diff --git a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/Scheme.scala b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/Scheme.scala
index bbb39803ca..0336b6eb62 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/Scheme.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/Scheme.scala
@@ -21,13 +21,17 @@ import zio.stacktracer.TracingImplicits.disableAutoTrace
 
 sealed trait Scheme { self =>
   def encode: String = self match {
-    case Scheme.HTTP  => "http"
-    case Scheme.HTTPS => "https"
-    case Scheme.WS    => "ws"
-    case Scheme.WSS   => "wss"
+    case Scheme.HTTP           => "http"
+    case Scheme.HTTPS          => "https"
+    case Scheme.WS             => "ws"
+    case Scheme.WSS            => "wss"
+    case Scheme.Custom(scheme) => scheme
   }
 
-  def isHttp: Boolean = !isWebSocket
+  def isHttp: Boolean = self match {
+    case Scheme.HTTP | Scheme.HTTPS => true
+    case _                          => false
+  }
 
   def isWebSocket: Boolean = self match {
     case Scheme.WS  => true
@@ -35,38 +39,45 @@ sealed trait Scheme { self =>
     case _          => false
   }
 
-  def isSecure: Boolean = self match {
-    case Scheme.HTTPS => true
-    case Scheme.WSS   => true
-    case _            => false
+  def isSecure: Option[Boolean] = self match {
+    case Scheme.HTTPS | Scheme.WSS => Some(true)
+    case Scheme.HTTP | Scheme.WS   => Some(false)
+    case _                         => None
   }
 
-  def defaultPort: Int = self match {
-    case Scheme.HTTP  => 80
-    case Scheme.HTTPS => 443
-    case Scheme.WS    => 80
-    case Scheme.WSS   => 443
+  /** default ports is only define for the Schemes: http, https, ws, wss */
+  def defaultPort: Option[Int] = self match {
+    case Scheme.HTTP      => Some(Scheme.defaultPortForHTTP)
+    case Scheme.HTTPS     => Some(Scheme.defaultPortForHTTPS)
+    case Scheme.WS        => Some(Scheme.defaultPortForWS)
+    case Scheme.WSS       => Some(Scheme.defaultPortForWSS)
+    case Scheme.Custom(_) => None
   }
+
 }
-object Scheme       {
+
+object Scheme {
 
   /**
    * Decodes a string to an Option of Scheme. Returns None in case of
    * null/non-valid Scheme
+   *
+   * The should be lowercase and follow this syntax:
+   *   - Scheme = ALPHA *( ALPHA / DIGIT / "+" / "-" / "." )
    */
   def decode(scheme: String): Option[Scheme] =
     Option(unsafe.decode(scheme)(Unsafe.unsafe))
 
   private[zio] object unsafe {
     def decode(scheme: String)(implicit unsafe: Unsafe): Scheme = {
-      if (scheme == null) null
+      if (scheme == null || scheme.isEmpty) null
       else
-        scheme.length match {
-          case 5 => Scheme.HTTPS
-          case 4 => Scheme.HTTP
-          case 3 => Scheme.WSS
-          case 2 => Scheme.WS
-          case _ => null
+        scheme match {
+          case "http"  => HTTP
+          case "https" => HTTPS
+          case "ws"    => WS
+          case "wss"   => WSS
+          case custom  => Custom(custom.toLowerCase)
         }
     }
   }
@@ -78,4 +89,15 @@ object Scheme       {
   case object WS extends Scheme
 
   case object WSS extends Scheme
+
+  /**
+   * @param scheme
+   *   value MUST not be "http" "https" "ws" "wss"
+   */
+  final case class Custom(scheme: String) extends Scheme
+
+  def defaultPortForHTTP  = 80
+  def defaultPortForHTTPS = 443
+  def defaultPortForWS    = 80
+  def defaultPortForWSS   = 443
 }
diff --git a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/URL.scala b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/URL.scala
index fe311dfe7a..6ae6507487 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/URL.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/URL.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import scala.util.Try
 
 import zio.Chunk
 
-import zio.http.URL.{Fragment, Location, portFromScheme}
+import zio.http.URL.{Fragment, Location}
 import zio.http.internal.QueryParamEncoding
 
 final case class URL(
@@ -48,10 +48,10 @@ final case class URL(
   def /(segment: String): URL = self.copy(path = self.path / segment)
 
   def absolute(host: String): URL =
-    self.copy(kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, host, URL.portFromScheme(Scheme.HTTP)))
+    self.copy(kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, host, None))
 
   def absolute(scheme: Scheme, host: String, port: Int): URL =
-    self.copy(kind = URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, port))
+    self.copy(kind = URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, Some(port)))
 
   def addLeadingSlash: URL = self.copy(path = path.addLeadingSlash)
 
