diff --git a/lib/Predis/Network/ConnectionBase.php b/lib/Predis/Network/ConnectionBase.php
index cfa68bb7..8a39d4e6 100644
--- a/lib/Predis/Network/ConnectionBase.php
+++ b/lib/Predis/Network/ConnectionBase.php
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ use Predis\ClientException;
 use Predis\CommunicationException;
 
 abstract class ConnectionBase implements IConnectionSingle {
-    private $_cachedId, $_resource;
-    protected $_params, $_initCmds;
+    private $_cachedId;
+    protected $_params, $_initCmds, $_resource;
 
     public function __construct(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
         $this->_initCmds = array();
diff --git a/lib/Predis/Network/PhpiredisConnection.php b/lib/Predis/Network/PhpiredisConnection.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd6dad4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/Predis/Network/PhpiredisConnection.php
@@ -0,0 +1,249 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Predis\Network;
+
+use Predis\ICommand;
+use Predis\ResponseError;
+use Predis\ResponseQueued;
+use Predis\ServerException;
+use Predis\ConnectionParameters;
+
+class PhpiredisConnection extends ConnectionBase {
+    private $_reader, $_throwErrors;
+
+    public function __construct(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        parent::__construct($this->checkParameters($parameters));
+        $this->_throwErrors = true;
+        $this->initializeReader();
+    }
+
+    public function __destruct() {
+        $this->disconnect();
+        phpiredis_reader_destroy($this->_reader);
+    }
+
+    protected function checkParameters(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        switch ($parameters->scheme) {
+            case 'unix':
+                $pathToSocket = $parameters->path;
+                if (!isset($pathToSocket)) {
+                    throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Missing UNIX domain socket path');
+                }
+                if (!file_exists($pathToSocket)) {
+                    throw new \InvalidArgumentException("Could not find $pathToSocket");
+                }
+            case 'tcp':
+                return $parameters;
+            default:
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException("Invalid scheme: {$parameters->scheme}");
+        }
+        if ($parameters->connection_persistent == true) {
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
+                'Persistent connections are not supported by this connection class.'
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function initializeReader() {
+        if (!function_exists('phpiredis_reader_create')) {
+            throw new ClientException(
+                'The phpiredis extension must be loaded in order to ' .
+                'be able to use this protocol processor'
+            );
+        }
+        $this->_reader = phpiredis_reader_create();
+        phpiredis_reader_set_status_handler($this->_reader, $this->getStatusHandler());
+        phpiredis_reader_set_error_handler($this->_reader, $this->getErrorHandler());
+    }
+
+    private function getStatusHandler() {
+        return function($payload) {
+            switch ($payload) {
+                case 'OK':
+                    return true;
+                case 'QUEUED':
+                    return new ResponseQueued();
+                default:
+                    return $payload;
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    private function getErrorHandler() {
+        if ($this->_throwErrors) {
+            return function($errorMessage) {
+                throw new ServerException(substr($errorMessage, 4));
+            };
+        }
+        return function($errorMessage) {
+            return new ResponseError(substr($errorMessage, 4));
+        };
+    }
+
+    private function emitSocketError() {
+        $errno  = socket_last_error();
+        $errstr = socket_strerror($errno);
+        $this->disconnect();
+        $this->onCommunicationException(trim($errstr), $errno);
+    }
+
+    protected function createResource() {
+        $parameters = $this->_params;
+        $initializer = array($this, "{$parameters->scheme}SocketInitializer");
+        $socket = call_user_func($initializer, $parameters);
+        $this->setSocketOptions($socket, $parameters);
+        return $socket;
+    }
+
+    private function tcpSocketInitializer(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        $socket = @socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOL_TCP);
+        if (!is_resource($socket)) {
+            $this->emitSocketError();
+        }
+        $addressLong = ip2long($parameters->host);
+        if ($addressLong == -1 || $addressLong === false) {
+            $host = gethostbyname($parameters->host);
+        }
+        return $socket;
+    }
+
+    private function unixSocketInitializer(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        $socket = @socket_create(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+        if (!is_resource($socket)) {
+            $this->emitSocketError();
+        }
+        return $socket;
+    }
+
