diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index d0e0ceeae3..db791e282f 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ package api
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/tls"
+	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -122,6 +124,28 @@ type Config struct {
 	Token string
 }
 
+// TLSConfig is used to generate a TLSClientConfig that's useful for talking to
+// Consul using TLS.
+type TLSConfig struct {
+	// Address is the optional address of the Consul server.
+	Address string
+
+	// CAFile is the optional path to the CA certificate used for Consul
+	// communication, defaults to the system bundle if not specified.
+	CAFile string
+
+	// CertFile is the optional path to the certificate for Consul
+	// communication. If this is set then you need to also set KeyFile.
+	CertFile string
+
+	// KeyFile is the optional path to the private key for Consul communication.
+	// If this is set then you need to also set CertFile.
+	KeyFile string
+
+	// InsecureSkipVerify if set to true will disable TLS host verification.
+	InsecureSkipVerify bool
+}
+
 // DefaultConfig returns a default configuration for the client. By default this
 // will pool and reuse idle connections to Consul. If you have a long-lived
 // client object, this is the desired behavior and should make the most efficient
@@ -194,10 +218,19 @@ func defaultConfig(transportFn func() *http.Transport) *Config {
 		}
 
 		if !doVerify {
-			transport := transportFn()
-			transport.TLSClientConfig = &tls.Config{
+			tlsClientConfig, err := SetupTLSConfig(&TLSConfig{
 				InsecureSkipVerify: true,
+			})
+
+			// We don't expect this to fail given that we aren't
+			// parsing any of the input, but we panic just in case
+			// since this doesn't have an error return.
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
 			}
+
+			transport := transportFn()
+			transport.TLSClientConfig = tlsClientConfig
 			config.HttpClient.Transport = transport
 		}
 	}
@@ -205,6 +238,50 @@ func defaultConfig(transportFn func() *http.Transport) *Config {
 	return config
 }
 
+// TLSConfig is used to generate a TLSClientConfig that's useful for talking to
+// Consul using TLS.
+func SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig *TLSConfig) (*tls.Config, error) {
+	tlsClientConfig := &tls.Config{
+		InsecureSkipVerify: tlsConfig.InsecureSkipVerify,
+	}
+
+	if tlsConfig.Address != "" {
+		server := tlsConfig.Address
+		hasPort := strings.LastIndex(server, ":") > strings.LastIndex(server, "]")
+		if hasPort {
+			var err error
+			server, _, err = net.SplitHostPort(server)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+		tlsClientConfig.ServerName = server
+	}
+
+	if tlsConfig.CertFile != "" && tlsConfig.KeyFile != "" {
+		tlsCert, err := tls.LoadX509KeyPair(tlsConfig.CertFile, tlsConfig.KeyFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		tlsClientConfig.Certificates = []tls.Certificate{tlsCert}
+	}
+
+	if tlsConfig.CAFile != "" {
+		data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(tlsConfig.CAFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read CA file: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		caPool := x509.NewCertPool()
+		if !caPool.AppendCertsFromPEM(data) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse CA certificate")
+		}
+		tlsClientConfig.RootCAs = caPool
+	}
+
+	return tlsClientConfig, nil
+}
+
 // Client provides a client to the Consul API
 type Client struct {
 	config Config
diff --git a/api/api_test.go b/api/api_test.go
index 22913c8a66..da7c005504 100644
--- a/api/api_test.go
+++ b/api/api_test.go
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@ package api
 
 import (
 	crand "crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -121,6 +123,98 @@ func TestDefaultConfig_env(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSetupTLSConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	// A default config should result in a clean default client config.
+	tlsConfig := &TLSConfig{}
+	cc, err := SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected := &tls.Config{}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	// Try some address variations with and without ports.
+	tlsConfig.Address = "127.0.0.1"
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.ServerName = "127.0.0.1"
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	tlsConfig.Address = "127.0.0.1:80"
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.ServerName = "127.0.0.1"
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	tlsConfig.Address = "demo.consul.io:80"
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.ServerName = "demo.consul.io"
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	tlsConfig.Address = "[2001:db8:a0b:12f0::1]"
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.ServerName = "[2001:db8:a0b:12f0::1]"
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	tlsConfig.Address = "[2001:db8:a0b:12f0::1]:80"
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.ServerName = "2001:db8:a0b:12f0::1"
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	// Skip verification.
+	tlsConfig.InsecureSkipVerify = true
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	expected.InsecureSkipVerify = true
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cc, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %v", cc)
+	}
+
+	// Make a new config that hits all the file parsers.
+	tlsConfig = &TLSConfig{
+		CertFile: "../test/hostname/Alice.crt",
+		KeyFile:  "../test/hostname/Alice.key",
+		CAFile:   "../test/hostname/CertAuth.crt",
+	}
+	cc, err = SetupTLSConfig(tlsConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(cc.Certificates) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("missing certificate: %v", cc.Certificates)
+	}
+	if cc.RootCAs == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("didn't load root CAs")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSetQueryOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	c, s := makeClient(t)