diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5fa8622..2d4ede2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@
        src/time.o src/fd.o src/regex.o src/cfgparse.o src/server.o \
        src/checks.o src/queue.o src/client.o src/proxy.o src/proto_uxst.o \
        src/proto_http.o src/stream_sock.o src/appsession.o src/backend.o \
-       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o \
+       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o src/proto_tcp.o \
        src/session.o src/hdr_idx.o src/ev_select.o src/acl.o src/memory.o
 
 haproxy: $(OBJS) $(OPT_OBJS)
diff --git a/Makefile.bsd b/Makefile.bsd
index 6f1ad2b..cc435d5 100644
--- a/Makefile.bsd
+++ b/Makefile.bsd
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
        src/time.o src/fd.o src/regex.o src/cfgparse.o src/server.o \
        src/checks.o src/queue.o src/client.o src/proxy.o src/proto_uxst.o \
        src/proto_http.o src/stream_sock.o src/appsession.o src/backend.o \
-       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o \
+       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o src/proto_tcp.o \
        src/session.o src/hdr_idx.o src/ev_select.o src/ev_poll.o \
        src/ev_kqueue.o src/acl.o src/memory.o
 
diff --git a/Makefile.osx b/Makefile.osx
index a92e857..08999ed 100644
--- a/Makefile.osx
+++ b/Makefile.osx
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
        src/time.o src/fd.o src/regex.o src/cfgparse.o src/server.o \
        src/checks.o src/queue.o src/client.o src/proxy.o src/proto_uxst.o \
        src/proto_http.o src/stream_sock.o src/appsession.o src/backend.o \
-       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o \
+       src/senddata.o src/dumpstats.o src/proto_tcp.o \
        src/session.o src/hdr_idx.o src/ev_select.o src/ev_poll.o src/acl.o \
        src/memory.o
 
diff --git a/include/proto/proto_tcp.h b/include/proto/proto_tcp.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23d0092
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/proto/proto_tcp.h
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+  include/proto/proto_tcp.h
+  This file contains TCP socket protocol definitions.
+
+  Copyright (C) 2000-2007 Willy Tarreau - w@1wt.eu
+  
+  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+  License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2.1
+  exclusively.
+
+  This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+  Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+*/
+
+#ifndef _PROTO_PROTO_TCP_H
+#define _PROTO_PROTO_TCP_H
+
+#include <common/config.h>
+#include <types/session.h>
+#include <types/task.h>
+
+int tcp_event_accept(int fd);
+void tcpv4_add_listener(struct listener *listener);
+void tcpv6_add_listener(struct listener *listener);
+int tcp_bind_listener(struct listener *listener, char *errmsg, int errlen);
+
+#endif /* _PROTO_PROTO_TCP_H */
+
+/*
+ * Local variables:
+ *  c-indent-level: 8
+ *  c-basic-offset: 8
+ * End:
+ */
diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 0df66da..aaafe8c 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@
 #include <proto/dumpstats.h>
 #include <proto/httperr.h>
 #include <proto/log.h>
+#include <proto/protocols.h>
+#include <proto/proto_tcp.h>
+#include <proto/proto_http.h>
 #include <proto/proxy.h>
 #include <proto/server.h>
 #include <proto/task.h>
@@ -208,11 +211,16 @@
 
 			l->fd = -1;
 			l->addr = ss;
-			if (ss.ss_family == AF_INET6)
+			l->state = LI_INIT;
+
+			if (ss.ss_family == AF_INET6) {
 				((struct sockaddr_in6 *)(&l->addr))->sin6_port = htons(port);
-			else
+				tcpv6_add_listener(l);
+			} else {
 				((struct sockaddr_in *)(&l->addr))->sin_port = htons(port);
-
+				tcpv4_add_listener(l);
+			}
+			listeners++;
 		} /* end for(port) */
 	} /* end while(next) */
 	free(dupstr);
@@ -2444,6 +2452,7 @@
 
 	while (curproxy != NULL) {
 		struct switching_rule *rule;
+		struct listener *listener;
 
 		if (curproxy->state == PR_STSTOPPED) {
 			curproxy = curproxy->next;
@@ -2726,6 +2735,19 @@
 			newsrv = newsrv->next;
 		}
 
