diff --git a/app/renderer/js/utils/domain-util.js b/app/renderer/js/utils/domain-util.js
index 117c8ac2..d571f5cf 100644
--- a/app/renderer/js/utils/domain-util.js
+++ b/app/renderer/js/utils/domain-util.js
@@ -9,10 +9,7 @@ const escape = require('escape-html');
 
 const Logger = require('./logger-util');
 
-const CertificateUtil = require(__dirname + '/certificate-util.js');
-const ProxyUtil = require(__dirname + '/proxy-util.js');
-const ConfigUtil = require(__dirname + '/config-util.js');
-const SystemUtil = require(__dirname + '/../utils/system-util.js');
+const RequestUtil = require(__dirname + '/../utils/request-util.js');
 
 const logger = new Logger({
 	file: `domain-util.log`,
@@ -113,30 +110,9 @@ class DomainUtil {
 		}
 
 		domain = this.formatUrl(domain);
-
-		const certificate = CertificateUtil.getCertificate(encodeURIComponent(domain));
-		let certificateLocation = '';
-
-		if (certificate) {
-			// To handle case where certificate has been moved from the location in certificates.json
-			try {
-				certificateLocation = fs.readFileSync(certificate);
-			} catch (err) {
-				logger.warn('Error while trying to get certificate: ' + err);
-			}
-		}
-
-		const proxyEnabled = ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useManualProxy') || ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useSystemProxy');
-
-		// If certificate for the domain exists add it as a ca key in the request's parameter else consider only domain as the parameter for request
-		// Add proxy as a parameter if it sbeing used.
 		const checkDomain = {
 			url: domain + '/static/audio/zulip.ogg',
-			ca: (certificateLocation) ? certificateLocation : '',
-			proxy: proxyEnabled ? ProxyUtil.getProxy(domain) : '',
-			ecdhCurve: 'auto',
-			headers: { 'User-Agent': SystemUtil.getUserAgent() },
-			rejectUnauthorized: !ignoreCerts
+			...RequestUtil.requestOptions(domain, ignoreCerts)
 		};
 
 		const serverConf = {
@@ -213,26 +189,9 @@ class DomainUtil {
 	}
 
 	getServerSettings(domain, ignoreCerts = false) {
-		const certificate = CertificateUtil.getCertificate(encodeURIComponent(domain));
-		let certificateLocation = '';
-
-		if (certificate) {
-			// To handle case where certificate has been moved from the location in certificates.json
-			try {
-				certificateLocation = fs.readFileSync(certificate);
-			} catch (err) {
-				logger.warn('Error while trying to get certificate: ' + err);
-			}
-		}
-
-		const proxyEnabled = ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useManualProxy') || ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useSystemProxy');
 		const serverSettingsOptions = {
 			url: domain + '/api/v1/server_settings',
-			ca: (certificateLocation) ? certificateLocation : '',
-			proxy: proxyEnabled ? ProxyUtil.getProxy(domain) : '',
-			ecdhCurve: 'auto',
-			headers: { 'User-Agent': SystemUtil.getUserAgent() },
-			rejectUnauthorized: !ignoreCerts
+			...RequestUtil.requestOptions(domain, ignoreCerts)
 		};
 
 		return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
@@ -260,28 +219,9 @@ class DomainUtil {
 		const url = server.icon;
 		const domain = server.url;
 
-		const certificate = CertificateUtil.getCertificate(encodeURIComponent(domain));
-		let certificateLocation = '';
-
-		if (certificate) {
-			// To handle case where certificate has been moved from the location in certificates.json
-			try {
-				certificateLocation = fs.readFileSync(certificate);
-			} catch (err) {
-				logger.warn('Error while trying to get certificate: ' + err);
-			}
-		}
-
-		const proxyEnabled = ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useManualProxy') || ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useSystemProxy');
-
-		// Add proxy and certificate as a parameter if its being used.
 		const serverIconOptions = {
 			url,
-			ca: (certificateLocation) ? certificateLocation : '',
-			proxy: proxyEnabled ? ProxyUtil.getProxy(url) : '',
-			ecdhCurve: 'auto',
-			headers: { 'User-Agent': SystemUtil.getUserAgent() },
-			rejectUnauthorized: !ignoreCerts
+			...RequestUtil.requestOptions(domain, ignoreCerts)
 		};
 
 		// The save will always succeed. If url is invalid, downgrade to default icon.
diff --git a/app/renderer/js/utils/request-util.js b/app/renderer/js/utils/request-util.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ce0b1bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/renderer/js/utils/request-util.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+const Logger = require('./logger-util');
+
+const CertificateUtil = require(__dirname + '/certificate-util.js');
+const ProxyUtil = require(__dirname + '/proxy-util.js');
+const ConfigUtil = require(__dirname + '/config-util.js');
+const SystemUtil = require(__dirname + '/../utils/system-util.js');
+
+const logger = new Logger({
+	file: `request-util.log`,
+	timestamp: true
+});
+
+let instance = null;
+
+class RequestUtil {
+	constructor() {
+		if (!instance) {
+			instance = this;
+		}
+		return instance;
+	}
+
+	// ignoreCerts parameter helps in fetching server icon and
+	// other server details when user chooses to ignore certificate warnings
+	requestOptions(domain, ignoreCerts) {
+		domain = this.formatUrl(domain);
+		const certificate = CertificateUtil.getCertificate(
+			encodeURIComponent(domain)
+		);
+		let certificateLocation = '';
+		if (certificate) {
+			// To handle case where certificate has been moved from the location in certificates.json
+			try {
+				certificateLocation = fs.readFileSync(certificate);
+			} catch (err) {
+				logger.warn('Error while trying to get certificate: ' + err);
+			}
+		}
+		const proxyEnabled = ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useManualProxy') || ConfigUtil.getConfigItem('useSystemProxy');
+		// If certificate for the domain exists add it as a ca key in the request's parameter else consider only domain as the parameter for request
+		// Add proxy as a parameter if it is being used.
+		return {
+			ca: certificateLocation ? certificateLocation : '',
+			proxy: proxyEnabled ? ProxyUtil.getProxy(domain) : '',
+			ecdhCurve: 'auto',
+			headers: { 'User-Agent': SystemUtil.getUserAgent() },
+			rejectUnauthorized: !ignoreCerts
+		};
+	}
+
+	formatUrl(domain) {
+		const hasPrefix = (domain.indexOf('http') === 0);
+		if (hasPrefix) {
+			return domain;
+		} else {
+			return (domain.indexOf('localhost:') >= 0) ? `http://${domain}` : `https://${domain}`;
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+module.exports = new RequestUtil();