diff --git a/http.go b/http.go
index e0d391a5..e83dfd55 100644
--- a/http.go
+++ b/http.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package groupcache
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
@@ -115,16 +116,45 @@ func NewHTTPPoolOpts(self string, o *HTTPPoolOptions) *HTTPPool {
 
 // Set updates the pool's list of peers.
 // Each peer value should be a valid base URL,
-// for example "http://example.net:8000".
-func (p *HTTPPool) Set(peers ...string) {
+// for example "http://example.net:8000". Note
+// that the  scheme ("http://" or "https://") is
+// required.
+func (p *HTTPPool) Set(peers ...string) error {
 	p.mu.Lock()
 	defer p.mu.Unlock()
-	p.peers = consistenthash.New(p.opts.Replicas, p.opts.HashFn)
-	p.peers.Add(peers...)
-	p.httpGetters = make(map[string]*httpGetter, len(peers))
+
 	for _, peer := range peers {
+		// Make sure peer address is valid before using it. Address
+		// must be a valid base URL.
+		u, err := url.Parse(peer)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// Check that scheme is provided per the func-level comment. If
+		// scheme is missing, host will not be able to communicate with
+		// peers. Not using strings.Contains() here since peer address
+		// could be incorrectly typed, such as hhttp or httpss.
+		if u.Scheme != "http" && u.Scheme != "https" {
+			return errors.New("peer address not using correct scheme, must be http or https")
+		}
+
+		// This was added to handle an address such as http:///example.com:8000
+		// where the address will be parsed as a path with blank host.
+		if u.Host == "" {
+			return errors.New("peer address missing host, possibly extra slashes in address")
+		}
+
+		// TODO: check if port is valid. Use net.SplitHostPort?
+
 		p.httpGetters[peer] = &httpGetter{transport: p.Transport, baseURL: peer + p.opts.BasePath}
 	}
+
+	p.peers = consistenthash.New(p.opts.Replicas, p.opts.HashFn)
+	p.peers.Add(peers...)
+	p.httpGetters = make(map[string]*httpGetter, len(peers))
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (p *HTTPPool) PickPeer(key string) (ProtoGetter, bool) {
diff --git a/http_test.go b/http_test.go
index 132c1173..295db647 100644
--- a/http_test.go
+++ b/http_test.go
@@ -165,3 +165,51 @@ func awaitAddrReady(t *testing.T, addr string, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
 		time.Sleep(delay)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSet(t *testing.T) {
+	// list of peer addresses to test with, and whether or not we expect
+	// peer to be valid.
+	// TODO: add IPv6 addresses.
+	peers := map[string]bool{
+		//addres.......................valid
+		"http://10.0.0.1:8000":        true,
+		"https://example.com:8001":    true,
+		"http://sub.example.com:8002": true,
+		"https://localhost:8003":      true,
+
+		"10.0.0.1:8100":             false,
+		"example.com:8101":          false,
+		"sub.example.com:8102":      false,
+		"localhost:8103":            false,
+		"http:////example.com:8104": false,
+		"//example.com:8105":        false,
+		"httpss//example.com:8106":  false,
+		"hhttp//example.com:8107":   false,
+		"htxtp//example.com:8108":   false,
+		"http//example:8109":        false,
+		"http//example/path/:8110":  false,
+		"/":                         false,
+		"":                          false,
+		":8111":                     false,
+		":http://example.com":       false,
+	}
+
+	// create pool to use for testing, using a known
+	// good/valid address
+	pool := NewHTTPPool("http://localhost:8080")
+
+	// try setting peers
+	for addr, valid := range peers {
+		err := pool.Set(addr)
+		if valid && err != nil {
+			t.Fatal("Peer address NOT valid but should be: " + addr)
+			return
+		}
+		if !valid && err == nil {
+			t.Fatal("Peer address valid but should NOT be: " + addr)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
+	return
+}