diff --git a/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.c b/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.c
index ace804c47f087d714b76526341dd725189a1725a..fba32561acf822b04c776ced5815df6c8a98d0cc 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.c
+++ b/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.c
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ typedef struct http_connect_handshaker {
   grpc_handshaker base;
 
   char* proxy_server;
+  grpc_http_header* headers;
+  size_t num_headers;
 
   gpr_refcount refcount;
   gpr_mu mu;
@@ -90,6 +92,11 @@ static void http_connect_handshaker_unref(grpc_exec_ctx* exec_ctx,
       gpr_free(handshaker->read_buffer_to_destroy);
     }
     gpr_free(handshaker->proxy_server);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < handshaker->num_headers; ++i) {
+      gpr_free(handshaker->headers[i].key);
+      gpr_free(handshaker->headers[i].value);
+    }
+    gpr_free(handshaker->headers);
     grpc_slice_buffer_destroy_internal(exec_ctx, &handshaker->write_buffer);
     grpc_http_parser_destroy(&handshaker->http_parser);
     grpc_http_response_destroy(&handshaker->http_response);
@@ -290,6 +297,8 @@ static void http_connect_handshaker_do_handshake(
   request.host = server_name;
   request.http.method = "CONNECT";
   request.http.path = server_name;
+  request.http.hdrs = handshaker->headers;
+  request.http.hdr_count = handshaker->num_headers;
   request.handshaker = &grpc_httpcli_plaintext;
   grpc_slice request_slice = grpc_httpcli_format_connect_request(&request);
   grpc_slice_buffer_add(&handshaker->write_buffer, request_slice);
@@ -307,7 +316,9 @@ static const grpc_handshaker_vtable http_connect_handshaker_vtable = {
     http_connect_handshaker_destroy, http_connect_handshaker_shutdown,
     http_connect_handshaker_do_handshake};
 
-grpc_handshaker* grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(const char* proxy_server) {
+grpc_handshaker* grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(const char* proxy_server,
+                                                     grpc_http_header* headers,
+                                                     size_t num_headers) {
   GPR_ASSERT(proxy_server != NULL);
   http_connect_handshaker* handshaker = gpr_malloc(sizeof(*handshaker));
   memset(handshaker, 0, sizeof(*handshaker));
@@ -315,6 +326,14 @@ grpc_handshaker* grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(const char* proxy_server) {
   gpr_mu_init(&handshaker->mu);
   gpr_ref_init(&handshaker->refcount, 1);
   handshaker->proxy_server = gpr_strdup(proxy_server);
+  if (num_headers > 0) {
+    handshaker->headers = gpr_malloc(sizeof(grpc_http_header) * num_headers);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < num_headers; ++i) {
+      handshaker->headers[i].key = gpr_strdup(headers[i].key);
+      handshaker->headers[i].value = gpr_strdup(headers[i].value);
+    }
+    handshaker->num_headers = num_headers;
+  }
   grpc_slice_buffer_init(&handshaker->write_buffer);
   grpc_closure_init(&handshaker->request_done_closure, on_write_done,
                     handshaker, grpc_schedule_on_exec_ctx);
@@ -358,8 +377,9 @@ static void handshaker_factory_add_handshakers(
     const grpc_channel_args* args, grpc_handshake_manager* handshake_mgr) {
   char* proxy_name = grpc_get_http_proxy_server();
   if (proxy_name != NULL) {
-    grpc_handshake_manager_add(handshake_mgr,
-                               grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(proxy_name));
+    grpc_handshake_manager_add(
+        handshake_mgr,
+        grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(proxy_name, NULL, 0));
     gpr_free(proxy_name);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.h b/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.h
index 56485f1373507ed00ff0ac05def72a833bcc2c3c..c2e68de7167bff20cb65b033268a519886f5cc74 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.h
+++ b/src/core/ext/client_channel/http_connect_handshaker.h
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@
 #define GRPC_CORE_EXT_CLIENT_CHANNEL_HTTP_CONNECT_HANDSHAKER_H
 
 #include "src/core/lib/channel/handshaker.h"
+#include "src/core/lib/http/parser.h"
 
 /// Creates a new HTTP CONNECT handshaker.
-grpc_handshaker* grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(const char* proxy_server);
+grpc_handshaker* grpc_http_connect_handshaker_create(const char* proxy_server,
+                                                     grpc_http_header* headers,
+                                                     size_t num_headers);
 