+		/* adjust this proxy's listeners */
+		listener = curproxy->listen;
+		while (listener) {
+			if (curproxy->options & PR_O_TCP_NOLING)
+				listener->options |= LI_O_NOLINGER;
+			listener->maxconn = curproxy->maxconn;
+			listener->timeout = &curproxy->clitimeout;
+			listener->accept = event_accept;
+			listener->private = curproxy;
+
+			listener = listener->next;
+		}
+
 		curproxy = curproxy->next;
 	}
 	if (cfgerr > 0) {
diff --git a/src/client.c b/src/client.c
index c813cba..2ee41a6 100644
--- a/src/client.c
+++ b/src/client.c
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
  * It returns 0.
  */
 int event_accept(int fd) {
-	struct proxy *p = (struct proxy *)fdtab[fd].owner;
+	struct listener *l = (struct listener *)fdtab[fd].owner;
+	struct proxy *p = (struct proxy *)l->private; /* attached frontend */
 	struct session *s;
 	struct http_txn *txn;
 	struct task *t;
@@ -362,10 +363,11 @@
 
 		fd_insert(cfd);
 		fdtab[cfd].owner = t;
+		fdtab[cfd].listener = l;
 		fdtab[cfd].state = FD_STREADY;
-		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_RD].f = &stream_sock_read;
+		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_RD].f = l->proto->read;
 		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_RD].b = s->req;
-		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_WR].f = &stream_sock_write;
+		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_WR].f = l->proto->write;
 		fdtab[cfd].cb[DIR_WR].b = s->rep;
 		fdtab[cfd].peeraddr = (struct sockaddr *)&s->cli_addr;
 		fdtab[cfd].peerlen = sizeof(s->cli_addr);
diff --git a/src/proto_tcp.c b/src/proto_tcp.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..593096d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/proto_tcp.c
@@ -0,0 +1,255 @@
+/*
+ * AF_INET/AF_INET6 SOCK_STREAM protocol layer (tcp)
+ *
+ * Copyright 2000-2007 Willy Tarreau <w@1wt.eu>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version
+ * 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <time.h>
+
+#include <sys/param.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/un.h>
+
+#include <common/compat.h>
+#include <common/config.h>
+#include <common/debug.h>
+#include <common/errors.h>
+#include <common/memory.h>
+#include <common/mini-clist.h>
+#include <common/standard.h>
+#include <common/time.h>
+#include <common/version.h>
+
+#include <types/acl.h>
+#include <types/client.h>
+#include <types/global.h>
+#include <types/polling.h>
+#include <types/proxy.h>
+#include <types/server.h>
+
+#include <proto/acl.h>
+#include <proto/backend.h>
+#include <proto/buffers.h>
+#include <proto/fd.h>
+#include <proto/protocols.h>
+#include <proto/proto_tcp.h>
+#include <proto/queue.h>
+#include <proto/senddata.h>
+#include <proto/session.h>
+#include <proto/stream_sock.h>
+#include <proto/task.h>
+
+static int tcp_bind_listeners(struct protocol *proto);
+
+/* Note: must not be declared <const> as its list will be overwritten */
+static struct protocol proto_tcpv4 = {
+	.name = "tcpv4",
+	.sock_domain = AF_INET,
+	.sock_type = SOCK_STREAM,
+	.sock_prot = IPPROTO_TCP,
+	.sock_family = AF_INET,
+	.sock_addrlen = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in),
+	.l3_addrlen = 32/8,
+	.read = &stream_sock_read,
+	.write = &stream_sock_write,
+	.bind_all = tcp_bind_listeners,
+	.unbind_all = unbind_all_listeners,
+	.enable_all = enable_all_listeners,
+	.listeners = LIST_HEAD_INIT(proto_tcpv4.listeners),
+	.nb_listeners = 0,
+};
+
+/* Note: must not be declared <const> as its list will be overwritten */
+static struct protocol proto_tcpv6 = {
+	.name = "tcpv6",
+	.sock_domain = AF_INET6,
+	.sock_type = SOCK_STREAM,
+	.sock_prot = IPPROTO_TCP,
+	.sock_family = AF_INET6,
+	.sock_addrlen = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6),
+	.l3_addrlen = 128/8,
+	.read = &stream_sock_read,
+	.write = &stream_sock_write,
+	.bind_all = tcp_bind_listeners,
+	.unbind_all = unbind_all_listeners,
+	.enable_all = enable_all_listeners,
+	.listeners = LIST_HEAD_INIT(proto_tcpv6.listeners),
+	.nb_listeners = 0,
+};
+
+
+/* This function tries to bind a TCPv4/v6 listener. It may return a warning or
+ * an error message in <err> if the message is at most <errlen> bytes long
+ * (including '\0'). The return value is composed from ERR_ABORT, ERR_WARN,
+ * ERR_ALERT, ERR_RETRYABLE and ERR_FATAL. ERR_NONE indicates that everything
+ * was alright and that no message was returned. ERR_RETRYABLE means that an
+ * error occurred but that it may vanish after a retry (eg: port in use), and
+ * ERR_FATAL indicates a non-fixable error.ERR_WARN and ERR_ALERT do not alter
+ * the meaning of the error, but just indicate that a message is present which
+ * should be displayed with the respective level. Last, ERR_ABORT indicates
+ * that it's pointless to try to start other listeners. No error message is
+ * returned if errlen is NULL.
+ */
+int tcp_bind_listener(struct listener *listener, char *errmsg, int errlen)
+{
+	__label__ tcp_return, tcp_close_return;