@@ -101,20 +101,25 @@ final case class URL(
 
   def host(host: String): URL = {
     val location = kind match {
-      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, host, URL.portFromScheme(Scheme.HTTP))
+      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, host, None)
       case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.copy(host = host)
     }
     copy(kind = location)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @return
+   *   the location, the host name and the port. The port part is omitted if is
+   *   the default port for the protocol.
+   */
   def hostPort: Option[String] =
     kind match {
-      case URL.Location.Relative                     => None
-      case URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, port) =>
-        Some(
-          if (port == portFromScheme(scheme)) host
-          else s"$host:$port",
-        )
+      case URL.Location.Relative      => None
+      case abs: URL.Location.Absolute =>
+        abs.portIfNotDefault match {
+          case None             => Some(abs.host)
+          case Some(customPort) => Some(s"${abs.host}:$customPort")
+        }
     }
 
   def isAbsolute: Boolean = self.kind match {
@@ -140,8 +145,8 @@ final case class URL(
 
   def port(port: Int): URL = {
     val location = kind match {
-      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "", port)
-      case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.copy(port = port)
+      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "", Some(port))
+      case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.copy(originalPort = Some(port))
     }
 
     copy(kind = location)
@@ -149,16 +154,17 @@ final case class URL(
 
   def port: Option[Int] = kind match {
     case URL.Location.Relative      => None
-    case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => Option(abs.port)
+    case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.originalPort
   }
 
-  def portOrDefault: Int = port.getOrElse(portFromScheme(scheme.getOrElse(Scheme.HTTP)))
+  def portOrDefault: Option[Int] = kind match {
+    case URL.Location.Relative      => None
+    case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.portOrDefault
+  }
 
   def portIfNotDefault: Option[Int] = kind match {
-    case URL.Location.Relative      =>
-      None
-    case abs: URL.Location.Absolute =>
-      if (abs.port == portFromScheme(abs.scheme)) None else Some(abs.port)
+    case URL.Location.Relative      => None
+    case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.portIfNotDefault
   }
 
   def queryParams(queryParams: QueryParams): URL =
@@ -185,7 +191,7 @@ final case class URL(
 
   def scheme(scheme: Scheme): URL = {
     val location = kind match {
-      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, "", URL.portFromScheme(scheme))
+      case URL.Location.Relative      => URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, "", None)
       case abs: URL.Location.Absolute => abs.copy(scheme = scheme)
     }
 
@@ -239,7 +245,11 @@ object URL {
   }
 
   object Location {
-    final case class Absolute(scheme: Scheme, host: String, port: Int) extends Location
+    final case class Absolute(scheme: Scheme, host: String, originalPort: Option[Int]) extends Location {
+      def portOrDefault: Option[Int]    = originalPort.orElse(scheme.defaultPort)
+      def portIfNotDefault: Option[Int] = originalPort.filter(p => scheme.defaultPort.exists(_ != p))
+      def port: Int                     = originalPort.orElse(scheme.defaultPort).getOrElse(Scheme.defaultPortForHTTP)
+    }
 
     case object Relative extends Location
   }
@@ -262,13 +272,13 @@ object URL {
       ) + url.fragment.fold("")(f => "#" + f.raw)
 
     url.kind match {
-      case Location.Relative                     =>
-        path(true)
-      case Location.Absolute(scheme, host, port) =>
+      case Location.Relative      => path(true)
+      case abs: Location.Absolute =>
         val path2 = path(false)
-
-        if (port == portFromScheme(scheme)) s"${scheme.encode}://$host$path2"
-        else s"${scheme.encode}://$host:$port$path2"
+        abs.portIfNotDefault match {
+          case None             => s"${abs.scheme.encode}://${abs.host}$path2"
+          case Some(customPort) => s"${abs.scheme.encode}://${abs.host}:$customPort$path2"
+        }
     }
   }
 