+    private function setSocketOptions($socket, ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        if ($parameters->scheme !== 'tcp') {
+            return;
+        }
+        if (!socket_set_option($socket, SOL_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, 1)) {
+            $this->emitSocketError();
+        }
+        if (!socket_set_option($socket, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, 1)) {
+            $this->emitSocketError();
+        }
+        if (isset($parameters->read_write_timeout)) {
+            $rwtimeout = $parameters->read_write_timeout;
+            $timeoutSec  = floor($rwtimeout);
+            $timeoutUsec = ($rwtimeout - $timeoutSec) * 1000000;
+            $timeout = array('sec' => $timeoutSec, 'usec' => $timeoutUsec);
+            if (!socket_set_option($socket, SOL_SOCKET, SO_SNDTIMEO, $timeout)) {
+                $this->emitSocketError();
+            }
+            if (!socket_set_option($socket, SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVTIMEO, $timeout)) {
+                $this->emitSocketError();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function connectWithTimeout(ConnectionParameters $parameters) {
+        $socket = $this->_resource;
+        socket_set_nonblock($socket);
+        $host = $parameters->scheme === 'unix' ? $parameters->path : $parameters->host;
+        if (@socket_connect($socket, $host, $parameters->port) === false) {
+            $error = socket_last_error();
+            if ($error != SOCKET_EINPROGRESS && $error != SOCKET_EALREADY) {
+                $this->emitSocketError();
+            }
+        }
+        socket_set_block($socket);
+
+        $null = null;
+        $selectable = array($socket);
+        $timeout = $parameters->connection_timeout;
+        $timeoutSecs = floor($timeout);
+        $timeoutUSecs = ($timeout - $timeoutSecs) * 1000000;
+
+        $selected = socket_select($selectable, $selectable, $null, $timeoutSecs, $timeoutUSecs);
+        if ($selected === 2) {
+            $this->onCommunicationException('Connection refused', SOCKET_ECONNREFUSED);
+        }
+        if ($selected === 0) {
+            $this->onCommunicationException('Connection timed out', SOCKET_ETIMEDOUT);
+        }
+        if ($selected === false) {
+            $this->emitSocketError();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function connect() {
+        parent::connect();
+        $this->connectWithTimeout($this->_params);
+        if (count($this->_initCmds) > 0) {
+            $this->sendInitializationCommands();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function disconnect() {
+        if ($this->isConnected()) {
+            socket_close($this->_resource);
+            $this->_resource = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function sendInitializationCommands() {
+        foreach ($this->_initCmds as $command) {
+            $this->writeCommand($command);
+        }
+        foreach ($this->_initCmds as $command) {
+            $this->readResponse($command);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function write($buffer) {
+        $socket = $this->getResource();
+        while (($length = strlen($buffer)) > 0) {
+            $written = socket_write($socket, $buffer, $length);
+            if ($length === $written) {
+                return true;
+            }
+            if ($written === false) {
+                $this->onCommunicationException('Error while writing bytes to the server');
+            }
+            $buffer = substr($buffer, $written);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function read() {
+        $socket = $this->getResource();
+        $reader = $this->_reader;
+        while (($state = phpiredis_reader_get_state($reader)) === PHPIREDIS_READER_STATE_INCOMPLETE) {
+            if (@socket_recv($socket, $buffer, 4096, 0) === false || $buffer === '') {
+                $this->emitSocketError();
+            }
+            phpiredis_reader_feed($reader, $buffer);
+        }
+        if ($state === PHPIREDIS_READER_STATE_COMPLETE) {
+            return phpiredis_reader_get_reply($reader);
+        }
+        else {
+            $this->onCommunicationException(phpiredis_reader_get_error($reader));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function writeCommand(ICommand $command) {
+        $cmdargs = $command->getArguments();
+        array_unshift($cmdargs, $command->getCommandId());
+        $this->write(phpiredis_format_command($cmdargs));
+    }
+
+    public function readResponse(ICommand $command) {
+        $reply = $this->read();
+        return isset($reply->skipParse) ? $reply : $command->parseResponse($reply);
+    }
+
+    public function setProtocolOption($option, $value) {
+        switch ($option) {
+            case 'iterable_multibulk':
+                // TODO: iterable multibulk replies cannot be supported
+                break;
+            case 'throw_errors':
+                $this->_throwErrors = (bool) $value;
+                phpiredis_reader_set_error_handler($this->_reader, $this->getErrorHandler());
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+}