diff --git a/actix-web-actors/src/ws.rs b/actix-web-actors/src/ws.rs
index 0ef3c9169..c6bc440c8 100644
--- a/actix-web-actors/src/ws.rs
+++ b/actix-web-actors/src/ws.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,24 @@ where
     A: Actor<Context = WebsocketContext<A>> + StreamHandler<Message, ProtocolError>,
     T: Stream<Item = Bytes, Error = PayloadError> + 'static,
 {
-    let mut res = handshake(req)?;
+    let mut res = handshake(req, &vec![])?;
+    Ok(res.streaming(WebsocketContext::create(actor, stream)))
+}
+
+/// Do websocket handshake and start ws actor.
+///
+/// `protocols` is a sequence of known protocols.
+pub fn start_with_protocols<A, T>(
+    actor: A,
+    protocols: &Vec<&str>,
+    req: &HttpRequest,
+    stream: T,
+) -> Result<HttpResponse, Error>
+where
+    A: Actor<Context = WebsocketContext<A>> + StreamHandler<Message, ProtocolError>,
+    T: Stream<Item = Bytes, Error = PayloadError> + 'static,
+{
+    let mut res = handshake(req, protocols)?;
     Ok(res.streaming(WebsocketContext::create(actor, stream)))
 }
 
@@ -40,10 +57,13 @@ where
 /// This function returns handshake `HttpResponse`, ready to send to peer.
 /// It does not perform any IO.
 ///
-// /// `protocols` is a sequence of known protocols. On successful handshake,
-// /// the returned response headers contain the first protocol in this list
-// /// which the server also knows.
-pub fn handshake(req: &HttpRequest) -> Result<HttpResponseBuilder, HandshakeError> {
+/// `protocols` is a sequence of known protocols. On successful handshake,
+/// the returned response headers contain the first protocol in this list
+/// which the server also knows.
+pub fn handshake(
+    req: &HttpRequest,
+    protocols: &Vec<&str>,
+) -> Result<HttpResponseBuilder, HandshakeError> {
     // WebSocket accepts only GET
     if *req.method() != Method::GET {
         return Err(HandshakeError::GetMethodRequired);
@@ -92,11 +112,28 @@ pub fn handshake(req: &HttpRequest) -> Result<HttpResponseBuilder, HandshakeErro
         hash_key(key.as_ref())
     };
 
-    Ok(HttpResponse::build(StatusCode::SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS)
+    // check requested protocols
+    let protocol =
+        req.headers()
+            .get(&header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL)
+            .and_then(|req_protocols| {
+                let req_protocols = req_protocols.to_str().ok()?;
+                req_protocols
+                    .split(", ")
+                    .find(|req_p| protocols.iter().any(|p| p == req_p))
+            });
+
+    let mut response = HttpResponse::build(StatusCode::SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS)
         .upgrade("websocket")
         .header(header::TRANSFER_ENCODING, "chunked")
         .header(header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_ACCEPT, key.as_str())
-        .take())
+        .take();
+
+    if let Some(protocol) = protocol {
+        response.header(&header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL, protocol);
+    }
+
+    Ok(response)
 }
 
 /// Execution context for `WebSockets` actors
@@ -439,13 +476,13 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::GetMethodRequired,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default().to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::NoWebsocketUpgrade,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -453,7 +490,7 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::NoWebsocketUpgrade,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -464,7 +501,7 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::NoConnectionUpgrade,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -479,7 +516,7 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::NoVersionHeader,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -498,7 +535,7 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::UnsupportedVersion,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -517,7 +554,7 @@ mod tests {
             .to_http_request();
         assert_eq!(
             HandshakeError::BadWebsocketKey,
-            handshake(&req).err().unwrap()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).err().unwrap()
         );
 
         let req = TestRequest::default()
@@ -541,7 +578,75 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(
             StatusCode::SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS,
-            handshake(&req).unwrap().finish().status()
+            handshake(&req, &vec![]).unwrap().finish().status()
+        );
+
+        let req = TestRequest::default()
+            .header(
+                header::UPGRADE,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("websocket"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::CONNECTION,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("upgrade"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_VERSION,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("13"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_KEY,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("13"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("graphql"),
+            )
+            .to_http_request();
+
+        let protocols = vec!["graphql"];
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            StatusCode::SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS,
+            handshake(&req, &protocols).unwrap().finish().status()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            Some(&header::HeaderValue::from_static("graphql")),
+            handshake(&req, &protocols).unwrap().finish().headers().get(&header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL)
+        );
+
+        let req = TestRequest::default()
+            .header(
+                header::UPGRADE,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("websocket"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::CONNECTION,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("upgrade"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_VERSION,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("13"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_KEY,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("13"),
+            )
+            .header(
+                header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL,
+                header::HeaderValue::from_static("p1, p2, p3"),
+            )
+            .to_http_request();
+
+        let protocols = vec!["p3", "p2"];
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            StatusCode::SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS,
+            handshake(&req, &protocols).unwrap().finish().status()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            Some(&header::HeaderValue::from_static("p2")),
+            handshake(&req, &protocols).unwrap().finish().headers().get(&header::SEC_WEBSOCKET_PROTOCOL)
         );
     }
 }