+	int fd, err;
+	const char *msg = NULL;
+
+	/* ensure we never return garbage */
+	if (errmsg && errlen)
+		*errmsg = 0;
+
+	if (listener->state != LI_ASSIGNED)
+		return ERR_NONE; /* already bound */
+
+	err = ERR_NONE;
+
+	if ((fd = socket(listener->addr.ss_family, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP)) == -1) {
+		err |= ERR_RETRYABLE | ERR_ALERT;
+		msg = "cannot create listening socket";
+		goto tcp_return;
+	}
+	
+	if (fd >= global.maxsock) {
+		err |= ERR_FATAL | ERR_ABORT | ERR_ALERT;
+		msg = "not enough free sockets (raise '-n' parameter)";
+		goto tcp_close_return;
+	}
+
+	if ((fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) == -1) ||
+	    (setsockopt(fd, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY,
+			(char *) &one, sizeof(one)) == -1)) {
+		err |= ERR_FATAL | ERR_ALERT;
+		msg = "cannot make socket non-blocking";
+		goto tcp_close_return;
+	}
+
+	if (setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (char *) &one, sizeof(one)) == -1) {
+		/* not fatal but should be reported */
+		msg = "cannot do so_reuseaddr";
+		err |= ERR_ALERT;
+	}
+
+	if (listener->options & LI_O_NOLINGER)
+		setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_LINGER, (struct linger *) &nolinger, sizeof(struct linger));
+	
+#ifdef SO_REUSEPORT
+	/* OpenBSD supports this. As it's present in old libc versions of Linux,
+	 * it might return an error that we will silently ignore.
+	 */
+	setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEPORT, (char *) &one, sizeof(one));
+#endif
+	if (bind(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&listener->addr, listener->proto->sock_addrlen) == -1) {
+		err |= ERR_RETRYABLE | ERR_ALERT;
+		msg = "cannot bind socket";
+		goto tcp_close_return;
+	}
+	
+	if (listen(fd, listener->maxconn) == -1) {
+		err |= ERR_RETRYABLE | ERR_ALERT;
+		msg = "cannot listen to socket";
+		goto tcp_close_return;
+	}
+	
+	/* the socket is ready */
+	listener->fd = fd;
+	listener->state = LI_LISTEN;
+
+	/* the function for the accept() event */
+	fd_insert(fd);
+	fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_RD].f = listener->accept;
+	fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_WR].f = NULL; /* never called */
+	fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_RD].b = fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_WR].b = NULL;
+	fdtab[fd].owner = (struct task *)listener; /* reference the listener instead of a task */
+	fdtab[fd].state = FD_STLISTEN;
+	fdtab[fd].peeraddr = NULL;
+	fdtab[fd].peerlen = 0;
+	fdtab[fd].listener = NULL;
+	fdtab[fd].ev = 0;
+ tcp_return:
+	if (msg && errlen)
+		strlcpy2(errmsg, msg, errlen);
+	return err;
+
+ tcp_close_return:
+	close(fd);
+	goto tcp_return;
+}
+
+/* This function creates all TCP sockets bound to the protocol entry <proto>.
+ * It is intended to be used as the protocol's bind_all() function.
+ * The sockets will be registered but not added to any fd_set, in order not to
+ * loose them across the fork(). A call to enable_all_listeners() is needed
+ * to complete initialization. The return value is composed from ERR_*.
+ */
+static int tcp_bind_listeners(struct protocol *proto)
+{
+	struct listener *listener;
+	int err = ERR_NONE;
+
+	list_for_each_entry(listener, &proto->listeners, proto_list) {
+		err |= tcp_bind_listener(listener, NULL, 0);
+		if ((err & ERR_CODE) == ERR_ABORT)
+			break;
+	}
+
+	return err;
+}
+
+/* Add listener to the list of tcpv4 listeners. The listener's state
+ * is automatically updated from LI_INIT to LI_ASSIGNED. The number of
+ * listeners is updated. This is the function to use to add a new listener.
+ */
+void tcpv4_add_listener(struct listener *listener)
+{
+	if (listener->state != LI_INIT)
+		return;
+	listener->state = LI_ASSIGNED;
+	listener->proto = &proto_tcpv4;
+	LIST_ADDQ(&proto_tcpv4.listeners, &listener->proto_list);
+	proto_tcpv4.nb_listeners++;
+}
+
+/* Add listener to the list of tcpv4 listeners. The listener's state
+ * is automatically updated from LI_INIT to LI_ASSIGNED. The number of
+ * listeners is updated. This is the function to use to add a new listener.
+ */
+void tcpv6_add_listener(struct listener *listener)
+{
+	if (listener->state != LI_INIT)
+		return;
+	listener->state = LI_ASSIGNED;
+	listener->proto = &proto_tcpv6;
+	LIST_ADDQ(&proto_tcpv6.listeners, &listener->proto_list);
+	proto_tcpv6.nb_listeners++;
+}
+
+__attribute__((constructor))
+static void __tcp_protocol_init(void)
+{
+	protocol_register(&proto_tcpv4);
+	protocol_register(&proto_tcpv6);
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * Local variables:
+ *  c-indent-level: 8
+ *  c-basic-offset: 8
+ * End:
+ */
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index feb93c2..1c7cff6 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -30,10 +30,12 @@
 #include <proto/backend.h>
 #include <proto/fd.h>
 #include <proto/log.h>
+#include <proto/protocols.h>
+#include <proto/proto_tcp.h>
 #include <proto/proxy.h>
 
