diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5Connection.java b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5Connection.java
index e6c553ea..c951c98d 100644
--- a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5Connection.java
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5Connection.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.apache.hc.core5.http.ClassicHttpResponse;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.ContentType;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpEntity;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHeaders;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpResponse;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.NameValuePair;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.io.entity.ByteArrayEntity;
@@ -43,19 +44,23 @@ import org.springframework.ws.transport.WebServiceConnection;
 
 /**
  * Implementation of {@link WebServiceConnection} that is based on Apache HttpClient 5.
- * Exposes a {@link HttpPost} and {@link HttpResponse}.
+ * Exposes the {@linkplain #getHttpHost() HTTP host}, {@linkplain #getHttpPost() HTTP
+ * port}, and {@linkplain #getHttpResponse() HTTP response}.
  *
  * @author Alan Stewart
  * @author Barry Pitman
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @author Greg Turnquist
  * @author Lars Uffmann
+ * @author Brian Clozel
  * @since 4.0.5
  */
 public class HttpComponents5Connection extends AbstractHttpSenderConnection {
 
 	private final HttpClient httpClient;
 
+	private final HttpHost httpHost;
+
 	private final HttpPost httpPost;
 
 	private final HttpContext httpContext;
@@ -64,16 +69,23 @@ public class HttpComponents5Connection extends AbstractHttpSenderConnection {
 
 	private ByteArrayOutputStream requestBuffer;
 
-	protected HttpComponents5Connection(HttpClient httpClient, HttpPost httpPost, HttpContext httpContext) {
+	protected HttpComponents5Connection(HttpClient httpClient, HttpHost httpHost, HttpPost httpPost,
+			HttpContext httpContext) {
 
 		Assert.notNull(httpClient, "httpClient must not be null");
+		Assert.notNull(httpHost, "httpHost must not be null");
 		Assert.notNull(httpPost, "httpPost must not be null");
 
 		this.httpClient = httpClient;
+		this.httpHost = httpHost;
 		this.httpPost = httpPost;
 		this.httpContext = httpContext;
 	}
 
+	public HttpHost getHttpHost() {
+		return this.httpHost;
+	}
+
 	public HttpPost getHttpPost() {
 		return this.httpPost;
 	}
@@ -84,12 +96,11 @@ public class HttpComponents5Connection extends AbstractHttpSenderConnection {
 
 	@Override
 	public void onClose() throws IOException {
-
 		if (this.httpResponse instanceof ClassicHttpResponse response) {
-
 			if (response.getEntity() != null) {
 				EntityUtils.consume(response.getEntity());
 			}
+			response.close();
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -121,20 +132,11 @@ public class HttpComponents5Connection extends AbstractHttpSenderConnection {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 	protected void onSendAfterWrite(WebServiceMessage message) throws IOException {
-
 		String contentType = this.httpPost.getFirstHeader(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE).getValue();
 		this.httpPost.setEntity(new ByteArrayEntity(this.requestBuffer.toByteArray(), ContentType.parse(contentType)));
-
 		this.requestBuffer = null;
-
-		if (this.httpContext != null) {
-			this.httpResponse = this.httpClient.execute(this.httpPost, this.httpContext);
-		}
-		else {
-			this.httpResponse = this.httpClient.execute(this.httpPost);
-		}
+		this.httpResponse = this.httpClient.executeOpen(this.httpHost, this.httpPost, this.httpContext);
 	}
 
 	/*
diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
index 1a1069b4..e9573e4d 100644
--- a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/transport/http/HttpComponents5MessageSender.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.io.PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.EntityDetails;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpException;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHeaders;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequest;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequestInterceptor;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.protocol.HttpContext;
@@ -198,9 +199,10 @@ public class HttpComponents5MessageSender extends AbstractHttpWebServiceMessageS
 					HttpTransportConstants.CONTENT_ENCODING_GZIP);
 		}
 
+		HttpHost httpHost = HttpHost.create(uri);
 		HttpContext httpContext = createContext(uri);
 
-		return new HttpComponents5Connection(getHttpClient(), httpPost, httpContext);
+		return new HttpComponents5Connection(getHttpClient(), httpHost, httpPost, httpContext);
 	}
 
 	/**