diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
index daa37ef064e3fc..200a08e5d5bf85 100644
--- a/lib/_http_client.js
+++ b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ function ClientRequest(options, cb) {
 
   if (typeof options === 'string') {
     options = url.parse(options);
+  } else {
+    options = util._extend({}, options);
   }
 
   var agent = options.agent;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-http-request-dont-override-options.js b/test/parallel/test-http-request-dont-override-options.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..66d82caeac930d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-http-request-dont-override-options.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const http = require('http');
+
+var requests = 0;
+
+http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+  res.writeHead(200);
+  res.end('ok');
+
+  requests++;
+}).listen(common.PORT).unref();
+
+var agent = new http.Agent();
+agent.defaultPort = common.PORT;
+
+// options marked as explicitly undefined for readability
+// in this test, they should STAY undefined as options should not
+// be mutable / modified
+var options = {
+  host: undefined,
+  hostname: common.localhostIPv4,
+  port: undefined,
+  defaultPort: undefined,
+  path: undefined,
+  method: undefined,
+  agent: agent
+};
+
+http.request(options, function(res) {
+  res.resume();
+}).end();
+
+process.on('exit', function() {
+  assert.equal(requests, 1);
+
+  assert.strictEqual(options.host, undefined);
+  assert.strictEqual(options.hostname, common.localhostIPv4);
+  assert.strictEqual(options.port, undefined);
+  assert.strictEqual(options.defaultPort, undefined);
+  assert.strictEqual(options.path, undefined);
+  assert.strictEqual(options.method, undefined);
+});