureq::get` etc).
 #[cfg(not(feature = "tls"))]
 pub(crate) fn default_tls_config() -> std::sync::Arc<dyn TlsConnector> {
-    use crate::stream::HttpsStream;
     use std::net::TcpStream;
     use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -367,7 +366,7 @@ pub(crate) fn default_tls_config() -> std::sync::Arc<dyn TlsConnector> {
             &self,
             _dns_name: &str,
             _tcp_stream: TcpStream,
-        ) -> Result<Box<dyn HttpsStream>, crate::error::Error> {
+        ) -> Result<Box<dyn ReadWrite>, crate::error::Error> {
             Err(ErrorKind::UnknownScheme
                 .msg("cannot make HTTPS request because no TLS backend is configured"))
         }
@@ -398,7 +397,7 @@ pub use crate::proxy::Proxy;
 pub use crate::request::{Request, RequestUrl};
 pub use crate::resolve::Resolver;
 pub use crate::response::Response;
-pub use crate::stream::TlsConnector;
+pub use crate::stream::{ReadWrite, TlsConnector};
 
 // re-export
 #[cfg(feature = "cookies")]
diff --git a/src/ntls.rs b/src/ntls.rs
index 1dceffe..a669e3a 100644
--- a/src/ntls.rs
+++ b/src/ntls.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::error::Error;
 use crate::error::ErrorKind;
-use crate::stream::{HttpsStream, TlsConnector};
+use crate::stream::{ReadWrite, TlsConnector};
 
 use std::net::TcpStream;
 use std::sync::Arc;
@@ -11,11 +11,7 @@ pub(crate) fn default_tls_config() -> std::sync::Arc<dyn TlsConnector> {
 }
 
 impl TlsConnector for native_tls::TlsConnector {
-    fn connect(
-        &self,
-        dns_name: &str,
-        tcp_stream: TcpStream,
-    ) -> Result<Box<dyn HttpsStream>, Error> {
+    fn connect(&self, dns_name: &str, tcp_stream: TcpStream) -> Result<Box<dyn ReadWrite>, Error> {
         let stream =
             native_tls::TlsConnector::connect(self, dns_name, tcp_stream).map_err(|e| {
                 ErrorKind::ConnectionFailed
@@ -28,7 +24,7 @@ impl TlsConnector for native_tls::TlsConnector {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "native-tls")]
-impl HttpsStream for native_tls::TlsStream<TcpStream> {
+impl ReadWrite for native_tls::TlsStream<TcpStream> {
     fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream> {
         Some(self.get_ref())
     }
diff --git a/src/rtls.rs b/src/rtls.rs
index 3d1e8dd..277e536 100644
--- a/src/rtls.rs
+++ b/src/rtls.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
 
 use crate::ErrorKind;
 use crate::{
-    stream::{HttpsStream, TlsConnector},
+    stream::{ReadWrite, TlsConnector},
     Error,
 };
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ fn is_close_notify(e: &std::io::Error) -> bool {
 
 struct RustlsStream(rustls::StreamOwned<rustls::ClientConnection, TcpStream>);
 
-impl HttpsStream for RustlsStream {
+impl ReadWrite for RustlsStream {
     fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream> {
         Some(self.0.get_ref())
     }
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ impl TlsConnector for Arc<rustls::ClientConfig> {
         &self,
         dns_name: &str,
         mut tcp_stream: TcpStream,
-    ) -> Result<Box<dyn HttpsStream>, Error> {
+    ) -> Result<Box<dyn ReadWrite>, Error> {
         let sni = rustls::ServerName::try_from(dns_name)
             .map_err(|e| ErrorKind::Dns.msg(format!("parsing '{}'", dns_name)).src(e))?;
 
diff --git a/src/stream.rs b/src/stream.rs
index 91156b4..1b64f0f 100644
--- a/src/stream.rs
+++ b/src/stream.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ use crate::{error::Error, proxy::Proto};
 use crate::error::ErrorKind;
 use crate::unit::Unit;
 
-pub trait HttpsStream: Read + Write + Send + Sync + 'static {
+/// Trait for things implementing [std::io::Read] + [std::io::Write]. Used in [TlsConnector].
+pub trait ReadWrite: Read + Write + Send + Sync + 'static {
     fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream>;
 }
 
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ pub trait TlsConnector: Send + Sync {
         &self,
         dns_name: &str,
         tcp_stream: TcpStream,
-    ) -> Result<Box<dyn HttpsStream>, crate::error::Error>;
+    ) -> Result<Box<dyn ReadWrite>, crate::error::Error>;
 }
 
 pub(crate) struct Stream {
@@ -41,19 +42,19 @@ trait Inner: Read + Write {
     }
 }
 
-impl<T: HttpsStream + ?Sized> HttpsStream for Box<T> {
+impl<T: ReadWrite + ?Sized> ReadWrite for Box<T> {
     fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream> {
-        HttpsStream::socket(self.as_ref())
+        ReadWrite::socket(self.as_ref())
     }
 }
 
-impl<T: HttpsStream> Inner for T {
+impl<T: ReadWrite> Inner for T {
     fn is_poolable(&self) -> bool {
         true
     }
 
     fn socket(&self) -> Option<&TcpStream> {
-        HttpsStream::socket(self)
+        ReadWrite::socket(self)
     }
 }