diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 65372c7de2..ed766cf46b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2147,18 +2147,18 @@ fi
 dnl ----------------------------------------------------------------
 dnl Libevent
 if test $ol_enable_balancer != no ; then
-	AC_CHECK_LIB(event_core, evconnlistener_set_error_cb,
+	AC_CHECK_LIB(event_extra, evdns_base_new,
 		[have_libevent=yes
-		LEVENT_LIBS="$LEVENT_LIBS -levent_core"],
-		[AC_CHECK_LIB(event, evconnlistener_set_error_cb,
+		LEVENT_LIBS="$LEVENT_LIBS -levent_core -levent_extra"],
+		[AC_CHECK_LIB(event, evdns_base_new,
 			[have_libevent=yes
 			LEVENT_LIBS="$LEVENT_LIBS -levent"],
 			[have_libevent=no])])
 
 	if test $have_libevent = yes ; then
 		AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBEVENT, 1, [define if you have -levent])
-	elif test $ol_enable_balancer = yes ; then
-		AC_MSG_ERROR([You need libevent 2.0 or later to build the load balancer])
+	else
+		AC_MSG_ERROR([You need libevent 2.0 or later with DNS support to build the load balancer])
 	fi
 fi
 
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/daemon.c b/servers/lloadd/daemon.c
index 3017e34b68..9388ae8afe 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/daemon.c
+++ b/servers/lloadd/daemon.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include <ac/unistd.h>
 
 #include <event2/event.h>
+#include <event2/dns.h>
 #include <event2/listener.h>
 
 #include "slap.h"
@@ -81,6 +82,8 @@ Listener **slap_listeners = NULL;
 static volatile sig_atomic_t listening = 1; /* 0 when slap_listeners closed */
 static ldap_pvt_thread_t listener_tid, *daemon_tid;
 
+struct evdns_base *dnsbase;
+
 #ifndef SLAPD_LISTEN_BACKLOG
 #define SLAPD_LISTEN_BACKLOG 1024
 #endif /* ! SLAPD_LISTEN_BACKLOG */
@@ -1221,17 +1224,9 @@ slapd_daemon_task( void *ptr )
 {
     int rc;
     int tid = (ldap_pvt_thread_t *)ptr - daemon_tid;
-    struct event_base *base;
+    struct event_base *base = slap_daemon[tid].base;
     struct event *event;
 
-    base = event_base_new();
-    if ( !base ) {
-        Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "slapd_daemon_task: "
-                "failed to acquire event base\n" );
-        return (void *)-1;
-    }
-    slap_daemon[tid].base = base;
-
     event = event_new( base, -1, EV_WRITE, daemon_wakeup_cb, ptr );
     if ( !event ) {
         Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "slapd_daemon_task: "
@@ -1258,9 +1253,20 @@ int
 slapd_daemon( struct event_base *daemon_base )
 {
     int i, rc;
+    Backend *b;
+    struct event_base *base;
 
     assert( daemon_base != NULL );
 
+    dnsbase = evdns_base_new( daemon_base,
+            EVDNS_BASE_INITIALIZE_NAMESERVERS |
+                    EVDNS_BASE_DISABLE_WHEN_INACTIVE );
+    if ( !dnsbase ) {
+        Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "lloadd startup: "
+                "failed to set up for async name resolution\n" );
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     if ( slapd_daemon_threads > SLAPD_MAX_DAEMON_THREADS )
         slapd_daemon_threads = SLAPD_MAX_DAEMON_THREADS;
 
@@ -1272,6 +1278,14 @@ slapd_daemon( struct event_base *daemon_base )
     }
 
     for ( i = 0; i < slapd_daemon_threads; i++ ) {
+        base = event_base_new();
+        if ( !base ) {
+            Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "lloadd startup: "
+                    "failed to acquire event base for an I/O thread\n" );
+            return -1;
+        }
+        slap_daemon[i].base = base;
+
         ldap_pvt_thread_mutex_init( &slap_daemon[i].sd_mutex );
         /* threads that handle client and upstream sockets */
         rc = ldap_pvt_thread_create(
@@ -1285,6 +1299,13 @@ slapd_daemon( struct event_base *daemon_base )
         }
     }
 
+    LDAP_STAILQ_FOREACH ( b, &backend, b_next ) {
+        rc = backend_connect( b );
+        if ( rc ) {
+            return rc;
+        }
+    }
+
     lloadd_inited = 1;
     rc = event_base_dispatch( daemon_base );
     Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "lloadd shutdown: "
@@ -1365,6 +1386,13 @@ slap_sig_shutdown( evutil_socket_t sig, short what, void *arg )
     errno = save_errno;
 }
 
+struct event_base *
+slap_get_base( ber_socket_t s )
+{
+    int tid = DAEMON_ID(s);
+    return slap_daemon[tid].base;
+}
+
 Listener **
 slapd_get_listeners( void )
 {
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h b/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
index a0363719ff..92464f7e28 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
+++ b/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ LDAP_BEGIN_DECL
 struct config_args_s;  /* config.h */
 struct config_reply_s; /* config.h */
 
+/*
+ * backend.c
+ */
+
+LDAP_SLAPD_F (int) backend_connect( Backend *b );
+
 /*
  * ch_malloc.c
  */
@@ -65,6 +71,7 @@ LDAP_SLAPD_F (void) bindconf_free( slap_bindconf *bc );
  */
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (Connection *) connection_init( ber_socket_t s, const char *peername, int use_tls );
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (Connection *) client_init( ber_socket_t s, Listener *url, const char *peername, struct event_base *base, int use_tls );
+LDAP_SLAPD_F (Connection *) upstream_init( ber_socket_t s, Backend *b );
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (void) connection_destroy( Connection *c );
 
 /*
@@ -74,9 +81,11 @@ LDAP_SLAPD_F (int) slapd_daemon_init( const char *urls );
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (int) slapd_daemon_destroy( void );
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (int) slapd_daemon( struct event_base *daemon_base );
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (Listener **) slapd_get_listeners( void );
+LDAP_SLAPD_F (struct event_base *) slap_get_base( ber_socket_t s );
 
 LDAP_SLAPD_F (void) slap_sig_shutdown( evutil_socket_t sig, short what, void *arg );
 
+LDAP_SLAPD_V (struct evdns_base *) dnsbase;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (volatile sig_atomic_t) slapd_shutdown;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) lloadd_inited;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (struct runqueue_s) slapd_rq;