 /// Returns the name of the proxy to use, or NULL if no proxy is configured.
 /// Caller takes ownership of result.
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/qps/benchmark_client.py b/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/qps/benchmark_client.py
index 83b46c914e7f89d8d8966c29d573d69b6f310413..650e4756e7295169bcea373c5a68f19a15baa913 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/qps/benchmark_client.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/qps/benchmark_client.py
@@ -68,12 +68,8 @@ class BenchmarkClient:
     else:
       channel = grpc.insecure_channel(server)
 
-    connected_event = threading.Event()
-    def wait_for_ready(connectivity):
-      if connectivity == grpc.ChannelConnectivity.READY:
-        connected_event.set()
-    channel.subscribe(wait_for_ready, try_to_connect=True)
-    connected_event.wait()
+    # waits for the channel to be ready before we start sending messages
+    grpc.channel_ready_future(channel).result()
 
     if config.payload_config.WhichOneof('payload') == 'simple_params':
       self._generic = False
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/stress/client.py b/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/stress/client.py
index 390ea13021d1a37013230330c61b9dfd911a2e9a..b8116729b573ddc289392497850d8b3ce240789f 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/stress/client.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio_tests/tests/stress/client.py
@@ -110,10 +110,13 @@ def _get_channel(target, args):
     channel_credentials = grpc.ssl_channel_credentials(
         root_certificates=root_certificates)
     options = (('grpc.ssl_target_name_override', args.server_host_override,),)
-    return grpc.secure_channel(
-        target, channel_credentials, options=options)
+    channel = grpc.secure_channel(target, channel_credentials, options=options)
   else:
-    return grpc.insecure_channel(target)
+    channel = grpc.insecure_channel(target)
+
+  # waits for the channel to be ready before we start sending messages
+  grpc.channel_ready_future(channel).result()
+  return channel
 
 def run_test(args):
   test_cases = _parse_weighted_test_cases(args.test_cases)
diff --git a/test/http2_test/http2_base_server.py b/test/http2_test/http2_base_server.py
index ee7719b1a80826db965874e194ba5ac66a94e394..8de028ceb1b85a90c7e563eaf05fdff6088891f5 100644
--- a/test/http2_test/http2_base_server.py
+++ b/test/http2_test/http2_base_server.py
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ class H2ProtocolBaseServer(twisted.internet.protocol.Protocol):
 
   def on_connection_lost(self, reason):
     logging.info('Disconnected %s' % reason)
-    twisted.internet.reactor.callFromThread(twisted.internet.reactor.stop)
 
   def dataReceived(self, data):
     try:
diff --git a/test/http2_test/http2_test_server.py b/test/http2_test/http2_test_server.py
index 44e36d34b64df73b184eefbc9d4c3e20f4efe045..abde3433ad22782ab1757c52650e6575f4e8d014 100644
--- a/test/http2_test/http2_test_server.py
+++ b/test/http2_test/http2_test_server.py
@@ -73,18 +73,32 @@ class H2Factory(twisted.internet.protocol.Factory):
     else:
       return t().get_base_server()
 
+def parse_arguments():
+  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+  parser.add_argument('--base_port', type=int, default=8080,
+    help='base port to run the servers (default: 8080). One test server is '
+    'started on each incrementing port, beginning with base_port, in the '
+    'following order: goaway,max_streams,ping,rst_after_data,rst_after_header,'
+    'rst_during_data'
+    )
+  return parser.parse_args()
+
+def start_test_servers(base_port):
+  """ Start one server per test case on incrementing port numbers
+  beginning with base_port """
+  index = 0
+  for test_case in sorted(_TEST_CASE_MAPPING.keys()):
+    portnum = base_port + index
+    logging.warning('serving on port %d : %s'%(portnum, test_case))
+    endpoint = twisted.internet.endpoints.TCP4ServerEndpoint(
+      twisted.internet.reactor, portnum, backlog=128)
+    endpoint.listen(H2Factory(test_case))
+    index += 1
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   logging.basicConfig(
     format='%(levelname) -10s %(asctime)s %(module)s:%(lineno)s | %(message)s',
     level=logging.INFO)
-  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
-  parser.add_argument('--test_case', choices=sorted(_TEST_CASE_MAPPING.keys()),
-    help='test case to run', required=True)
-  parser.add_argument('--port', type=int, default=8080,
-    help='port to run the server (default: 8080)')
-  args = parser.parse_args()
-  logging.info('Running test case %s on port %d' % (args.test_case, args.port))
-  endpoint = twisted.internet.endpoints.TCP4ServerEndpoint(
-    twisted.internet.reactor, args.port, backlog=128)
-  endpoint.listen(H2Factory(args.test_case))
+  args = parse_arguments()
+  start_test_servers(args.base_port)
   twisted.internet.reactor.run()