diff --git a/varlink/connection.go b/varlink/connection.go
index 4543df6..88280c7 100644
--- a/varlink/connection.go
+++ b/varlink/connection.go
@@ -91,6 +91,13 @@ type GetNetConn interface {
 	NetConn() net.Conn
 }
 
+// ContextDialer is an interface for network dialers that support context-aware dialing.
+// The standard *net.Dialer implements this interface. Custom implementations can be used
+// to dial through proxies, SSH tunnels, or with custom network configurations.
+type ContextDialer interface {
+	DialContext(ctx context.Context, network, address string) (net.Conn, error)
+}
+
 // Connection is a connection from a client to a service.
 type Connection struct {
 	io.Closer
@@ -280,6 +287,36 @@ func (c *Connection) Close() error {
 // is used when dialling. Once successfully connected, any expiration
 // of the context will not affect the connection.
 func NewConnection(ctx context.Context, address string) (*Connection, error) {
+	return newConnectionWithDialer(ctx, address, &net.Dialer{})
+}
+
+// NewConnectionWithDialer returns a new connection to the given address using a custom dialer.
+// The dialer parameter allows using custom network configurations such as:
+//   - Dialing through SOCKS or HTTP proxies
+//   - Custom timeout and keepalive settings
+//   - Dialing through SSH tunnels
+//   - Custom DNS resolution
+//
+// The context is used when dialling. Once successfully connected, any expiration
+// of the context will not affect the connection.
+//
+// Example with custom timeout:
+//
+//	dialer := &net.Dialer{
+//		Timeout:   30 * time.Second,
+//		KeepAlive: 30 * time.Second,
+//	}
+//	conn, err := varlink.NewConnectionWithDialer(ctx, "tcp:localhost:8080", dialer)
+func NewConnectionWithDialer(ctx context.Context, address string, dialer ContextDialer) (*Connection, error) {
+	if dialer == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("dialer cannot be nil")
+	}
+	return newConnectionWithDialer(ctx, address, dialer)
+}
+
+// newConnectionWithDialer is the private implementation used by both NewConnection
+// and NewConnectionWithDialer.
+func newConnectionWithDialer(ctx context.Context, address string, dialer ContextDialer) (*Connection, error) {
 	words := strings.SplitN(address, ":", 2)
 
 	if len(words) != 2 {
@@ -306,8 +343,7 @@ func NewConnection(ctx context.Context, address string) (*Connection, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown protocol %s", protocol)
 	}
 
-	var d net.Dialer
-	conn, err := d.DialContext(ctx, protocol, addr)
+	conn, err := dialer.DialContext(ctx, protocol, addr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/varlink/connection_test.go b/varlink/connection_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e2bc9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/varlink/connection_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package varlink
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestNewConnection(t *testing.T) {
+	// Start a simple TCP listener
+	listener, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer listener.Close()
+
+	addr := listener.Addr().String()
+
+	// Test NewConnection
+	conn, err := NewConnection(context.Background(), "tcp:"+addr)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	conn.Close()
+}
+
+func TestNewConnectionWithDialer(t *testing.T) {
+	// Start a simple TCP listener
+	listener, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer listener.Close()
+
+	addr := listener.Addr().String()
+
+	// Track if custom dialer was called
+	called := false
+	customDialer := &testDialer{
+		Dialer: &net.Dialer{},
+		onDial: func() { called = true },
+	}
+
+	// Test NewConnectionWithDialer
+	conn, err := NewConnectionWithDialer(context.Background(), "tcp:"+addr, customDialer)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer conn.Close()
+
+	if !called {
+		t.Fatal("custom dialer was not used")
+	}
+}
+
+// testDialer wraps net.Dialer to track usage
+type testDialer struct {
+	*net.Dialer
+	onDial func()
+}
+
+func (d *testDialer) DialContext(ctx context.Context, network, address string) (net.Conn, error) {
+	d.onDial()
+
+	return d.Dialer.DialContext(ctx, network, address)
+}
diff --git a/varlink/doc.go b/varlink/doc.go
index de1ed23..3decf9f 100644
--- a/varlink/doc.go
+++ b/varlink/doc.go
@@ -59,5 +59,46 @@ Service implementing the interface and its method:
 
 	service.RegisterInterface(orgexamplethis.VarlinkNew(&data))
 	err := service.Listen("unix:/run/org.example.this", 0)
+
+Client connecting to a service:
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	conn, err := varlink.NewConnection(ctx, "unix:/run/org.example.this")
+	if err != nil {
+		// handle error
+	}
+
+	defer conn.Close()
+
+Custom dialer for connecting to a Unix socket on a remote host via SSH:
+
+	import "golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
+
+	// SSH into remote host
+	sshConfig := &ssh.ClientConfig{
+		User: "user",
+		Auth: []ssh.AuthMethod{
+			ssh.Password("password"),
+		},
+		HostKeyCallback: ssh.InsecureIgnoreHostKey(), // don't do this
+	}
+
+	sshClient, err := ssh.Dial("tcp", "remote.example.com:22", sshConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		// handle error
+	}
+	defer sshClient.Close()
+
+	// Custom dialer that connects through SSH
+	type sshDialer struct {
+		client *ssh.Client
+	}
+
+	func (d *sshDialer) DialContext(ctx context.Context, network, addr string) (net.Conn, error) {
+		return d.client.Dial(network, addr)
+	}
+
+	// Connect to Unix socket on the remote host
+	conn, err := varlink.NewConnectionWithDialer(ctx, "unix:/run/org.example.service", &sshDialer{sshClient})
 */
 package varlink