diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs b/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@
 
 import Control.Exception.Lifted (throwIO, try, IOException, handle, fromException, toException)
 import qualified Network.TLS as TLS
+import Control.Applicative
 import Control.Monad ((<=<))
 import Control.Monad.IO.Class (MonadIO (liftIO))
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Resource
@@ -401,5 +402,8 @@
 -- in production code.
 simpleHttp :: MonadIO m => String -> m L.ByteString
 simpleHttp url = liftIO $ withManager $ \man -> do
-    url' <- liftIO $ parseUrl url
-    fmap responseBody $ httpLbs url' man
+    req <- liftIO $ parseUrl url
+    responseBody <$> httpLbs (setConnectionClose req) man
+
+setConnectionClose :: Request m -> Request m
+setConnectionClose req = req{requestHeaders = ("Connection", "close") : requestHeaders req}
diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Conduit/MultipartFormData.hs b/Network/HTTP/Conduit/MultipartFormData.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Conduit/MultipartFormData.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Conduit/MultipartFormData.hs
@@ -71,12 +71,6 @@
 import Data.Monoid (Monoid(..))
 import Control.Monad
 
-{-# INLINE _mmap #-}
--- | Kludge to get rid of 'Functor' constraint
-infixl 4 `_mmap`
-_mmap :: Monad m => (a -> b) -> m a -> m b
-_mmap = \f m -> m >>= return . f
-
 -- | A single part of a multipart message.
 data Part m m' = Part
     { partName :: Text -- ^ Name of the corresponding \<input\>
@@ -108,7 +102,7 @@
 partFile :: (MonadIO m, Monad m') => Text -> FilePath -> Part m m'
 partFile n f =
     partFileRequestBodyM n f $ do
-        _mmap RequestBodyBS $ liftIO $ BS.readFile f
+        liftM RequestBodyBS $ liftIO $ BS.readFile f
 
 -- | Stream 'Part' from a file.
 partFileSource :: (MonadIO m, MonadResource m') => Text -> FilePath -> Part m m'
@@ -121,7 +115,7 @@
 -- | 'partFileSourceChunked' will read a file and send it in chunks.
 --
 -- Note that not all servers support this. Only use 'partFileSourceChunked'
--- if you know the server you're sending to supports chunked request bodies. 
+-- if you know the server you're sending to supports chunked request bodies.
 partFileSourceChunked :: (Monad m, MonadResource m') => Text -> FilePath -> Part m m'
 partFileSourceChunked n f =
     partFileRequestBody n f $ do
@@ -146,12 +140,12 @@
 partFileRequestBodyM n f rqb =
     Part n (Just f) (Just $ defaultMimeLookup $ pack f) rqb
 
-{-# INLINABLE cp #-}
+{-# INLINE cp #-}
 cp :: BS.ByteString -> RequestBody m
 cp bs = RequestBodyBuilder (fromIntegral $ BS.length bs) $ copyByteString bs
 
 renderPart :: (Monad m, Monad m') => BS.ByteString -> Part m m' -> m (RequestBody m')
-renderPart boundary (Part name mfilename mcontenttype get) = _mmap render get
+renderPart boundary (Part name mfilename mcontenttype get) = liftM render get
   where render renderBody =
             cp "--" <> cp boundary <> cp "\r\n"
          <> cp "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\""
@@ -171,7 +165,7 @@
 
 -- | Combine the 'Part's to form multipart/form-data body
 renderParts :: (Monad m, Monad m') => BS.ByteString -> [Part m m'] -> m (RequestBody m')
-renderParts boundary parts = fin . mconcat `_mmap` mapM (renderPart boundary) parts
+renderParts boundary parts = (fin . mconcat) `liftM` mapM (renderPart boundary) parts
   where fin = (<> cp "--" <> cp boundary <> cp "--\r\n")
 
 -- | Generate a boundary simillar to those generated by WebKit-based browsers.
@@ -207,7 +201,6 @@
     boundary <- liftIO webkitBoundary
     formDataBodyWithBoundary boundary a b
 
-{-# INLINE formDataBodyPure #-}
 -- | Add form data to request without doing any IO. Your form data should only
 -- contain pure parts ('partBS', 'partLBS', 'partFileRequestBody'). You'll have
 -- to supply your own boundary (for example one generated by 'webkitBoundary')
diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Conduit/Request.hs b/Network/HTTP/Conduit/Request.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Conduit/Request.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Conduit/Request.hs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe, isJust)
 import Data.Monoid (mempty, mappend)
+import Data.String (IsString(..))
 
 import Data.Default (Default (def))
 
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@
 import Network.URI (URI (..), URIAuth (..), parseURI, relativeTo, escapeURIString, isAllowedInURI)
 
 import Control.Monad.IO.Class (liftIO)
-import Control.Exception.Lifted (Exception, toException, throwIO)
+import Control.Exception.Lifted (Exception, toException, throw, throwIO)
 import Control.Failure (Failure (failure))
 import qualified Data.CaseInsensitive as CI
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Base64 as B64
@@ -203,6 +204,12 @@
                                 else return (Just remainingTime, res)
         , cookieJar = Just def
         }
+
+instance IsString (Request m) where
+    fromString s =
+        case parseUrl s of
+            Left e -> throw (e :: HttpException)
+            Right r -> r
 
 -- | Always decompress a compressed stream.
 alwaysDecompress :: ContentType -> Bool
diff --git a/http-conduit.cabal b/http-conduit.cabal
--- a/http-conduit.cabal
+++ b/http-conduit.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:            http-conduit
-version:         1.9.4.5
+version:         1.9.5
 license:         BSD3
 license-file:    LICENSE
 author:          Michael Snoyman <michael@snoyman.com>