diff --git a/src/extensions/accesscontrol.ml b/src/extensions/accesscontrol.ml
index 2fc848f63..c211dfd69 100644
--- a/src/extensions/accesscontrol.ml
+++ b/src/extensions/accesscontrol.ml
@@ -39,17 +39,19 @@ let ip s =
   in
   fun ri ->
     let r =
-      match Ocsigen_request.remote_ip_parsed ri with
-      | `Ip ip -> Ipaddr.Prefix.mem ip prefix
-      | `Unix _ -> false
+      match Ocsigen_request.client_conn ri with
+      | `Inet (ip, _) -> Ipaddr.Prefix.mem ip prefix
+      | _ -> false
     in
     if r
     then
       Logs.info ~src:section (fun fmt ->
-        fmt "IP: %s matches %s" (Ocsigen_request.remote_ip ri) s)
+        fmt "IP: %s matches %s" (Ocsigen_request.client_conn_to_string ri) s)
     else
       Logs.info ~src:section (fun fmt ->
-        fmt "IP: %s does not match %s" (Ocsigen_request.remote_ip ri) s);
+        fmt "IP: %s does not match %s"
+          (Ocsigen_request.client_conn_to_string ri)
+          s);
     r
 
 let port port ri =
@@ -222,22 +224,22 @@ let allow_forward_for_handler ?(check_equal_ip = false) () =
             let last_proxy = List.last proxies in
             let proxy_ip = Ipaddr.of_string_exn last_proxy in
             let equal_ip =
-              match Ocsigen_request.remote_ip_parsed request_info with
-              | `Ip r_ip -> Ipaddr.compare proxy_ip r_ip = 0
-              | `Unix _ -> false
+              match Ocsigen_request.client_conn request_info with
+              | `Inet (r_ip, _) -> Ipaddr.compare proxy_ip r_ip = 0
+              | _ -> false
             in
             if equal_ip || not check_equal_ip
             then
               { request with
                 Ocsigen_extensions.request_info =
                   Ocsigen_request.update ~forward_ip:proxies
-                    ~remote_ip:original_ip request_info }
+                    ~client_conn:(`Forwarded_for original_ip) request_info }
             else (
               (* the announced ip of the proxy is not its real ip *)
               Logs.warn ~src:section (fun fmt ->
                 fmt
                   "X-Forwarded-For: host ip (%s) does not match the header (%s)"
-                  (Ocsigen_request.remote_ip request_info)
+                  (Ocsigen_request.client_conn_to_string request_info)
                   header);
               request)
         | _ ->
diff --git a/src/extensions/revproxy.ml b/src/extensions/revproxy.ml
index 1ad47fa42..9554f0bac 100644
--- a/src/extensions/revproxy.ml
+++ b/src/extensions/revproxy.ml
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ let gen dir = function
                        (Ocsigen_request.address request_info)
                    in
                    String.concat ", "
-                     (Ocsigen_request.remote_ip request_info
+                     (Ocsigen_request.client_conn_to_string request_info
                       :: Ocsigen_request.forward_ip request_info
                      @ [address])
                  in
diff --git a/src/server/ocsigen_cohttp.ml b/src/server/ocsigen_cohttp.ml
index c0e79fed5..cd152f01f 100644
--- a/src/server/ocsigen_cohttp.ml
+++ b/src/server/ocsigen_cohttp.ml
@@ -57,15 +57,13 @@ end
 let handler ~ssl ~address ~port ~connector (flow, conn) request body =
   let filenames = ref [] in
   let edn = Conduit_lwt_unix.endp_of_flow flow in
-  let rec getsockname = function
-    | `TCP (ip, port) -> Unix.ADDR_INET (Ipaddr_unix.to_inet_addr ip, port)
-    | `Unix_domain_socket path -> Unix.ADDR_UNIX path
-    | `TLS (_, edn) -> getsockname edn
-    | `Unknown err -> raise (Failure ("resolution failed: " ^ err))
-    | `Vchan_direct _ -> raise (Failure "VChan not supported")
-    | `Vchan_domain_socket _ -> raise (Failure "VChan not supported")
+  let client_conn =
+    match edn with
+    | `TCP (ip, port) | `TLS (_, `TCP (ip, port)) -> `Inet (ip, port)
+    | `Unix_domain_socket path | `TLS (_, `Unix_domain_socket path) ->
+        `Unix path
+    | _ -> `Unknown
   in
-  let sockaddr = getsockname edn in
   let connection_closed =
     try fst (Hashtbl.find connections conn)
     with Not_found ->
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ let handler ~ssl ~address ~port ~connector (flow, conn) request body =
   in
   (* TODO: equivalent of Ocsigen_range *)
   let request =
-    Ocsigen_request.make ~address ~port ~ssl ~filenames ~sockaddr ~body
+    Ocsigen_request.make ~address ~port ~ssl ~filenames ~client_conn ~body
       ~connection_closed request
   in
   Lwt.finalize
@@ -120,7 +118,7 @@ let handler ~ssl ~address ~port ~connector (flow, conn) request body =
             (match Ocsigen_request.host request with
             | None -> "<host not specified in the request>"
             | Some h -> h)
-            (Ocsigen_request.remote_ip request)
+            (Ocsigen_request.client_conn_to_string request)
             (Option.value ~default:""
                (Ocsigen_request.header request Ocsigen_header.Name.user_agent))
             (Option.fold ~none:""
diff --git a/src/server/ocsigen_request.ml b/src/server/ocsigen_request.ml
index 040662272..627c0fa49 100644
--- a/src/server/ocsigen_request.ml
+++ b/src/server/ocsigen_request.ml
@@ -48,14 +48,18 @@ let make_uri u =
   and u_get_params_flat = lazy (flatten_get_params (Lazy.force u_get_params)) in
   {u_uri; u_get_params; u_get_params_flat; u_path; u_path_string}
 