@@ -277,7 +287,7 @@ object URL {
       scheme <- Scheme.decode(uri.getScheme)
       host   <- Option(uri.getHost)
       path   <- Option(uri.getRawPath)
-      port       = Option(uri.getPort).filter(_ != -1).getOrElse(portFromScheme(scheme))
+      port       = Option(uri.getPort).filter(_ != -1).orElse(scheme.defaultPort) // FIXME REMOVE defaultPort
       connection = URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, port)
       path2      = Path.decode(path)
       path3      = if (path.nonEmpty) path2.addLeadingSlash else path2
@@ -288,9 +298,4 @@ object URL {
     path <- Option(uri.getRawPath)
   } yield URL(Path.decode(path), Location.Relative, QueryParams.decode(uri.getRawQuery), Fragment.fromURI(uri))
 
-  private def portFromScheme(scheme: Scheme): Int = scheme match {
-    case Scheme.HTTP | Scheme.WS   => 80
-    case Scheme.HTTPS | Scheme.WSS => 443
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/ZClient.scala b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/ZClient.scala
index 477ee85cc9..5563b31d2c 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/ZClient.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/ZClient.scala
@@ -668,18 +668,14 @@ object ZClient {
       app: WebSocketApp[Env1],
     )(implicit trace: Trace): ZIO[Env1 & Scope, Throwable, Response] =
       for {
-        env <- ZIO.environment[Env1]
-        webSocketUrl = url.scheme(
-          url.scheme match {
-            case Some(Scheme.HTTP)  => Scheme.WS
-            case Some(Scheme.HTTPS) => Scheme.WSS
-            case Some(Scheme.WS)    => Scheme.WS
-            case Some(Scheme.WSS)   => Scheme.WSS
-            case None               => Scheme.WS
-          },
-        )
-        scope <- ZIO.scope
-        res <- requestAsync(
+        env          <- ZIO.environment[Env1]
+        webSocketUrl <- url.scheme match {
+          case Some(Scheme.HTTP) | Some(Scheme.WS) | None => ZIO.succeed(url.scheme(Scheme.WS))
+          case Some(Scheme.WSS) | Some(Scheme.HTTPS)      => ZIO.succeed(url.scheme(Scheme.WSS))
+          case _ => ZIO.fail(throw new IllegalArgumentException("URL's scheme MUST be WS(S) or HTTP(S)"))
+        }
+        scope        <- ZIO.scope
+        res          <- requestAsync(
           Request(version = version, method = Method.GET, url = webSocketUrl, headers = headers),
           config,
           () => app.provideEnvironment(env),
diff --git a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/netty/client/NettyConnectionPool.scala b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/netty/client/NettyConnectionPool.scala
index 222a6b8b54..1834142af7 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/netty/client/NettyConnectionPool.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/main/scala/zio/http/netty/client/NettyConnectionPool.scala
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ object NettyConnectionPool {
           case None        =>
         }
 
-        if (location.scheme.isSecure) {
+        if (location.scheme.isSecure.getOrElse(false)) {
           pipeline.addLast(
             Names.SSLHandler,
             ClientSSLConverter
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ResponseCompressionSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ResponseCompressionSpec.scala
index 511b6e50e3..5868d7a381 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ResponseCompressionSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ResponseCompressionSpec.scala
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ object ResponseCompressionSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
           response     <- client.request(
             Request(
               method = Method.GET,
-              url = URL(Root / "text", kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", server.port)),
+              url = URL(Root / "text", kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(server.port))),
             )
               .addHeader(Header.AcceptEncoding(Header.AcceptEncoding.GZip(), Header.AcceptEncoding.Deflate())),
           )
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ object ResponseCompressionSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
           response     <- client.request(
             Request(
               method = Method.GET,
-              url = URL(Root / "stream", kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", server.port)),
+              url = URL(Root / "stream", kind = URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(server.port))),
             )
               .addHeader(Header.AcceptEncoding(Header.AcceptEncoding.GZip(), Header.AcceptEncoding.Deflate())),
           )
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/SchemeSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/SchemeSpec.scala
index 46e9026126..dcbaaaddb2 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/SchemeSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/SchemeSpec.scala
@@ -31,5 +31,8 @@ object SchemeSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
     test("null string decode") {
       assert(Scheme.decode(null))(isNone)
     },
+    test("decode chrome-extension") {
+      assertTrue(Scheme.decode("chrome-extension").isDefined)
+    },
   )
 }
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/URLSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/URLSpec.scala
index 0d0ab387b8..e6521f90be 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/URLSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/URLSpec.scala
@@ -49,14 +49,14 @@ object URLSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
       ),
       suite("normalize")(
         test("adds leading slash") {
-          val url = URL(Path("a/b/c"), URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "abc.com", 80), QueryParams.empty, None)
+          val url = URL(Path("a/b/c"), URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "abc.com", Some(80)), QueryParams.empty, None)
 
