diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/AbstractHttpProtocol.java b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/AbstractHttpProtocol.java
index c86ec92fe..5262f418d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/AbstractHttpProtocol.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/AbstractHttpProtocol.java
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractHttpProtocol implements Protocol {
 
     protected boolean useCookies = false;
 
+    protected List<String> protocolVersions;
+
     protected static final String RESPONSE_COOKIES_HEADER = "set-cookie";
 
     protected String protocolMDprefix = "";
@@ -58,6 +60,8 @@ public void configure(Config conf) {
         this.storeHTTPHeaders = ConfUtils.getBoolean(conf,
                 "http.store.headers", false);
         this.useCookies = ConfUtils.getBoolean(conf, "http.use.cookies", false);
+        this.protocolVersions = ConfUtils
+                .loadListFromConf("http.protocol.versions", conf);
         robots = new HttpRobotRulesParser(conf);
         protocolMDprefix = ConfUtils.getString(conf,
                 ProtocolResponse.PROTOCOL_MD_PREFIX_PARAM, protocolMDprefix);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/okhttp/HttpProtocol.java b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/okhttp/HttpProtocol.java
index f3d3107b1..75b2b1378 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/okhttp/HttpProtocol.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/protocol/okhttp/HttpProtocol.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import java.net.Proxy;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.security.cert.CertificateException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -137,6 +138,37 @@ public void configure(Config conf) {
                 .writeTimeout(timeout, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
                 .readTimeout(timeout, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
 
+        // protocols in order of preference, see
+        //  https://square.github.io/okhttp/4.x/okhttp/okhttp3/-ok-http-client/-builder/protocols/
+        List<okhttp3.Protocol> protocols = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String pVersion : protocolVersions) {
+            switch(pVersion) {
+            case "h2":
+                protocols.add(okhttp3.Protocol.HTTP_2);
+                break;
+            case "h2c":
+                if (protocolVersions.size() > 1) {
+                    LOG.error("h2c ignored, it cannot be combined with any other protocol");
+                } else {
+                    protocols.add(okhttp3.Protocol.H2_PRIOR_KNOWLEDGE);
+                }
+                break;
+            case "http/1.1":
+                protocols.add(okhttp3.Protocol.HTTP_1_1);
+                break;
+            case "http/1.0":
+                LOG.warn("http/1.0 ignored, not supported by okhttp for requests");
+                break;
+            default:
+                LOG.error("{}: unknown protocol version", pVersion);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (protocols.size() > 0) {
+            LOG.info("Using protocol versions: {}", protocols);
+            builder.protocols(protocols);
+        }
+
         String userAgent = getAgentString(conf);
         if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(userAgent)) {
             customRequestHeaders.add(new String[] { "User-Agent", userAgent });
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/util/ConfUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/util/ConfUtils.java
index 722716382..2963232b0 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/util/ConfUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/digitalpebble/stormcrawler/util/ConfUtils.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -88,6 +89,8 @@ public static List<String> loadListFromConf(String paramKey, Map stormConf) {
 
         if (obj instanceof PersistentVector) {
             list.addAll((PersistentVector) obj);
+        } else if (obj instanceof Collection) {
+            list.addAll((Collection<String>) obj);
         } else { // single value?
             list.add(obj.toString());
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/crawler-default.yaml b/core/src/main/resources/crawler-default.yaml
index bf65e0dcc..0c1bc34a6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/crawler-default.yaml
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/crawler-default.yaml
@@ -113,6 +113,21 @@ config:
   https.protocol.implementation: "com.digitalpebble.stormcrawler.protocol.httpclient.HttpProtocol"
   file.protocol.implementation: "com.digitalpebble.stormcrawler.protocol.file.FileProtocol"
 
+  # the http/https protocol versions to use, in order of preference
+  # Details of the protocol negotiation between the client and
+  # the crawled server depend on the chosen protocol implementation.
+  # If no protocol versions are listed the protocol implementation
+  # will use its defaults.
+  http.protocol.versions:
+  # HTTP/2 over TLS (protocol negotiation via ALPN)
+  #- "h2"
+  # HTTP/1.1
+  #- "http/1.1"
+  # HTTP/1.0
+  #- "http/1.0"
+  # HTTP/2 over TCP
+  ##- "h2c"
+
   # key values obtained by the protocol can be prefixed
   # to avoid accidental overwrites. Note that persisted
   # or transferred protocol metadata must also be prefixed.
diff --git a/external/warc/README.md b/external/warc/README.md
index b90705511..bd5641d2d 100644
--- a/external/warc/README.md
+++ b/external/warc/README.md
@@ -153,6 +153,12 @@ Writing complete and valid WARC requires that HTTP headers, IP address and captu
   https.protocol.implementation: com.digitalpebble.stormcrawler.protocol.okhttp.HttpProtocol
 ```
 
+Until the WARC bolt can write HTTP/2 requests and response in a way compatible with most WARC readers (see #828), HTTP/1.1 should be used by setting:
+```
+  http.protocol.versions:
+  - "http/1.1"
+```
+
 
 ## Consuming WARC files