+type client_conn =
+  [ `Inet of Ipaddr.t * int
+  | `Unix of string
+  | `Forwarded_for of string
+  | `Unknown ]
+
 type t =
   { r_address : Ocsigen_config.Socket_type.t
   ; r_port : int
   ; r_ssl : bool
   ; r_filenames : string list ref
-  ; r_sockaddr : Lwt_unix.sockaddr
-  ; r_remote_ip : string Lazy.t
-  ; r_remote_ip_parsed : [`Ip of Ipaddr.t | `Unix of string] Lazy.t
+  ; r_client_conn : client_conn
   ; r_forward_ip : string list
   ; r_uri : uri
   ; r_meth : Cohttp.Code.meth
@@ -81,31 +85,16 @@ let make
       ~port
       ~ssl
       ~filenames
-      ~sockaddr
+      ~client_conn
       ~body
       ~connection_closed
       request
   =
-  let r_remote_ip =
-    lazy
-      (match sockaddr with
-      | Unix.ADDR_INET (ip, _port) -> Unix.string_of_inet_addr ip
-      | ADDR_UNIX f -> f)
-  in
-  let r_remote_ip_parsed =
-    lazy
-      (match sockaddr with
-      | Unix.ADDR_INET (ip, _port) ->
-          `Ip (Ipaddr.of_string_exn (Unix.string_of_inet_addr ip))
-      | ADDR_UNIX f -> `Unix f)
-  in
   { r_address = address
   ; r_port = port
   ; r_ssl = ssl
   ; r_filenames = filenames
-  ; r_sockaddr = sockaddr
-  ; r_remote_ip
-  ; r_remote_ip_parsed
+  ; r_client_conn = client_conn
   ; r_forward_ip = forward_ip
   ; r_uri = make_uri (Cohttp.Request.uri request)
   ; r_encoding = Cohttp.Request.encoding request
@@ -127,7 +116,7 @@ let path {r_uri = {u_path; _}; _} = Lazy.force u_path
 let update
       ?ssl
       ?forward_ip
-      ?remote_ip
+      ?client_conn
       ?sub_path
       ?meth
       ?get_params_flat
@@ -139,8 +128,7 @@ let update
        ; r_uri = {u_uri; _} as r_uri
        ; r_meth
        ; r_forward_ip
-       ; r_remote_ip
-       ; r_remote_ip_parsed
+       ; r_client_conn
        ; r_cookies_override
        ; r_body
        ; r_sub_path
@@ -150,11 +138,8 @@ let update
   let r_ssl = match ssl with Some ssl -> ssl | None -> r_ssl
   and r_forward_ip =
     match forward_ip with Some forward_ip -> forward_ip | None -> r_forward_ip
-  and r_remote_ip, r_remote_ip_parsed =
-    match remote_ip with
-    | Some remote_ip ->
-        lazy remote_ip, lazy (`Ip (Ipaddr.of_string_exn remote_ip))
-    | None -> r_remote_ip, r_remote_ip_parsed
+  and r_client_conn =
+    match client_conn with Some c -> c | None -> r_client_conn
   and r_sub_path = match sub_path with Some _ -> sub_path | None -> r_sub_path
   and r_body =
     match post_data with
@@ -192,8 +177,7 @@ let update
   ; r_uri
   ; r_meth
   ; r_forward_ip
-  ; r_remote_ip
-  ; r_remote_ip_parsed
+  ; r_client_conn
   ; r_body
   ; r_cookies_override
   ; r_sub_path
@@ -292,8 +276,15 @@ let post_params r s i =
 let files r s i =
   match force_post_data r s i with Some v -> Some (v >|= snd) | None -> None
 
