diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## 2.1.11
+
+* Switch to non-throwing behavior in `Network.HTTP.Simple` [#193](https://github.com/snoyberg/http-client/issues/193)
+
 ## 2.1.10.1
 
 * Fix mistaken `@since` comments
diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs b/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Conduit.hs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 -- >
 -- > main :: IO ()
 -- > main = do
--- >      request <- parseUrl "http://google.com/"
+-- >      request <- parseRequest "http://google.com/"
 -- >      manager <- newManager tlsManagerSettings
 -- >      runResourceT $ do
 -- >          response <- http request manager
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 -- >                 }
 -- >
 -- > main = withSocketsDo $ do
--- >      request' <- parseUrl "http://example.com/secret-page"
+-- >      request' <- parseRequest "http://example.com/secret-page"
 -- >      manager <- newManager tlsManagerSettings
 -- >      let request = request' { cookieJar = Just $ createCookieJar [cookie] }
 -- >      (fmap Just (httpLbs request manager)) `E.catch`
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
 -- >
 -- > main :: IO ()
 -- > main = withSocketsDo $ do
--- >      request' <- parseUrl "http://www.yesodweb.com/does-not-exist"
+-- >      request' <- parseRequest "http://www.yesodweb.com/does-not-exist"
 -- >      let request = request' { checkStatus = \_ _ _ -> Nothing }
 -- >      manager <- newManager tlsManagerSettings
 -- >      res <- httpLbs request manager
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
 -- >
 -- > main :: IO ()
 -- > main = do
--- >     request <- parseUrl "https://github.com/"
+-- >     request <- parseRequest "https://github.com/"
 -- >     let settings = mkManagerSettings (TLSSettingsSimple True False False) Nothing
 -- >     manager <- newManager settings
 -- >     res <- httpLbs request manager
@@ -208,6 +208,10 @@
     , destroyCookieJar
       -- * Utility functions
     , parseUrl
+    , parseUrlThrow
+    , parseRequest
+    , parseRequest_
+    , defaultRequest
     , applyBasicAuth
     , addProxy
     , lbsResponse
@@ -243,7 +247,8 @@
                                                closeManager, managerConnCount,
                                                managerResponseTimeout,
                                                managerTlsConnection, newManager)
-import           Network.HTTP.Client          (parseUrl, urlEncodedBody, applyBasicAuth)
+import           Network.HTTP.Client          (parseUrl, parseUrlThrow, urlEncodedBody, applyBasicAuth,
+                                               defaultRequest, parseRequest, parseRequest_)
 import           Network.HTTP.Client.Internal (addProxy, alwaysDecompress,
                                                browserDecompress)
 import           Network.HTTP.Client.Internal (getRedirectedRequest)
@@ -284,7 +289,7 @@
 --
 -- This function will 'throwIO' an 'HttpException' for any
 -- response with a non-2xx status code (besides 3xx redirects up
--- to a limit of 10 redirects). It uses 'parseUrl' to parse the
+-- to a limit of 10 redirects). It uses 'parseUrlThrow' to parse the
 -- input. This function essentially wraps 'httpLbs'.
 --
 -- Note: Even though this function returns a lazy bytestring, it
@@ -297,7 +302,7 @@
 simpleHttp :: MonadIO m => String -> m L.ByteString
 simpleHttp url = liftIO $ do
     man <- newManager tlsManagerSettings
-    req <- liftIO $ parseUrl url
+    req <- liftIO $ parseUrlThrow url
     responseBody <$> httpLbs (setConnectionClose req) man
 
 conduitManagerSettings :: ManagerSettings
diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Simple.hs b/Network/HTTP/Simple.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Simple.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Simple.hs
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
     , H.HttpException (..)
     , H.Proxy (..)
       -- * Request constructions
-    , defaultRequest
-    , parseRequest
+    , H.defaultRequest
+    , H.parseRequest
+    , H.parseRequest_
       -- * Request lenses
       -- ** Basics
     , setRequestMethod
@@ -134,30 +135,6 @@
     | JSONConversionException H.Request (H.Response Value) String
   deriving (Show, Typeable)
 instance Exception JSONException
-
--- | The default request value. You'll almost certainly want to set the
--- 'requestHost', and likely the 'requestPath' as well.
---
--- See also 'parseRequest'
---
--- @since 2.1.10
-defaultRequest :: H.Request
-defaultRequest = def
-
--- | Parse a 'H.Request' from a 'String'. This is given as a URL, with an
--- optional leading request method, e.g.:
---
--- * @http://example.com@
--- * @https://example.com:1234/foo/bar?baz=bin@
--- * @PUT http://example.com/some-resource@
---
--- If parsing fails, 'Catch.throwM' will be called. The behavior of this
--- function is also used for the @IsString@ instance for use with
--- @OverloadedStrings@.
---
--- @since 2.1.10
-parseRequest :: Catch.MonadThrow m => String -> m H.Request
-parseRequest = H.parseUrl
 
 -- | Perform an HTTP request and consume the body with the given 'C.Sink'
 --
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:         2.1.10.1
+version:         2.1.11
 license:         BSD3
 license-file:    LICENSE
 author:          Michael Snoyman <michael@snoyman.com>
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
                  , conduit-extra         >= 1.1.5
                  , http-types            >= 0.7
                  , lifted-base           >= 0.1
-                 , http-client           >= 0.4.28  && < 0.5
+                 , http-client           >= 0.4.30  && < 0.5
                  , http-client-tls       >= 0.2.4
                  , monad-control
                  , mtl