diff --git a/include/seastar/websocket/server.hh b/include/seastar/websocket/server.hh
index e8bfef99ce..aeed48c4e3 100644
--- a/include/seastar/websocket/server.hh
+++ b/include/seastar/websocket/server.hh
@@ -324,7 +324,13 @@ public:
 
     bool is_handler_registered(std::string const& name);
 
-    void register_handler(std::string&& name, handler_t handler);
+    /*!
+     * \brief Register a handler for specific subprotocol
+     * \param name The name of the subprotocol. If it is empty string, then the handler is used
+     * when the protocol is not specified
+     * \param handler Handler for incoming WebSocket messages.
+     */
+    void register_handler(const std::string& name, handler_t handler);
 
     friend class connection;
 protected:
diff --git a/src/websocket/server.cc b/src/websocket/server.cc
index 7dbaa6a696..6d52837518 100644
--- a/src/websocket/server.cc
+++ b/src/websocket/server.cc
@@ -164,9 +164,6 @@ future<> connection::read_http_upgrade_request() {
     }
 
     sstring subprotocol = req->get_header("Sec-WebSocket-Protocol");
-    if (subprotocol.empty()) {
-        throw websocket::exception("Subprotocol header missing.");
-    }
 
     if (!_server.is_handler_registered(subprotocol)) {
         throw websocket::exception("Subprotocol not supported.");
@@ -187,8 +184,10 @@ future<> connection::read_http_upgrade_request() {
 
     co_await _write_buf.write(http_upgrade_reply_template);
     co_await _write_buf.write(sha1_output);
-    co_await _write_buf.write("\r\nSec-WebSocket-Protocol: ", 26);
-    co_await _write_buf.write(_subprotocol);
+    if (!_subprotocol.empty()) {
+        co_await _write_buf.write("\r\nSec-WebSocket-Protocol: ", 26);
+        co_await _write_buf.write(_subprotocol);
+    }
     co_await _write_buf.write("\r\n\r\n", 4);
     co_await _write_buf.flush();
 }
@@ -414,7 +413,7 @@ bool server::is_handler_registered(std::string const& name) {
     return _handlers.find(name) != _handlers.end();
 }
 
-void server::register_handler(std::string&& name, handler_t handler) {
+void server::register_handler(const std::string& name, handler_t handler) {
     _handlers[name] = handler;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/websocket_test.cc b/tests/unit/websocket_test.cc
index 1d71a673da..bc65e21cc5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/websocket_test.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/websocket_test.cc
@@ -11,17 +11,30 @@
 
 using namespace seastar;
 using namespace seastar::experimental;
+using namespace std::literals::string_view_literals;
+
+std::string build_request(std::string_view key_base64, std::string_view subprotocol) {
+    std::string subprotocol_line;
+    if (!subprotocol.empty()) {
+        subprotocol_line = fmt::format("Sec-WebSocket-Protocol: {}\r\n", subprotocol);
+    }
+
+    return fmt::format(
+        "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n"
+        "Upgrade: websocket\r\n"
+        "Connection: Upgrade\r\n"
+        "Sec-WebSocket-Key: {}\r\n"
+        "Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13\r\n"
+        "{}"
+        "\r\n",
+        key_base64,
+        subprotocol_line);
+}
+
+future<> test_websocket_handshake_common(std::string subprotocol) {
+    return seastar::async([=] {
+        const std::string request = build_request("dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ==", subprotocol);
 
-SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handshake) {
-    return seastar::async([] {
-        const std::string request =
-                "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n"
-                "Upgrade: websocket\r\n"
-                "Connection: Upgrade\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Key: dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ==\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Protocol: echo\r\n"
-                "\r\n";
         loopback_connection_factory factory;
         loopback_socket_impl lsi(factory);
 
@@ -32,7 +45,7 @@ SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handshake) {
         auto output = sock.output();
 
         websocket::server dummy;
-        dummy.register_handler("echo", [] (input_stream<char>& in,
+        dummy.register_handler(subprotocol, [] (input_stream<char>& in,
                         output_stream<char>& out) {
                 return repeat([&in, &out]() {
                     return in.read().then([&out](temporary_buffer<char> f) {
@@ -81,10 +94,16 @@ SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handshake) {
     });
 }
 
+SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handshake) {
+    return test_websocket_handshake_common("echo");
+}
 
+SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handshake_no_subprotocol) {
+    return test_websocket_handshake_common("");
+}
 
-SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration) {
-    return seastar::async([] {
+future<> test_websocket_handler_registration_common(std::string subprotocol) {
+    return seastar::async([=] {
         loopback_connection_factory factory;
         loopback_socket_impl lsi(factory);
 
@@ -96,7 +115,7 @@ SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration) {
 
         // Setup server
         websocket::server ws;
-        ws.register_handler("echo", [] (input_stream<char>& in,
+        ws.register_handler(subprotocol, [] (input_stream<char>& in,
                         output_stream<char>& out) {
             return repeat([&in, &out]() {
                 return in.read().then([&out](temporary_buffer<char> f) {
@@ -124,17 +143,15 @@ SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration) {
          });
 
         // handshake
-        const std::string request =
-                "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n"
-                "Upgrade: websocket\r\n"
-                "Connection: Upgrade\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Key: dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ==\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13\r\n"
-                "Sec-WebSocket-Protocol: echo\r\n"
-                "\r\n";
+        const std::string request = build_request("dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ==", subprotocol);
         output.write(request).get();
         output.flush().get();
-        input.read_exactly(186).get();
+
+        unsigned reply_size = 156;
+        if (!subprotocol.empty()) {
+            reply_size += ("\r\nSec-WebSocket-Protocol: "sv).size() + subprotocol.size();
+        }
+        input.read_exactly(reply_size).get();
 
         unsigned ws_frame_len = 10;
 
@@ -156,6 +173,14 @@ SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration) {
     });
 }
 
+SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration) {
+    return test_websocket_handler_registration_common("echo");
+}
+
+SEASTAR_TEST_CASE(test_websocket_handler_registration_no_subprotocol) {
+    return test_websocket_handler_registration_common("");
+}
+
 // Simple wrapper to help create a testable input_stream.
 class test_source_impl : public data_source_impl {
     std::vector<temporary_buffer<char>> _bufs{};