diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## Req 1.2.0
+
+* Added the `parseUrl` function.
+
 ## Req 1.1.0
 
 * Added `customAuth` and `attachHeader` to facilitate creation of custom
diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Req.hs b/Network/HTTP/Req.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Req.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Req.hs
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@
   , (/:)
   , parseUrlHttp
   , parseUrlHttps
+  , parseUrl
     -- ** Body
     -- $body
   , NoReqBody (..)
@@ -798,7 +799,8 @@
 -- $url
 --
 -- We use 'Url's which are correct by construction, see 'Url'. To build a
--- 'Url' from a 'ByteString', use 'parseUrlHttp' or 'parseUrlHttps'.
+-- 'Url' from a 'ByteString', use 'parseUrlHttp', 'parseUrlHttps', or
+-- generic 'parseUrl'.
 
 -- | Request's 'Url'. Start constructing your 'Url' with 'http' or 'https'
 -- specifying the scheme and host at the same time. Then use the @('/~')@
@@ -883,6 +885,16 @@
   url <- B.stripPrefix "https://" url'
   (host :| path, option) <- parseUrlHelper url
   return (foldl (/:) (https host) path, option)
+
+-- | A more general URI parsing function that can be used when scheme is not
+-- known beforehand.
+--
+-- @since 1.2.0
+
+parseUrl
+  :: ByteString
+  -> Maybe (Either (Url 'Http, Option scheme) (Url 'Https, Option scheme))
+parseUrl url = Left <$> parseUrlHttp url <|> Right <$> parseUrlHttps url
 
 -- | Get host\/collection of path pieces and possibly query parameters
 -- already converted to 'Option'. This function is not public.
diff --git a/pure-tests/Network/HTTP/ReqSpec.hs b/pure-tests/Network/HTTP/ReqSpec.hs
--- a/pure-tests/Network/HTTP/ReqSpec.hs
+++ b/pure-tests/Network/HTTP/ReqSpec.hs
@@ -135,6 +135,33 @@
         parseUrlHttp "https://my-site.com:bob/far" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
         parseUrlHttp "https://my-site.com:7001uh/api" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
         parseUrlHttp "https://my-site.com:/bar" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
+    describe "parseUrl" $ do
+      it "does not recognize non-http and non-https schemes" $
+        parseUrl "ftp://httpbin.org" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
+      it "parses correct http URLs" $
+        property $ \host mport' pieces queryParams -> do
+          let (url', path, queryString) =
+                assembleUrl Http host mport' pieces queryParams
+              Left (url'', options) = fromJust (parseUrl url')
+          request <- req_ GET url'' NoReqBody options
+          L.host        request `shouldBe` urlEncode (unHost host)
+          L.port        request `shouldBe` maybe 80 getNonNegative mport'
+          L.path        request `shouldBe` path
+          L.queryString request `shouldBe` queryString
+      it "parses correct https URLs" $
+        property $ \host mport' pieces queryParams -> do
+          let (url', path, queryString) =
+                assembleUrl Https host mport' pieces queryParams
+              Right (url'', options) = fromJust (parseUrl url')
+          request <- req_ GET url'' NoReqBody options
+          L.host        request `shouldBe` urlEncode (unHost host)
+          L.port        request `shouldBe` maybe 443 getNonNegative mport'
+          L.path        request `shouldBe` path
+          L.queryString request `shouldBe` queryString
+      it "rejects gibberish in port component" $ do
+        parseUrl "http://my-site.com:bob/far" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
+        parseUrl "https://my-site.com:7001uh/api" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
+        parseUrl "http://my-site.com:/bar" `shouldSatisfy` isNothing
 
   describe "bodies" $ do
     describe "NoReqBody" $
diff --git a/req.cabal b/req.cabal
--- a/req.cabal
+++ b/req.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name:                 req
-version:              1.1.0
+version:              1.2.0
 cabal-version:        1.18
-tested-with:          GHC==7.10.3, GHC==8.0.2, GHC==8.2.2, GHC==8.4.2
+tested-with:          GHC==7.10.3, GHC==8.0.2, GHC==8.2.2, GHC==8.4.3
 license:              BSD3
 license-file:         LICENSE.md
 author:               Mark Karpov <markkarpov92@gmail.com>
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   default:            False
 
 library
-  build-depends:      aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.4
+  build-depends:      aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.5
                     , authenticate-oauth >= 1.5  && < 1.7
                     , base             >= 4.8    && < 5.0
                     , blaze-builder    >= 0.3    && < 0.5
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
   hs-source-dirs:     pure-tests
   type:               exitcode-stdio-1.0
   build-depends:      QuickCheck       >= 2.7    && < 3.0
-                    , aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.4
+                    , aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.5
                     , base             >= 4.8    && < 5.0
                     , blaze-builder    >= 0.3    && < 0.5
                     , bytestring       >= 0.10.8 && < 0.11
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
   hs-source-dirs:     httpbin-tests
   type:               exitcode-stdio-1.0
   build-depends:      QuickCheck       >= 2.7    && < 3.0
-                    , aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.4
+                    , aeson            >= 0.9    && < 1.5
                     , base             >= 4.8    && < 5.0
                     , bytestring       >= 0.10.8 && < 0.11
                     , data-default-class