diff --git a/examples/hosts/main.go b/examples/hosts/main.go
index 256fdbff8f8d6336caffe3d074aee16e90725977..2fe0b8fe5bba3cb73ef0cbf6a523da5a1abd5ac7 100644
--- a/examples/hosts/main.go
+++ b/examples/hosts/main.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func main() {
 	log.Println("opening stream...")
 	// make a new stream from host B to host A
 	// it should be handled on host A by the handler we set
-	s, err := ha.NewStream(context.Background(), "/hello/1.0.0", a.ID())
+	s, err := ha.NewStream(context.Background(), a.ID(), "/hello/1.0.0")
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalln(err)
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/host/basic/basic_host.go b/p2p/host/basic/basic_host.go
index 68b3e08e013d96e69e082caaf4d2300c77548774..186094c630a4876e1df834a46575d152e87ee163 100644
--- a/p2p/host/basic/basic_host.go
+++ b/p2p/host/basic/basic_host.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package basichost
 
 import (
 	"io"
+	"sync"
 
 	peer "github.com/ipfs/go-libp2p-peer"
 	pstore "github.com/ipfs/go-libp2p-peerstore"
@@ -46,6 +47,9 @@ type BasicHost struct {
 	relay   *relay.RelayService
 	natmgr  *natManager
 
+	protoPrefs map[peer.ID]map[protocol.ID]struct{}
+	prefsLk    sync.Mutex
+
 	proc goprocess.Process
 
 	bwc metrics.Reporter
@@ -54,9 +58,10 @@ type BasicHost struct {
 // New constructs and sets up a new *BasicHost with given Network
 func New(net inet.Network, opts ...interface{}) *BasicHost {
 	h := &BasicHost{
-		network: net,
-		mux:     msmux.NewMultistreamMuxer(),
-		bwc:     metrics.NewBandwidthCounter(),
+		network:    net,
+		mux:        msmux.NewMultistreamMuxer(),
+		bwc:        metrics.NewBandwidthCounter(),
+		protoPrefs: make(map[peer.ID]map[protocol.ID]struct{}),
 	}
 
 	h.proc = goprocess.WithTeardown(func() error {
@@ -176,7 +181,58 @@ func (h *BasicHost) RemoveStreamHandler(pid protocol.ID) {
 // header with given protocol.ID. If there is no connection to p, attempts
 // to create one. If ProtocolID is "", writes no header.
 // (Threadsafe)
-func (h *BasicHost) NewStream(ctx context.Context, pid protocol.ID, p peer.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
+func (h *BasicHost) NewStream(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID, pids ...protocol.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
+	pref := h.preferredProtocol(p, pids)
+	if pref != "" {
+		return h.newStream(ctx, p, pref)
+	}
+
+	var lastErr error
+	for _, pid := range pids {
+		s, err := h.newStream(ctx, p, pid)
+		if err == nil {
+			h.setPreferredProtocol(p, pid)
+			return s, nil
+		}
+		lastErr = err
+		log.Infof("NewStream to %s for %s failed: %s", p, pid, err)
+	}
+
+	return nil, lastErr
+}
+
+func (h *BasicHost) preferredProtocol(p peer.ID, pids []protocol.ID) protocol.ID {
+	h.prefsLk.Lock()
+	defer h.prefsLk.Unlock()
+
+	prefs, ok := h.protoPrefs[p]
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	for _, pid := range pids {
+		if _, ok := prefs[pid]; ok {
+			return pid
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (h *BasicHost) setPreferredProtocol(p peer.ID, proto protocol.ID) {
+	h.prefsLk.Lock()
+	defer h.prefsLk.Unlock()
+
+	prefs, ok := h.protoPrefs[p]
+	if !ok {
+		prefs = make(map[protocol.ID]struct{})
+		h.protoPrefs[p] = prefs
+	}
+
+	prefs[proto] = struct{}{}
+}
+
+func (h *BasicHost) newStream(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID, pid protocol.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
 	s, err := h.Network().NewStream(ctx, p)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/p2p/host/basic/basic_host_test.go b/p2p/host/basic/basic_host_test.go
index f1f2e248a3fa4629e7369461c3777f94614d39d6..a7c893ef88ceb31a6260c5dcf4f5f87d836c20bc 100644
--- a/p2p/host/basic/basic_host_test.go
+++ b/p2p/host/basic/basic_host_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestHostSimple(t *testing.T) {
 		io.Copy(w, s) // mirror everything
 	})
 
