diff --git a/doc/protocols.texi b/doc/protocols.texi
index f5bb5324be..e00c1e11b2 100644
--- a/doc/protocols.texi
+++ b/doc/protocols.texi
@@ -19,20 +19,19 @@ supported protocols.
 
 A description of the currently available protocols follows.
 
-@section applehttp
+@section hls
 
 Read Apple HTTP Live Streaming compliant segmented stream as
 a uniform one. The M3U8 playlists describing the segments can be
 remote HTTP resources or local files, accessed using the standard
 file protocol.
-HTTP is default, specific protocol can be declared by specifying
-"+@var{proto}" after the applehttp URI scheme name, where @var{proto}
+The nested protocol is declared by specifying
+"+@var{proto}" after the hls URI scheme name, where @var{proto}
 is either "file" or "http".
 
 @example
-applehttp://host/path/to/remote/resource.m3u8
-applehttp+http://host/path/to/remote/resource.m3u8
-applehttp+file://path/to/local/resource.m3u8
+hls+http://host/path/to/remote/resource.m3u8
+hls+file://path/to/local/resource.m3u8
 @end example
 
 @section concat
diff --git a/libavformat/Makefile b/libavformat/Makefile
index a54a8f569a..dd55e42db4 100644
--- a/libavformat/Makefile
+++ b/libavformat/Makefile
@@ -329,11 +329,12 @@ OBJS-$(CONFIG_LIBRTMP)                   += librtmp.o
 # protocols I/O
 OBJS+= avio.o aviobuf.o
 
-OBJS-$(CONFIG_APPLEHTTP_PROTOCOL)        += applehttpproto.o
+OBJS-$(CONFIG_APPLEHTTP_PROTOCOL)        += hlsproto.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_CONCAT_PROTOCOL)           += concat.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_CRYPTO_PROTOCOL)           += crypto.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_FILE_PROTOCOL)             += file.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GOPHER_PROTOCOL)           += gopher.o
+OBJS-$(CONFIG_HLS_PROTOCOL)              += hlsproto.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_HTTP_PROTOCOL)             += http.o httpauth.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_HTTPPROXY_PROTOCOL)        += http.o httpauth.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_HTTPS_PROTOCOL)            += http.o httpauth.o
diff --git a/libavformat/allformats.c b/libavformat/allformats.c
index af6ad97e92..a60688c362 100644
--- a/libavformat/allformats.c
+++ b/libavformat/allformats.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "rtp.h"
 #include "rdt.h"
 #include "url.h"
+#include "version.h"
 
 #define REGISTER_MUXER(X,x) { \
     extern AVOutputFormat ff_##x##_muxer; \
@@ -238,11 +239,14 @@ void av_register_all(void)
     REGISTER_MUXDEMUX (YUV4MPEGPIPE, yuv4mpegpipe);
 
     /* protocols */
+#if FF_API_APPLEHTTP_PROTO
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (APPLEHTTP, applehttp);
+#endif
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (CONCAT, concat);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (CRYPTO, crypto);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (FILE, file);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (GOPHER, gopher);
+    REGISTER_PROTOCOL (HLS, hls);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (HTTP, http);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (HTTPPROXY, httpproxy);
     REGISTER_PROTOCOL (HTTPS, https);
diff --git a/libavformat/applehttpproto.c b/libavformat/hlsproto.c
similarity index 89%
rename from libavformat/applehttpproto.c
rename to libavformat/hlsproto.c
index 46758ba30f..244f270398 100644
--- a/libavformat/applehttpproto.c
+++ b/libavformat/hlsproto.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "avformat.h"
 #include "internal.h"
 #include "url.h"
+#include "version.h"
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 /*
@@ -195,11 +196,27 @@ static int applehttp_open(URLContext *h, const char *uri, int flags)
 
     h->is_streamed = 1;
 
-    if (av_strstart(uri, "applehttp+", &nested_url)) {
+    if (av_strstart(uri, "hls+", &nested_url)) {
         av_strlcpy(s->playlisturl, nested_url, sizeof(s->playlisturl));
+    } else if (av_strstart(uri, "hls://", &nested_url)) {
+        av_log(h, AV_LOG_ERROR,
+               "No nested protocol specified. Specify e.g. hls+http://%s\n",
+               nested_url);
+        ret = AVERROR(EINVAL);
+        goto fail;
+#if FF_API_APPLEHTTP_PROTO
+    } else if (av_strstart(uri, "applehttp+", &nested_url)) {
+        av_strlcpy(s->playlisturl, nested_url, sizeof(s->playlisturl));
+        av_log(h, AV_LOG_WARNING,
+               "The applehttp protocol is deprecated, use hls+%s as url "
+               "instead.\n", nested_url);
     } else if (av_strstart(uri, "applehttp://", &nested_url)) {
         av_strlcpy(s->playlisturl, "http://", sizeof(s->playlisturl));
         av_strlcat(s->playlisturl, nested_url, sizeof(s->playlisturl));
+        av_log(h, AV_LOG_WARNING,
+               "The applehttp protocol is deprecated, use hls+http://%s as url "
+               "instead.\n", nested_url);
+#endif
     } else {
         av_log(h, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unsupported url %s\n", uri);
         ret = AVERROR(EINVAL);
@@ -303,6 +320,7 @@ retry:
     goto start;
 }
 
+#if FF_API_APPLEHTTP_PROTO
 URLProtocol ff_applehttp_protocol = {
     .name           = "applehttp",
     .url_open       = applehttp_open,
@@ -311,3 +329,13 @@ URLProtocol ff_applehttp_protocol = {
     .flags          = URL_PROTOCOL_FLAG_NESTED_SCHEME,
     .priv_data_size = sizeof(AppleHTTPContext),
 };
+#endif
+
+URLProtocol ff_hls_protocol = {
+    .name           = "hls",
+    .url_open       = applehttp_open,
+    .url_read       = applehttp_read,
+    .url_close      = applehttp_close,
+    .flags          = URL_PROTOCOL_FLAG_NESTED_SCHEME,
+    .priv_data_size = sizeof(AppleHTTPContext),
+};
diff --git a/libavformat/version.h b/libavformat/version.h
index 6f3b387ddc..443d752b8a 100644
--- a/libavformat/version.h
+++ b/libavformat/version.h
@@ -50,5 +50,8 @@
 #ifndef FF_API_CLOSE_INPUT_FILE
 #define FF_API_CLOSE_INPUT_FILE        (LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR < 55)
 #endif
+#ifndef FF_API_APPLEHTTP_PROTO
+#define FF_API_APPLEHTTP_PROTO         (LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR < 55)
+#endif
 
 #endif /* AVFORMAT_VERSION_H */