           val url2 = url.normalize
 
           assertTrue(extractPath(url2) == Path("/a/b/c"))
         },
         test("deletes leading slash if there are no path segments") {
-          val url  = URL(Path.root, URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "abc.com", 80), QueryParams.empty, None)
+          val url  = URL(Path.root, URL.Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "abc.com", Some(80)), QueryParams.empty, None)
           val url2 = url.normalize
 
           assertTrue(extractPath(url2) == Path.empty)
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ZClientAspectSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ZClientAspectSpec.scala
index ac453659d1..beaa59edfa 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ZClientAspectSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/ZClientAspectSpec.scala
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ object ZClientAspectSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
           port       <- Server.install(app)
           baseClient <- ZIO.service[Client]
           client = baseClient.url(
-            URL(Path.empty, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", port)),
+            URL(Path.empty, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(port))),
           ) @@ ZClientAspect.debug
           response <- client.request(Request.get(URL.empty / "hello"))
           output   <- TestConsole.output
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ object ZClientAspectSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
           baseClient <- ZIO.service[Client]
           client = baseClient
             .url(
-              URL(Path.empty, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", port)),
+              URL(Path.empty, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(port))),
             )
             .disableStreaming @@ ZClientAspect.requestLogging(
             loggedRequestHeaders = Set(Header.UserAgent),
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/headers/OriginSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/headers/OriginSpec.scala
index 6727dd6b2c..935aff670b 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/headers/OriginSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/headers/OriginSpec.scala
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ object OriginSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec {
         assertTrue(
           Origin.parse("http://domain") == Right(Value("http", "domain", None)),
           Origin.parse("https://domain") == Right(Value("https", "domain", None)),
+          Origin.parse("chrome-extension://appid") == Right(Value("chrome-extension", "appid", None)),
         )
       },
       test("parsing of valid Origin values") {
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpGen.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpGen.scala
index 44079d075b..1ba2149702 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpGen.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpGen.scala
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ object HttpGen {
     scheme <- Gen.fromIterable(List(Scheme.HTTP, Scheme.HTTPS))
     host   <- Gen.alphaNumericStringBounded(1, 5)
     port   <- Gen.oneOf(Gen.const(80), Gen.const(443), Gen.int(0, 65536))
-  } yield URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, port)
+  } yield URL.Location.Absolute(scheme, host, Some(port))
 
   def genRelativeURL: Gen[Any, URL] = for {
     path        <- HttpGen.anyPath
diff --git a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpRunnableSpec.scala b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpRunnableSpec.scala
index 817bc8e395..dc80560107 100644
--- a/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpRunnableSpec.scala
+++ b/zio-http/src/test/scala/zio/http/internal/HttpRunnableSpec.scala
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ abstract class HttpRunnableSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec { self =>
           client(
             params
               .addHeader(DynamicServer.APP_ID, id)
-              .copy(url = URL(params.url.path, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", port))),
+              .copy(url = URL(params.url.path, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(port)))),
           )
             .flatMap(_.collect)
         }
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ abstract class HttpRunnableSpec extends ZIOHttpSpec { self =>
           client(
             params
               .addHeader(DynamicServer.APP_ID, id)
-              .copy(url = URL(params.url.path, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", port))),
+              .copy(url = URL(params.url.path, Location.Absolute(Scheme.HTTP, "localhost", Some(port)))),
           )
         }
       } yield response