-	s, err := h1.NewStream(ctx, protocol.TestingID, h2pi.ID)
+	s, err := h1.NewStream(ctx, h2pi.ID, protocol.TestingID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/host/host.go b/p2p/host/host.go
index 65810e0334a86557e5b361a0de02433e8ead0f3b..c4da4f51b376047dec4ea00fcb38d123185bc69e 100644
--- a/p2p/host/host.go
+++ b/p2p/host/host.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ type Host interface {
 	// header with given protocol.ID. If there is no connection to p, attempts
 	// to create one. If ProtocolID is "", writes no header.
 	// (Threadsafe)
-	NewStream(ctx context.Context, pid protocol.ID, p peer.ID) (inet.Stream, error)
+	NewStream(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID, pids ...protocol.ID) (inet.Stream, error)
 
 	// Close shuts down the host, its Network, and services.
 	Close() error
diff --git a/p2p/host/routed/routed.go b/p2p/host/routed/routed.go
index 4d25afdd4d69d21cb65d4010cd54cdc4ebbf7b0a..928297df7f8399b5ab842274c9e676182723179f 100644
--- a/p2p/host/routed/routed.go
+++ b/p2p/host/routed/routed.go
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ func (rh *RoutedHost) RemoveStreamHandler(pid protocol.ID) {
 	rh.host.RemoveStreamHandler(pid)
 }
 
-func (rh *RoutedHost) NewStream(ctx context.Context, pid protocol.ID, p peer.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
-	return rh.host.NewStream(ctx, pid, p)
+func (rh *RoutedHost) NewStream(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID, pids ...protocol.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
+	return rh.host.NewStream(ctx, p, pids...)
 }
 func (rh *RoutedHost) Close() error {
 	// no need to close IpfsRouting. we dont own it.
diff --git a/p2p/net/mock/mock_test.go b/p2p/net/mock/mock_test.go
index 9c33b3bb6a1c3045e7321bb3e4c57468866cb14d..973104e255f2d8f83ac2052c64c7df55fa1cc3b6 100644
--- a/p2p/net/mock/mock_test.go
+++ b/p2p/net/mock/mock_test.go
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ func TestStreams(t *testing.T) {
 		h.SetStreamHandler(protocol.TestingID, handler)
 	}
 
-	s, err := hosts[0].NewStream(ctx, protocol.TestingID, hosts[1].ID())
+	s, err := hosts[0].NewStream(ctx, hosts[1].ID(), protocol.TestingID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ func TestStreamsStress(t *testing.T) {
 			defer wg.Done()
 			from := rand.Intn(len(hosts))
 			to := rand.Intn(len(hosts))
-			s, err := hosts[from].NewStream(ctx, protocol.TestingID, hosts[to].ID())
+			s, err := hosts[from].NewStream(ctx, hosts[to].ID(), protocol.TestingID)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Debugf("%d (%s) %d (%s)", from, hosts[from], to, hosts[to])
 				panic(err)
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ func TestAdding(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	s, err := h1.NewStream(ctx, protocol.TestingID, p2)
+	s, err := h1.NewStream(ctx, p2, protocol.TestingID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ func TestLimitedStreams(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	s, err := hosts[0].NewStream(ctx, protocol.TestingID, hosts[1].ID())
+	s, err := hosts[0].NewStream(ctx, hosts[1].ID(), protocol.TestingID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/protocol/ping/ping.go b/p2p/protocol/ping/ping.go
index e16ff6686e7de78c5403d2873fec359673b9b6e5..e4dc40a967905342f48882af609907cb6d9527b7 100644
--- a/p2p/protocol/ping/ping.go
+++ b/p2p/protocol/ping/ping.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func (p *PingService) PingHandler(s inet.Stream) {
 }
 