 
-int listeners;	/* # of listeners */
+int listeners;	/* # of proxy listeners, set by cfgparse, unset by maintain_proxies */
 struct proxy *proxy  = NULL;	/* list of all existing proxies */
 
 /*
@@ -120,8 +122,9 @@
 {
 	struct proxy *curproxy;
 	struct listener *listener;
-	int err = ERR_NONE;
-	int fd, pxerr;
+	int lerr, err = ERR_NONE;
+	int pxerr;
+	char msg[100];
 
 	for (curproxy = proxy; curproxy != NULL; curproxy = curproxy->next) {
 		if (curproxy->state != PR_STNEW)
@@ -129,96 +132,39 @@
 
 		pxerr = 0;
 		for (listener = curproxy->listen; listener != NULL; listener = listener->next) {
-			if (listener->fd != -1)
-				continue; /* already initialized */
+			if (listener->state != LI_ASSIGNED)
+				continue; /* already started */
 
-			if ((fd = socket(listener->addr.ss_family, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP)) == -1) {
-				if (verbose)
-					Alert("cannot create listening socket for proxy %s. Aborting.\n",
-					      curproxy->id);
-				err |= ERR_RETRYABLE;
-				pxerr |= 1;
-				continue;
-			}
-	
-			if (fd >= global.maxsock) {
-				Alert("socket(): not enough free sockets for proxy %s. Raise -n argument. Aborting.\n",
-				      curproxy->id);
-				close(fd);
-				err |= ERR_FATAL;
-				pxerr |= 1;
-				break;
-			}
+			lerr = tcp_bind_listener(listener, msg, sizeof(msg));
 
