diff --git a/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware.go b/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware.go
index a806bc0f..20cd7daa 100644
--- a/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware.go
+++ b/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package middleware
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
 	storagedriver "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver"
@@ -27,12 +26,15 @@ func newRedirectStorageMiddleware(sd storagedriver.StorageDriver, options map[st
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("baseurl must be a string")
 	}
-	if !strings.Contains(b, "://") {
-		b = "https://" + b
-	}
 	u, err := url.Parse(b)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid baseurl: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse redirect baseurl: %s", b)
+	}
+	if u.Scheme == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no scheme specified for redirect baseurl")
+	}
+	if u.Host == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no host specified for redirect baseurl")
 	}
 
 	return &redirectStorageMiddleware{StorageDriver: sd, scheme: u.Scheme, host: u.Host}, nil
diff --git a/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware_test.go b/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware_test.go
index 31b661b6..5fffafba 100644
--- a/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware_test.go
+++ b/registry/storage/driver/middleware/redirect/middleware_test.go
@@ -17,16 +17,11 @@ func (s *MiddlewareSuite) TestNoConfig(c *check.C) {
 	c.Assert(err, check.ErrorMatches, "no baseurl provided")
 }
 
-func (s *MiddlewareSuite) TestDefaultScheme(c *check.C) {
+func (s *MiddlewareSuite) TestMissingScheme(c *check.C) {
 	options := make(map[string]interface{})
 	options["baseurl"] = "example.com"
-	middleware, err := newRedirectStorageMiddleware(nil, options)
-	c.Assert(err, check.Equals, nil)
-
-	m, ok := middleware.(*redirectStorageMiddleware)
-	c.Assert(ok, check.Equals, true)
-	c.Assert(m.scheme, check.Equals, "https")
-	c.Assert(m.host, check.Equals, "example.com")
+	_, err := newRedirectStorageMiddleware(nil, options)
+	c.Assert(err, check.ErrorMatches, "no scheme specified for redirect baseurl")
 }
 
 func (s *MiddlewareSuite) TestHTTPS(c *check.C) {