diff --git a/lib/websocket.js b/lib/websocket.js
index aece46e..e2b1895 100644
--- a/lib/websocket.js
+++ b/lib/websocket.js
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@ var events = require('events');
 var http = require('http');
 var net = require('net');
 var urllib = require('url');
-var sys = require('sys');
+try{
+    var sys = require('util');
+}catch(e){  // node v0.4.x
+    var sys = require('sys');
+}
 
 var FRAME_NO = 0;
 var FRAME_LO = 1;
@@ -473,7 +477,17 @@ var WebSocket = function(url, proto, opts) {
         switch (getUrlScheme(url)) {
         case 'ws':
             var u = urllib.parse(url);
-            httpClient = http.createClient(u.port || 80, u.hostname);
+            var options = {
+               port: u.port || 80,
+               host: u.hostname,
+               path: u.path,
+               headers: httpHeaders
+            };
+            try{
+                httpClient = http.request(options);
+            }catch(e){  // node v0.4.x
+                httpClient = http.createClient(u.port || 80, u.hostname);
+            }
             httpPath = (u.pathname || '/') + (u.search || '');
             httpHeaders.Host = u.hostname + (u.port ? (":" + u.port) : "");
             break;
@@ -581,7 +595,11 @@ var WebSocket = function(url, proto, opts) {
             errorListener(e);
         });
 
-        var httpReq = httpClient.request(httpPath, httpHeaders);
+        try{  // node v0.4.x
+            var httpReq = httpClient.request(httpPath, httpHeaders);
+        }catch(e){
+            var httpReq = httpClient;
+        }
 
         httpReq.write(challenge, 'binary');
         httpReq.end();