-let remote_ip {r_remote_ip; _} = Lazy.force r_remote_ip
-let remote_ip_parsed {r_remote_ip_parsed; _} = Lazy.force r_remote_ip_parsed
+let client_conn {r_client_conn = c; _} = c
+
+let client_conn_to_string {r_client_conn = c; _} =
+  match c with
+  | `Inet (ip, _) -> Ipaddr.to_string ip
+  | `Unix path -> "unix:" ^ path
+  | `Forwarded_for ip -> "forwarded:" ^ ip
+  | `Unknown -> "unknown"
+
 let forward_ip {r_forward_ip; _} = r_forward_ip
 let request_cache {r_request_cache; _} = r_request_cache
 let tries {r_tries; _} = r_tries
diff --git a/src/server/ocsigen_request.mli b/src/server/ocsigen_request.mli
index 4d9db6004..4c7dbee6b 100644
--- a/src/server/ocsigen_request.mli
+++ b/src/server/ocsigen_request.mli
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ type file_info = Ocsigen_multipart.file_info =
 
 type post_data = (string * string) list * (string * file_info) list
 
+type client_conn =
+  [ `Inet of Ipaddr.t * int
+  | `Unix of string
+  | `Forwarded_for of string
+  | `Unknown ]
+(** Type of connection used by the client. [`Inet] means the client connected
+    through the Internet. [`Forwarded_for] means that the client connected
+    through a proxy and carries the IP address reported in the HTTP headers. *)
+
 val make :
    ?forward_ip:string list
   -> ?sub_path:string
@@ -19,7 +28,7 @@ val make :
   -> port:int
   -> ssl:bool
   -> filenames:string list ref
-  -> sockaddr:Lwt_unix.sockaddr
+  -> client_conn:client_conn
   -> body:Cohttp_lwt.Body.t
   -> connection_closed:unit Lwt.t
   -> Cohttp.Request.t
@@ -28,7 +37,7 @@ val make :
 val update :
    ?ssl:bool
   -> ?forward_ip:string list
-  -> ?remote_ip:string
+  -> ?client_conn:client_conn
   -> ?sub_path:string
   -> ?meth:Cohttp.Code.meth
   -> ?get_params_flat:(string * string) list
@@ -74,8 +83,13 @@ val post_params :
   -> Int64.t option
   -> (string * string) list Lwt.t option
 
-val remote_ip : t -> string
-val remote_ip_parsed : t -> [`Ip of Ipaddr.t | `Unix of string]
+val client_conn : t -> client_conn
+(** The way the client connects to the server (for example, its IP address if
+    connected over the internet). *)
+
+val client_conn_to_string : t -> string
+(** A textual representation of [client_conn] suitable for use in logs. *)
+
 val forward_ip : t -> string list
 val content_type : t -> content_type option
 val request_cache : t -> Polytables.t
diff --git a/test/extensions/deflatemod.t/run.t b/test/extensions/deflatemod.t/run.t
index 663578ec8..b72a88677 100644
--- a/test/extensions/deflatemod.t/run.t
+++ b/test/extensions/deflatemod.t/run.t
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
   $ source ../../server-test-helpers.sh
   $ run_server ./test.exe
   ocsigen:main: [WARNING] Command pipe created
-  ocsigen:access:  connection for local-test from  (): /index.html
+  ocsigen:access:  connection for local-test from unix: (): /index.html
   ocsigen:ext: [INFO] host found! local-test:0 matches .* 
   ocsigen:ext:staticmod: [INFO] Is it a static file?
   ocsigen:local-file: [INFO] Testing "./index.html".
   ocsigen:local-file: [INFO] checking if file index.html can be sent
   ocsigen:ext: [INFO] Compiling exclusion regexp $^
   ocsigen:local-file: [INFO] Returning "./index.html".
-  ocsigen:access:  connection for local-test from  (): /index.html
+  ocsigen:access:  connection for local-test from unix: (): /index.html
   ocsigen:ext: [INFO] host found! local-test:0 matches .* 
   ocsigen:ext:staticmod: [INFO] Is it a static file?
   ocsigen:local-file: [INFO] Testing "./index.html".