diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestDecoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestDecoder.java
index 4af3b511f4..cef0d2cb89 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestDecoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestDecoder.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class HttpRequestDecoder extends HttpMessageDecoder {
         checkpoint(State.READ_HEADER);
         String[] split = splitInitial(line);
         message = new DefaultHttpRequest(
-                HttpVersion.decode(split[2]), HttpMethod.valueOf(split[0]), split[1]);
+                HttpVersion.valueOf(split[2]), HttpMethod.valueOf(split[0]), split[1]);
 
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
index 41bb9d709c..5bb4dd1189 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpRequestEncoder.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public class HttpRequestEncoder extends HttpMessageEncoder {
         buf.writeByte(SP);
         buf.writeBytes(request.getUri().getBytes());
         buf.writeByte(SP);
-        buf.writeBytes(request.getProtocolVersion().value().getBytes());
+        buf.writeBytes(request.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes());
         buf.writeBytes(CRLF);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseDecoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseDecoder.java
index 6bc24d3350..12c9e8a11a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseDecoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseDecoder.java
@@ -37,6 +37,6 @@ public class HttpResponseDecoder extends HttpMessageDecoder {
         String line = readIntoCurrentLine(buffer);
         checkpoint(State.READ_HEADER);
         String[] split = splitInitial(line);
-        message = new DefaultHttpResponse(HttpVersion.decode(split[0]), new HttpResponseStatus(Integer.valueOf(split[1]), split[2]));
+        message = new DefaultHttpResponse(HttpVersion.valueOf(split[0]), new HttpResponseStatus(Integer.valueOf(split[1]), split[2]));
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
index 7324f13048..9167c5c0f2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpResponseEncoder.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class HttpResponseEncoder extends HttpMessageEncoder {
     @Override
     protected void encodeInitialLine(ChannelBuffer buf, HttpMessage message) {
         HttpResponse response = (HttpResponse) message;
-        buf.writeBytes(response.getProtocolVersion().value().getBytes());
+        buf.writeBytes(response.getProtocolVersion().toString().getBytes());
         buf.writeByte(SP);
         buf.writeBytes(String.valueOf(response.getStatus().getCode()).getBytes());
         buf.writeByte(SP);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpVersion.java b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpVersion.java
index 59212c09ee..2222ffe5a8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpVersion.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jboss/netty/handler/codec/http/HttpVersion.java
@@ -31,33 +31,122 @@ package org.jboss.netty.handler.codec.http;
  *
  * @apiviz.exclude
  */
-public enum HttpVersion {
-    HTTP_1_0("HTTP/1.0"),
-    HTTP_1_1("HTTP/1.1"),
-    UNKNOWN("UNKNOWN"),;
+public class HttpVersion implements Comparable<HttpVersion> {
 
-    private final String version;
+    public static final HttpVersion HTTP_1_0 = new HttpVersion("HTTP", 1, 0);
+    public static final HttpVersion HTTP_1_1 = new HttpVersion("HTTP", 1, 1);
 
-    private HttpVersion(String version) {
-        this.version = version;
-    }
+    private static final java.util.regex.Pattern VERSION_PATTERN =
+            java.util.regex.Pattern.compile("(\\S+)/(\\d+)\\.(\\d+)");
 
-    public String value() {
-        return version;
-    }
-
-    public static HttpVersion decode(String value) {
-        if (value == null) {
-            return UNKNOWN;
-        }
-        else if (value.equals(HTTP_1_0.value())) {
-            return HTTP_1_0;
-        }
-        else if (value.equals(HTTP_1_1.value())) {
+    public static HttpVersion valueOf(String value) {
+        value = value.toUpperCase();
+        if (value.equals("HTTP/1.1")) {
             return HTTP_1_1;
         }
-        else {
-            return UNKNOWN;
+        if (value.equals("HTTP/1.0")) {
+            return HTTP_1_0;
         }
+        return new HttpVersion(value);
+    }
+
+    private final String protocolName;
+    private final int majorVersion;
+    private final int minorVersion;
+    private final String string;
+
+    public HttpVersion(String value) {
+        if (value == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("value");
+        }
+
+        java.util.regex.Matcher m = VERSION_PATTERN.matcher(value);
+        if (!m.matches()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid version format: " + value);
+        }
+
+        this.protocolName = m.group(1);
+        this.majorVersion = Integer.parseInt(m.group(2));
+        this.minorVersion = Integer.parseInt(m.group(3));
+        this.string = protocolName + '/' + majorVersion + '.' + minorVersion;
+    }
+
+    public HttpVersion(
+            String protocolName, int majorVersion, int minorVersion) {
+        if (protocolName == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("protocolName");
+        }
+
+        protocolName = protocolName.trim().toUpperCase();
+        if (protocolName.length() == 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("empty protocolName");
+        }
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < protocolName.length(); i ++) {
+            if (Character.isWhitespace(protocolName.charAt(i))) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("whitespace in protocolName");
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (majorVersion < 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("negative majorVersion");
+        }
+        if (minorVersion < 0) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("negative minorVersion");
+        }
+
+        this.protocolName = protocolName;
+        this.majorVersion = majorVersion;
+        this.minorVersion = minorVersion;
+        this.string = protocolName + '/' + majorVersion + '.' + minorVersion;
+    }
+
+    public String getProtocolName() {
+        return protocolName;
+    }
+
+    public int getMajorVersion() {
+        return majorVersion;
+    }
+
+    public int getMinorVersion() {
+        return minorVersion;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return string;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return (getProtocolName().hashCode() * 31 + getMajorVersion()) * 31 +
+               getMinorVersion();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object o) {
+        if (!(o instanceof HttpVersion)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        HttpVersion that = (HttpVersion) o;
+        return getMinorVersion() == that.getMinorVersion() &&
+               getMajorVersion() == that.getMajorVersion() &&
+               getProtocolName().equals(that.getProtocolName());
+    }
+
+    public int compareTo(HttpVersion o) {
+        int v = getProtocolName().compareTo(o.getProtocolName());
+        if (v != 0) {
+            return v;
+        }
+
+        v = getMajorVersion() - o.getMajorVersion();
+        if (v != 0) {
+            return v;
+        }
+
+        return getMinorVersion() - o.getMinorVersion();
     }
 }