diff --git a/lib/alterl/src/thrift_client.erl b/lib/alterl/src/thrift_client.erl
index dee91fb..a2cc56b 100644
--- a/lib/alterl/src/thrift_client.erl
+++ b/lib/alterl/src/thrift_client.erl
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 -behaviour(gen_server).
 
 %% API
--export([start_link/3, start_link/4, call/3, close/1]).
+-export([start_link/2, start_link/3, start_link/4, call/3, close/1]).
 
 %% gen_server callbacks
 -export([init/1, handle_call/3, handle_cast/2, handle_info/2,
@@ -20,13 +20,7 @@
 -include("thrift_constants.hrl").
 -include("thrift_protocol.hrl").
 
--record(state, {service, protocol, seqid,
-                strict_read = true,
-                strict_write = true,
-                framed = false,
-                connect_timeout = infinity,
-                sockopts = []
-               }).
+-record(state, {service, protocol, seqid}).
 
 %%====================================================================
 %% API
@@ -35,14 +29,21 @@
 %% Function: start_link() -> {ok,Pid} | ignore | {error,Error}
 %% Description: Starts the server
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-start_link(Host, Port, Service) ->
+start_link(Host, Port, Service) when is_integer(Port), is_atom(Service) ->
     start_link(Host, Port, Service, []).
 
+%% Backwards-compatible starter for the usual case of socket transports
 start_link(Host, Port, Service, Options)
   when is_integer(Port), is_atom(Service), is_list(Options) ->
-    case gen_server:start_link(?MODULE, [Options], []) of
+    {ok, Connector} = thrift_socket_transport:new_connector(Host, Port, Options),
+    start_link(Connector, Service).
+
+%% Connector :: fun() -> thrift_protocol()
+start_link(Connector, Service)
+  when is_function(Connector), is_atom(Service) ->
+    case gen_server:start_link(?MODULE, [Service], []) of
         {ok, Pid} ->
-            case gen_server:call(Pid, {connect, Host, Port, Service}) of
+            case gen_server:call(Pid, {connect, Connector}) of
                 ok ->
                     {ok, Pid};
                 Error ->
@@ -74,22 +75,8 @@
 %%                         {stop, Reason}
 %% Description: Initiates the server
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-init([Options]) ->
-    State = parse_options(Options, #state{}),
-    {ok, State}.
-
-parse_options([], State) ->
-    State;
-parse_options([{strict_read, Bool} | Rest], State) when is_boolean(Bool) ->
-    parse_options(Rest, State#state{strict_read=Bool});
-parse_options([{strict_write, Bool} | Rest], State) when is_boolean(Bool) ->
-    parse_options(Rest, State#state{strict_write=Bool});
-parse_options([{framed, Bool} | Rest], State) when is_boolean(Bool) ->
-    parse_options(Rest, State#state{framed=Bool});
-parse_options([{sockopts, OptList} | Rest], State) when is_list(OptList) ->
-    parse_options(Rest, State#state{sockopts=OptList});
-parse_options([{connect_timeout, TO} | Rest], State) when TO =:= infinity; is_integer(TO) ->
-    parse_options(Rest, State#state{connect_timeout=TO}).
+init([Service]) ->
+    {ok, #state{service = Service}}.
 
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% Function: %% handle_call(Request, From, State) -> {reply, Reply, State} |
@@ -100,30 +87,12 @@
 %%                                      {stop, Reason, State}
 %% Description: Handling call messages
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-handle_call({connect, Host, Port, Service}, _From,
-            State = #state{connect_timeout=Timeout,
-                           sockopts=SockOpts}) ->
-    Options = [binary,
-               {packet, 0},
-               {active, false},
-               {nodelay, true}
-               | SockOpts
-              ],
-    case catch gen_tcp:connect(Host, Port, Options, Timeout) of
-        {ok, Sock} ->
-            {ok, Transport} = thrift_socket_transport:new(Sock),
-            {ok, BufTransport} =
-                case State#state.framed of
-                    true  -> thrift_framed_transport:new(Transport);
-                    false -> thrift_buffered_transport:new(Transport)
-                end,
-            {ok, Protocol} = thrift_binary_protocol:new(BufTransport,
-                                                        [{strict_read,  State#state.strict_read},
-                                                         {strict_write, State#state.strict_write}]),
-
-            {reply, ok, State#state{service  = Service,
-                                    protocol = Protocol,
-                                    seqid    = 0}};
+handle_call({connect, Connector}, _From,
+            State = #state{service = Service}) ->
+    case Connector() of
+        {ok, Protocol} ->
+            {reply, ok, State#state{protocol = Protocol,
+                                    seqid = 0}};
         Error ->
             {stop, normal, Error, State}
     end;
diff --git a/lib/alterl/src/thrift_socket_transport.erl b/lib/alterl/src/thrift_socket_transport.erl
index 9cc0af9..bdae28b 100644
--- a/lib/alterl/src/thrift_socket_transport.erl
+++ b/lib/alterl/src/thrift_socket_transport.erl
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 
 -export([new/1,
          new/2,
-         write/2, read/2, flush/1, close/1]).
+         write/2, read/2, flush/1, close/1,
+
+         new_connector/3]).
 
 -record(data, {socket,
                recv_timeout=infinity}).
@@ -43,3 +45,41 @@
 
 close(#data{socket = Socket}) ->
     gen_tcp:close(Socket).
+
+
+%%%% CONNECTOR GENERATION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+
+%%
+%% Generates a "connector" function - a fun which returns a Protocol instance.
+%% This can be passed to thrift_client:start_link in order to connect to a
+%% server over a socket.
+%%
+new_connector(Host, Port, Options) ->
+    ConnectTimeout = proplists:get_value(connect_timeout, Options, infinity),
+    InSockOpts     = proplists:get_value(sockopts, Options, []),
+    Framed         = proplists:get_value(framed, Options, false),
+    StrictRead     = proplists:get_value(strict_read, Options, true),
+    StrictWrite    = proplists:get_value(strict_write, Options, true),
+
+    F = fun() ->
+                SockOpts = [binary,
+                            {packet, 0},
+                            {active, false},
+                            {nodelay, true} |
+                            InSockOpts],
+                case catch gen_tcp:connect(Host, Port, SockOpts, ConnectTimeout) of
+                    {ok, Sock} ->
+                        {ok, Transport} = thrift_socket_transport:new(Sock),
+                        {ok, BufTransport} =
+                            case Framed of
+                                true  -> thrift_framed_transport:new(Transport);
+                                false -> thrift_buffered_transport:new(Transport)
+                            end,
+                        thrift_binary_protocol:new(BufTransport,
+                                                   [{strict_read,  StrictRead},
+                                                    {strict_write, StrictWrite}]);
+                    Error  ->
+                        Error
+                end
+        end,
+    {ok, F}.