 func (ps *PingService) Ping(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID) (<-chan time.Duration, error) {
-	s, err := ps.Host.NewStream(ctx, ID, p)
+	s, err := ps.Host.NewStream(ctx, p, ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/protocol/relay/relay.go b/p2p/protocol/relay/relay.go
index 6fa3c52a552b3b1cd734c3de46c9d8269c1a3d75..885018dee6fefb1a213f95ed855ee8a165a0d40f 100644
--- a/p2p/protocol/relay/relay.go
+++ b/p2p/protocol/relay/relay.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (rs *RelayService) pipeStream(src, dst peer.ID, s inet.Stream) error {
 // for now, can only open streams to directly connected peers.
 // maybe we can do some routing later on.
 func (rs *RelayService) openStreamToPeer(ctx context.Context, p peer.ID) (inet.Stream, error) {
-	return rs.host.NewStream(ctx, ID, p)
+	return rs.host.NewStream(ctx, p, ID)
 }
 
 func ReadHeader(r io.Reader) (src, dst peer.ID, err error) {
diff --git a/p2p/protocol/relay/relay_test.go b/p2p/protocol/relay/relay_test.go
index 858b525776e6c671e0725cf413e08d64edd647a8..e93491f793bf82ea94a9773bb02e54d676a98021 100644
--- a/p2p/protocol/relay/relay_test.go
+++ b/p2p/protocol/relay/relay_test.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func TestRelaySimple(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// ok, now we can try to relay n1--->n2--->n3.
 	log.Debug("open relay stream")
-	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, relay.ID, n2p)
+	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, n2p, relay.ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func TestRelayAcrossFour(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// ok, now we can try to relay n1--->n2--->n3--->n4--->n5
 	log.Debug("open relay stream")
-	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, relay.ID, n2p)
+	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, n2p, relay.ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ func TestRelayStress(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// ok, now we can try to relay n1--->n2--->n3.
 	log.Debug("open relay stream")
-	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, relay.ID, n2p)
+	s, err := n1.NewStream(ctx, n2p, relay.ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/test/backpressure/backpressure_test.go b/p2p/test/backpressure/backpressure_test.go
index 859692753c2696920d3fa3ed3e5fa05708d0fddc..aedc0e3b82928dfae9f33c667b82be68d023e1e8 100644
--- a/p2p/test/backpressure/backpressure_test.go
+++ b/p2p/test/backpressure/backpressure_test.go
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ a problem.
 		}()
 
 		for {
-			s, err = host.NewStream(context.Background(), protocol.TestingID, remote)
+			s, err = host.NewStream(context.Background(), remote, protocol.TestingID)
 			if err != nil {
 				return
 			}
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func TestStBackpressureStreamWrite(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// open a stream, from 2->1, this is our reader
-	s, err := h2.NewStream(context.Background(), protocol.TestingID, h1.ID())
+	s, err := h2.NewStream(context.Background(), h1.ID(), protocol.TestingID)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/p2p/test/reconnects/reconnect_test.go b/p2p/test/reconnects/reconnect_test.go
index 49125a39740cf5d16669ed4f0470f662fbd6d243..aea77cd861b099e3f99f8d101b01f757dff35cce 100644
--- a/p2p/test/reconnects/reconnect_test.go
+++ b/p2p/test/reconnects/reconnect_test.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func SubtestConnSendDisc(t *testing.T, hosts []host.Host) {
 	for i := 0; i < numStreams; i++ {
 		h1 := hosts[i%len(hosts)]
 		h2 := hosts[(i+1)%len(hosts)]
-		s, err := h1.NewStream(context.Background(), protocol.TestingID, h2.ID())
+		s, err := h1.NewStream(context.Background(), h2.ID(), protocol.TestingID)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Error(err)
 		}