diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
index 8edc585e7..dd01b6ef5 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
+	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp/headers"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddytls"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/internal/network"
 )
@@ -514,6 +515,28 @@ func (h *HTTPTransport) NewTransport(caddyCtx caddy.Context) (*http.Transport, e
 	return rt, nil
 }
 
+// RequestHeaderOps implements TransportHeaderOpsProvider. It returns header
+// operations for requests when the transport's configuration indicates they
+// should be applied. In particular, when TLS is enabled for this transport,
+// return an operation to set the Host header to the upstream host:port
+// placeholder so HTTPS upstreams get the proper Host by default.
+//
+// Note: this is a provision-time hook; the Handler will call this during
+// its Provision and cache the resulting HeaderOps. The HeaderOps are
+// applied per-request (so placeholders are expanded at request time).
+func (h *HTTPTransport) RequestHeaderOps() *headers.HeaderOps {
+	// If TLS is not configured for this transport, don't inject Host
+	// defaults. TLS being non-nil indicates HTTPS to the upstream.
+	if h.TLS == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return &headers.HeaderOps{
+		Set: http.Header{
+			"Host": []string{"{http.reverse_proxy.upstream.hostport}"},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
 // RoundTrip implements http.RoundTripper.
 func (h *HTTPTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 	h.SetScheme(req)
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport_test.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport_test.go
index 46931c8b1..1fa4965f2 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport_test.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport_test.go
@@ -94,3 +94,24 @@ func TestHTTPTransportUnmarshalCaddyFileWithCaPools(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHTTPTransport_RequestHeaderOps_TLS(t *testing.T) {
+	var ht HTTPTransport
+	// When TLS is nil, expect no header ops
+	if ops := ht.RequestHeaderOps(); ops != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected nil HeaderOps when TLS is nil, got: %#v", ops)
+	}
+
+	// When TLS is configured, expect a HeaderOps that sets Host
+	ht.TLS = &TLSConfig{}
+	ops := ht.RequestHeaderOps()
+	if ops == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil HeaderOps when TLS is set")
+	}
+	if ops.Set == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ops.Set to be non-nil, got nil")
+	}
+	if got := ops.Set.Get("Host"); got != "{http.reverse_proxy.upstream.hostport}" {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected Host value; want placeholder, got: %s", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
index 2ea17046a..6f6a0f9f2 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
@@ -192,6 +192,13 @@ type Handler struct {
 	CB               CircuitBreaker    `json:"-"`
 	DynamicUpstreams UpstreamSource    `json:"-"`
 
+	// transportHeaderOps is a set of header operations provided
+	// by the transport at provision time, if the transport
+	// implements TransportHeaderOpsProvider. These ops are
+	// applied before any user-configured header ops so the
+	// user can override transport defaults.
+	transportHeaderOps *headers.HeaderOps
+
 	// Holds the parsed CIDR ranges from TrustedProxies
 	trustedProxies []netip.Prefix
 
@@ -322,6 +329,18 @@ func (h *Handler) Provision(ctx caddy.Context) error {
 		h.Transport = t
 	}
 
+	// If the transport can provide header ops, cache them now so we don't
+	// have to compute them per-request. Provision the HeaderOps if present
+	// so any runtime artifacts (like precompiled regex) are prepared.
+	if tph, ok := h.Transport.(RequestHeaderOpsTransport); ok {
+		h.transportHeaderOps = tph.RequestHeaderOps()
+		if h.transportHeaderOps != nil {
+			if err := h.transportHeaderOps.Provision(ctx); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("provisioning transport header ops: %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	// set up load balancing
 	if h.LoadBalancing == nil {
 		h.LoadBalancing = new(LoadBalancing)
@@ -575,14 +594,26 @@ func (h *Handler) proxyLoopIteration(r *http.Request, origReq *http.Request, w h
 	repl.Set("http.reverse_proxy.upstream.fails", upstream.Host.Fails())
 
 	// mutate request headers according to this upstream;
-	// because we're in a retry loop, we have to copy
-	// headers (and the r.Host value) from the original
-	// so that each retry is identical to the first
-	if h.Headers != nil && h.Headers.Request != nil {
+	// because we're in a retry loop, we have to copy headers
+	// (and the r.Host value) from the original so that each
+	// retry is identical to the first. If either transport or
+	// user ops exist, apply them in order (transport first,
+	// then user, so user's config wins).
+	var userOps *headers.HeaderOps
+	if h.Headers != nil {
+		userOps = h.Headers.Request
+	}
+	transportOps := h.transportHeaderOps
+	if transportOps != nil || userOps != nil {
 		r.Header = make(http.Header)
 		copyHeader(r.Header, reqHeader)
 		r.Host = reqHost
-		h.Headers.Request.ApplyToRequest(r)
+		if transportOps != nil {
+			transportOps.ApplyToRequest(r)
+		}
+		if userOps != nil {
+			userOps.ApplyToRequest(r)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// proxy the request to that upstream
@@ -1542,6 +1573,17 @@ type BufferedTransport interface {
 	DefaultBufferSizes() (int64, int64)
 }
 
+// RequestHeaderOpsTransport may be implemented by a transport to provide
+// header operations to apply to requests immediately before the RoundTrip.
+// For example, overriding the default Host when TLS is enabled.
+type RequestHeaderOpsTransport interface {
+	// RequestHeaderOps allows a transport to provide header operations
+	// to apply to the request. The transport is asked at provision time
+	// to return a HeaderOps (or nil) that will be applied before
+	// user-configured header ops.
+	RequestHeaderOps() *headers.HeaderOps
+}
+
 // roundtripSucceededError is an error type that is returned if the
 // roundtrip succeeded, but an error occurred after-the-fact.
 type roundtripSucceededError struct{ error }