diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 65262c6de..2786a45ea 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -158,19 +158,10 @@ func doImport(src source.Source, s source.Metadata, catalog *pkg.Catalog, d *dis
 		}
 	}
 
-	var scheme string
-	var hostname = appConfig.Anchore.Host
-	urlFields := strings.Split(hostname, "://")
-	if len(urlFields) > 1 {
-		scheme = urlFields[0]
-		hostname = urlFields[1]
-	}
-
 	c, err := anchore.NewClient(anchore.Configuration{
-		Hostname: hostname,
+		BasePath: appConfig.Anchore.Host,
 		Username: appConfig.Anchore.Username,
 		Password: appConfig.Anchore.Password,
-		Scheme:   scheme,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create anchore client: %+v", err)
diff --git a/internal/anchore/client.go b/internal/anchore/client.go
index 3283baf71..9033d4a26 100644
--- a/internal/anchore/client.go
+++ b/internal/anchore/client.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package anchore
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/anchore/client-go/pkg/external"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal"
@@ -10,11 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 type Configuration struct {
-	Hostname  string
+	BasePath  string
 	Username  string
 	Password  string
 	UserAgent string
-	Scheme    string
 }
 
 type Client struct {
@@ -29,16 +29,14 @@ func NewClient(cfg Configuration) (*Client, error) {
 		cfg.UserAgent = fmt.Sprintf("%s / %s %s", internal.ApplicationName, versionInfo.Version, versionInfo.Platform)
 	}
 
-	if cfg.Scheme == "" {
-		cfg.Scheme = "https"
-	}
+	basePath := ensureURLHasScheme(cfg.BasePath) // we can rely on the built-in URL parsing for the scheme, host,
+	// port, and path prefix, as long as a scheme is present
 
 	return &Client{
 		config: cfg,
 		client: external.NewAPIClient(&external.Configuration{
-			Host:      cfg.Hostname,
+			BasePath:  basePath,
 			UserAgent: cfg.UserAgent,
-			Scheme:    cfg.Scheme,
 		}),
 	}, nil
 }
@@ -56,3 +54,19 @@ func (c *Client) newRequestContext(parentContext context.Context) context.Contex
 		},
 	)
 }
+
+func hasScheme(url string) bool {
+	parts := strings.Split(url, "://")
+
+	return len(parts) > 1
+}
+
+func ensureURLHasScheme(url string) string {
+	const defaultScheme = "http"
+
+	if !hasScheme(url) {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s://%s", defaultScheme, url)
+	}
+
+	return url
+}
diff --git a/internal/anchore/import.go b/internal/anchore/import.go
index a5c32bd38..25bef2297 100644
--- a/internal/anchore/import.go
+++ b/internal/anchore/import.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func importProgress(source string) (*progress.Stage, *progress.Manual) {
 
 // nolint:funlen
 func (c *Client) Import(ctx context.Context, cfg ImportConfig) error {
-	stage, prog := importProgress(c.config.Hostname)
+	stage, prog := importProgress(c.config.BasePath)
 
 	ctxWithTimeout, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Second*30)
 	defer cancel()