diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 515b7571a0..c0e93600d2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2351,6 +2351,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror",
  "time",
  "tiny_http",
+ "tokio-socks",
  "url",
  "util",
  "windows 0.58.0",
@@ -11349,6 +11350,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-socks"
+version = "0.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0d4770b8024672c1101b3f6733eab95b18007dbe0847a8afe341fcf79e06043f"
+dependencies = [
+ "either",
+ "futures-io",
+ "futures-util",
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-stream"
 version = "0.1.15"
diff --git a/crates/client/Cargo.toml b/crates/client/Cargo.toml
index da470fb1e6..72ca8ffc24 100644
--- a/crates/client/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/client/Cargo.toml
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ text.workspace = true
 thiserror.workspace = true
 time.workspace = true
 tiny_http = "0.8"
+tokio-socks = { version = "0.5.2", default-features = false, features = ["futures-io"] }
 url.workspace = true
 util.workspace = true
 worktree.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/client/src/client.rs b/crates/client/src/client.rs
index e916dcbd2c..ccd7bda344 100644
--- a/crates/client/src/client.rs
+++ b/crates/client/src/client.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #[cfg(any(test, feature = "test-support"))]
 pub mod test;
 
+mod socks;
 pub mod telemetry;
 pub mod user;
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ use rpc::proto::{AnyTypedEnvelope, EntityMessage, EnvelopedMessage, PeerId, Requ
 use schemars::JsonSchema;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use settings::{Settings, SettingsSources};
+use socks::connect_socks_proxy_stream;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::pin::Pin;
 use std::{
@@ -1177,6 +1179,7 @@ impl Client {
             .unwrap_or_default();
 
         let http = self.http.clone();
+        let proxy = http.proxy().cloned();
         let credentials = credentials.clone();
         let rpc_url = self.rpc_url(http, release_channel);
         cx.background_executor().spawn(async move {
@@ -1198,7 +1201,7 @@ impl Client {
                 .host_str()
                 .zip(rpc_url.port_or_known_default())
                 .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing host in rpc url"))?;
-            let stream = smol::net::TcpStream::connect(rpc_host).await?;
+            let stream = connect_socks_proxy_stream(proxy.as_ref(), rpc_host).await?;
 
             log::info!("connected to rpc endpoint {}", rpc_url);
 
diff --git a/crates/client/src/socks.rs b/crates/client/src/socks.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de4300b1d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/client/src/socks.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+//! socks proxy
+use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use futures::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
+use http_client::Uri;
+use tokio_socks::{
+    io::Compat,
+    tcp::{Socks4Stream, Socks5Stream},
+};
+
+pub(crate) async fn connect_socks_proxy_stream(
+    proxy: Option<&Uri>,
+    rpc_host: (&str, u16),
+) -> Result<Box<dyn AsyncReadWrite>> {
+    let stream = match parse_socks_proxy(proxy) {
+        Some((socks_proxy, SocksVersion::V4)) => {
+            let stream = Socks4Stream::connect_with_socket(
+                Compat::new(smol::net::TcpStream::connect(socks_proxy).await?),
+                rpc_host,
+            )
+            .await
+            .map_err(|err| anyhow!("error connecting to socks {}", err))?;
+            Box::new(stream) as Box<dyn AsyncReadWrite>
+        }
+        Some((socks_proxy, SocksVersion::V5)) => Box::new(
+            Socks5Stream::connect_with_socket(
+                Compat::new(smol::net::TcpStream::connect(socks_proxy).await?),
+                rpc_host,
+            )
+            .await
+            .map_err(|err| anyhow!("error connecting to socks {}", err))?,
+        ) as Box<dyn AsyncReadWrite>,
+        None => Box::new(smol::net::TcpStream::connect(rpc_host).await?) as Box<dyn AsyncReadWrite>,
+    };
+    Ok(stream)
+}
+
+fn parse_socks_proxy(proxy: Option<&Uri>) -> Option<((String, u16), SocksVersion)> {
+    let Some(proxy_uri) = proxy else {
+        return None;
+    };
+    let Some(scheme) = proxy_uri.scheme_str() else {
+        return None;
+    };
+    let socks_version = if scheme.starts_with("socks4") {
+        // socks4
+        SocksVersion::V4
+    } else if scheme.starts_with("socks") {
+        // socks, socks5
+        SocksVersion::V5
+    } else {
+        return None;
+    };
+    if let (Some(host), Some(port)) = (proxy_uri.host(), proxy_uri.port_u16()) {
+        Some(((host.to_string(), port), socks_version))
+    } else {
+        None
+    }
+}
+
+// private helper structs and traits
+
+enum SocksVersion {
+    V4,
+    V5,
+}
+
+pub(crate) trait AsyncReadWrite: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send + 'static {}
+impl<T: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send + 'static> AsyncReadWrite for T {}