diff --git a/src/main/java/com/auth0/jwk/UrlJwkProvider.java b/src/main/java/com/auth0/jwk/UrlJwkProvider.java
index f3c1c9b..c71d588 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/auth0/jwk/UrlJwkProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/auth0/jwk/UrlJwkProvider.java
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectReader;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.*;
+import java.net.http.*;
+import java.time.*;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -20,9 +21,10 @@ public class UrlJwkProvider implements JwkProvider {
     @VisibleForTesting
     static final String WELL_KNOWN_JWKS_PATH = "/.well-known/jwks.json";
 
+    final HttpClient client;
+    final HttpRequest request;
     final URL url;
     final Proxy proxy;
-    final Map<String, String> headers;
     final Integer connectTimeout;
     final Integer readTimeout;
 
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ public class UrlJwkProvider implements JwkProvider {
      *
      * @param url to load the jwks
      */
-    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url) {
+    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url) throws URISyntaxException {
         this(url, null, null, null, null);
     }
 
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ public UrlJwkProvider(URL url) {
      * @param readTimeout    read timeout in milliseconds (null for default)
      * @param proxy          proxy server to use when making the connection
      */
-    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Proxy proxy) {
+    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Proxy proxy) throws URISyntaxException {
         this(url, connectTimeout, readTimeout, proxy, null);
     }
 
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Prox
      * @param proxy          proxy server to use when making the connection (default is null)
      * @param headers        a map of request header keys to values to send on the request. Default is "Accept: application/json".
      */
-    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Proxy proxy, Map<String, String> headers) {
+    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Proxy proxy, Map<String, String> headers) throws URISyntaxException {
         Util.checkArgument(url != null, "A non-null url is required");
         Util.checkArgument(connectTimeout == null || connectTimeout >= 0, "Invalid connect timeout value '" + connectTimeout + "'. Must be a non-negative integer.");
         Util.checkArgument(readTimeout == null || readTimeout >= 0, "Invalid read timeout value '" + readTimeout + "'. Must be a non-negative integer.");
@@ -69,8 +71,21 @@ public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Prox
         this.readTimeout = readTimeout;
         this.reader = new ObjectMapper().readerFor(Map.class);
 
-        this.headers = (headers == null) ?
-                Collections.singletonMap("Accept", "application/json") : headers;
+        Map<String, String> mHeaders = (headers == null) ? Collections.singletonMap("Accept", "application/json") : headers;
+
+        this.client = HttpClient.newBuilder()
+                .version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_2)
+                .connectTimeout(Duration.ofMillis(connectTimeout != null ? connectTimeout : 10000))
+                .build();
+
+        HttpRequest.Builder requestBuilder = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
+                .uri(url.toURI())
+                .GET();
+        for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : mHeaders.entrySet()) {
+            requestBuilder.header(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+        }
+
+        this.request = requestBuilder.build();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -80,7 +95,7 @@ public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout, Prox
      * @param connectTimeout connection timeout in milliseconds (null for default)
      * @param readTimeout    read timeout in milliseconds (null for default)
      */
-    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout) {
+    public UrlJwkProvider(URL url, Integer connectTimeout, Integer readTimeout) throws URISyntaxException {
         this(url, connectTimeout, readTimeout, null, null);
     }
 
@@ -120,23 +135,15 @@ static URL urlForDomain(String domain) {
 
     private Map<String, Object> getJwks() throws SigningKeyNotFoundException {
         try {
-            final URLConnection c = (proxy == null) ? this.url.openConnection() : this.url.openConnection(proxy);
-            if (connectTimeout != null) {
-                c.setConnectTimeout(connectTimeout);
-            }
-            if (readTimeout != null) {
-                c.setReadTimeout(readTimeout);
-            }
+            HttpResponse<String> response = this.client.send(this.request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
 
-            for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : headers.entrySet()) {
-                c.setRequestProperty(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
+            if (response.statusCode() != 200) {
+                throw new IOException("Failed to fetch JWKS: HTTP " + response.statusCode());
             }
 
-            try (InputStream inputStream = c.getInputStream()) {
-                return reader.readValue(inputStream);
-            }
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new NetworkException("Cannot obtain jwks from url " + url.toString(), e);
+            return reader.readValue(response.body());
+        } catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
+            throw new NetworkException("Cannot obtain JWKS from URL " + url, e);
         }
     }