-			if ((fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) == -1) ||
-			    (setsockopt(fd, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY,
-					(char *) &one, sizeof(one)) == -1)) {
-				Alert("cannot make socket non-blocking for proxy %s. Aborting.\n",
-				      curproxy->id);
-				close(fd);
-				err |= ERR_FATAL;
-				pxerr |= 1;
-				break;
+			/* errors are reported if <verbose> is set or if they are fatal */
+			if (verbose || (lerr & (ERR_FATAL | ERR_ABORT))) {
+				if (lerr & ERR_ALERT)
+					Alert("Starting %s %s: %s\n",
+					      proxy_type_str(curproxy), curproxy->id, msg);
+				else if (lerr & ERR_WARN)
+					Warning("Starting %s %s: %s\n",
+						proxy_type_str(curproxy), curproxy->id, msg);
 			}
 
-			if (setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (char *) &one, sizeof(one)) == -1) {
-				Alert("cannot do so_reuseaddr for proxy %s. Continuing.\n",
-				      curproxy->id);
-			}
-
-			if (curproxy->options & PR_O_TCP_NOLING)
-				setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_LINGER, (struct linger *) &nolinger, sizeof(struct linger));
-	
-#ifdef SO_REUSEPORT
-			/* OpenBSD supports this. As it's present in old libc versions of Linux,
-			 * it might return an error that we will silently ignore.
-			 */
-			setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEPORT, (char *) &one, sizeof(one));
-#endif
-			if (bind(fd,
-				 (struct sockaddr *)&listener->addr,
-				 listener->addr.ss_family == AF_INET6 ?
-				 sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6) :
-				 sizeof(struct sockaddr_in)) == -1) {
-				if (verbose)
-					Alert("cannot bind socket for proxy %s. Aborting.\n",
-					      curproxy->id);
-				close(fd);
-				err |= ERR_RETRYABLE;
+			err |= lerr;
+			if (lerr & (ERR_ABORT | ERR_FATAL)) {
 				pxerr |= 1;
-				continue;
+				break;
 			}
-	
-			if (listen(fd, curproxy->maxconn) == -1) {
-				if (verbose)
-					Alert("cannot listen to socket for proxy %s. Aborting.\n",
-					      curproxy->id);
-				close(fd);
-				err |= ERR_RETRYABLE;
+			else if (lerr & ERR_CODE) {
 				pxerr |= 1;
 				continue;
 			}
-	
-			/* the socket is ready */
-			listener->fd = fd;
-
-			/* the function for the accept() event */
-			fd_insert(fd);
-			fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_RD].f  = &event_accept;
-			fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_WR].f = NULL; /* never called */
-			fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_RD].b = fdtab[fd].cb[DIR_WR].b = NULL;
-			fdtab[fd].owner = (struct task *)curproxy; /* reference the proxy instead of a task */
-			fdtab[fd].state = FD_STLISTEN;
-			fdtab[fd].peeraddr = NULL;
-			fdtab[fd].peerlen = 0;
-			fdtab[fd].ev = 0;
-			listeners++;
 		}
 
 		if (!pxerr) {
 			curproxy->state = PR_STIDLE;
 			send_log(curproxy, LOG_NOTICE, "Proxy %s started.\n", curproxy->id);
 		}
+
+		if (err & ERR_ABORT)
+			break;
 	}
 
 	return err;
@@ -244,17 +190,15 @@
 		while (p) {
 			if (p->feconn < p->maxconn) {
 				if (p->state == PR_STIDLE) {
-					for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
-						EV_FD_SET(l->fd, DIR_RD);
-					}
+					for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next)
+						enable_listener(l);
 					p->state = PR_STRUN;
 				}
 			}
 			else {
 				if (p->state == PR_STRUN) {
-					for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
-						EV_FD_CLR(l->fd, DIR_RD);
-					}
+					for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next)
+						disable_listener(l);
 					p->state = PR_STIDLE;
 				}
 			}
@@ -264,9 +208,8 @@
 	else {  /* block all proxies */
 		while (p) {
 			if (p->state == PR_STRUN) {
-				for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
-					EV_FD_CLR(l->fd, DIR_RD);
-				}
+				for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next)
+					disable_listener(l);
 				p->state = PR_STIDLE;
 			}
 			p = p->next;
@@ -284,8 +227,11 @@
 					send_log(p, LOG_WARNING, "Proxy %s stopped.\n", p->id);
 
 					for (l = p->listen; l != NULL; l = l->next) {
-						fd_delete(l->fd);
-						listeners--;
+						unbind_listener(l);
+						if (l->state >= LI_ASSIGNED) {
+							delete_listener(l);
+							listeners--;
+						}
 					}
 					p->state = PR_STSTOPPED;
 					/* try to free more memory */