diff --git a/middleware/proxy/policy.go b/middleware/proxy/policy.go
index a2522bcb..96e382a5 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/policy.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/policy.go
@@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ type Random struct{}
 // Select selects an up host at random from the specified pool.
 func (r *Random) Select(pool HostPool) *UpstreamHost {
 	// instead of just generating a random index
-	// this is done to prevent selecting a down host
+	// this is done to prevent selecting a unavailable host
 	var randHost *UpstreamHost
 	count := 0
 	for _, host := range pool {
-		if host.Down() {
+		if !host.Available() {
 			continue
 		}
 		count++
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func (r *LeastConn) Select(pool HostPool) *UpstreamHost {
 	count := 0
 	leastConn := int64(1<<63 - 1)
 	for _, host := range pool {
-		if host.Down() {
+		if !host.Available() {
 			continue
 		}
 		hostConns := host.Conns
@@ -90,11 +90,11 @@ func (r *RoundRobin) Select(pool HostPool) *UpstreamHost {
 	poolLen := uint32(len(pool))
 	selection := atomic.AddUint32(&r.Robin, 1) % poolLen
 	host := pool[selection]
-	// if the currently selected host is down, just ffwd to up host
-	for i := uint32(1); host.Down() && i < poolLen; i++ {
+	// if the currently selected host is not available, just ffwd to up host
+	for i := uint32(1); !host.Available() && i < poolLen; i++ {
 		host = pool[(selection+i)%poolLen]
 	}
-	if host.Down() {
+	if !host.Available() {
 		return nil
 	}
 	return host
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/policy_test.go b/middleware/proxy/policy_test.go
index 8f4f1f79..4cc05f02 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/policy_test.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/policy_test.go
@@ -53,12 +53,23 @@ func TestRoundRobinPolicy(t *testing.T) {
 	if h != pool[2] {
 		t.Error("Expected second round robin host to be third host in the pool.")
 	}
-	// mark host as down
-	pool[0].Unhealthy = true
 	h = rrPolicy.Select(pool)
-	if h != pool[1] {
+	if h != pool[0] {
 		t.Error("Expected third round robin host to be first host in the pool.")
 	}
+	// mark host as down
+	pool[1].Unhealthy = true
+	h = rrPolicy.Select(pool)
+	if h != pool[2] {
+		t.Error("Expected to skip down host.")
+	}
+	// mark host as full
+	pool[2].Conns = 1
+	pool[2].MaxConns = 1
+	h = rrPolicy.Select(pool)
+	if h != pool[0] {
+		t.Error("Expected to skip full host.")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestLeastConnPolicy(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/proxy.go b/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
index 7be8af2a..583f4a63 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/proxy.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ type UpstreamHost struct {
 	ExtraHeaders      http.Header
 	CheckDown         UpstreamHostDownFunc
 	WithoutPathPrefix string
+	MaxConns          int64
 }
 
 // Down checks whether the upstream host is down or not.
@@ -57,6 +58,16 @@ func (uh *UpstreamHost) Down() bool {
 	return uh.CheckDown(uh)
 }
 
+// Full checks whether the upstream host has reached its maximum connections
+func (uh *UpstreamHost) Full() bool {
+	return uh.MaxConns > 0 && uh.Conns >= uh.MaxConns
+}
+
+// Available checks whether the upstream host is available for proxying to
+func (uh *UpstreamHost) Available() bool {
+	return !uh.Down() && !uh.Full()
+}
+
 // tryDuration is how long to try upstream hosts; failures result in
 // immediate retries until this duration ends or we get a nil host.
 var tryDuration = 60 * time.Second
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/upstream.go b/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
index 1182a0f4..35c95f1f 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/upstream.go
@@ -80,10 +80,6 @@ func NewStaticUpstreams(c parse.Dispenser) ([]Upstream, error) {
 				ExtraHeaders: upstream.proxyHeaders,
 				CheckDown: func(upstream *staticUpstream) UpstreamHostDownFunc {
 					return func(uh *UpstreamHost) bool {
-						if upstream.MaxConns != 0 &&
-							uh.Conns >= upstream.MaxConns {
-							return true
-						}
 						if uh.Unhealthy {
 							return true
 						}
@@ -95,6 +91,7 @@ func NewStaticUpstreams(c parse.Dispenser) ([]Upstream, error) {
 					}
 				}(upstream),
 				WithoutPathPrefix: upstream.WithoutPathPrefix,
+				MaxConns:          upstream.MaxConns,
 			}
 			if baseURL, err := url.Parse(uh.Name); err == nil {
 				uh.ReverseProxy = NewSingleHostReverseProxy(baseURL, uh.WithoutPathPrefix)
@@ -234,19 +231,19 @@ func (u *staticUpstream) HealthCheckWorker(stop chan struct{}) {
 func (u *staticUpstream) Select() *UpstreamHost {
 	pool := u.Hosts
 	if len(pool) == 1 {
-		if pool[0].Down() {
+		if !pool[0].Available() {
 			return nil
 		}
 		return pool[0]
 	}
-	allDown := true
+	allUnavailable := true
 	for _, host := range pool {
-		if !host.Down() {
-			allDown = false
+		if host.Available() {
+			allUnavailable = false
 			break
 		}
 	}
-	if allDown {
+	if allUnavailable {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/middleware/proxy/upstream_test.go b/middleware/proxy/upstream_test.go
index 5b2fdb1d..32f6df9e 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy/upstream_test.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy/upstream_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,19 @@ func TestSelect(t *testing.T) {
 	if h := upstream.Select(); h == nil {
 		t.Error("Expected select to not return nil")
 	}
+	upstream.Hosts[0].Conns = 1
+	upstream.Hosts[0].MaxConns = 1
+	upstream.Hosts[1].Conns = 1
+	upstream.Hosts[1].MaxConns = 1
+	upstream.Hosts[2].Conns = 1
+	upstream.Hosts[2].MaxConns = 1
+	if h := upstream.Select(); h != nil {
+		t.Error("Expected select to return nil as all hosts are full")
+	}
+	upstream.Hosts[2].Conns = 0
+	if h := upstream.Select(); h == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected select to not return nil")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestRegisterPolicy(t *testing.T) {