diff --git a/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestContentCodings.java b/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestContentCodings.java
index 6d99a84f9..211ce9b08 100644
--- a/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestContentCodings.java
+++ b/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestContentCodings.java
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ public abstract class TestContentCodings {
          * Create a load of workers which will access the resource. Half will use the default
          * gzip behaviour; half will require identity entity.
          */
-        final int clients = 100;
+        final int clients = 10;
 
         connManager.setMaxTotal(clients);
 
diff --git a/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestMalformedServerResponse.java b/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestMalformedServerResponse.java
index 508fecd5c..75fd4c027 100644
--- a/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestMalformedServerResponse.java
+++ b/httpclient5-testing/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/testing/sync/TestMalformedServerResponse.java
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ public class TestMalformedServerResponse {
 
     static class BrokenServerConnection extends DefaultBHttpServerConnection {
 
-        public BrokenServerConnection(final Http1Config h1Config) {
-            super(null, h1Config);
+        public BrokenServerConnection(final String scheme, final Http1Config h1Config) {
+            super(scheme, h1Config);
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class TestMalformedServerResponse {
 
         @Override
         public DefaultBHttpServerConnection createConnection(final Socket socket) throws IOException {
-            final BrokenServerConnection conn = new BrokenServerConnection(Http1Config.DEFAULT);
+            final BrokenServerConnection conn = new BrokenServerConnection("http", Http1Config.DEFAULT);
             conn.bind(socket);
             return conn;
         }
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/TestEntityBuilder.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/TestEntityBuilder.java
index ff1ca55fd..4f975dbaa 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/TestEntityBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/TestEntityBuilder.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class TestEntityBuilder {
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity);
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity.getContent());
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity.getContentType());
-        Assertions.assertEquals("text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1", entity.getContentType());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("text/plain; charset=UTF-8", entity.getContentType());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ public class TestEntityBuilder {
         final HttpEntity entity = EntityBuilder.create().setText("stuff").gzipCompressed().build();
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity);
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity.getContentType());
-        Assertions.assertEquals("text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1", entity.getContentType());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("text/plain; charset=UTF-8", entity.getContentType());
         Assertions.assertNotNull(entity.getContentEncoding());
         Assertions.assertEquals("gzip", entity.getContentEncoding());
     }
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestFormBodyPartBuilder.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestFormBodyPartBuilder.java
index c719347a5..5d5898fef 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestFormBodyPartBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestFormBodyPartBuilder.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class TestFormBodyPartBuilder {
         Assertions.assertNotNull(header);
         assertFields(Arrays.asList(
                         new MimeField("Content-Disposition", "form-data; name=\"blah\""),
-                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header.getFields());
     }
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public class TestFormBodyPartBuilder {
         Assertions.assertNotNull(header1);
         assertFields(Arrays.asList(
                         new MimeField("Content-Disposition", "form-data; name=\"blah\""),
-                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header1.getFields());
         final FileBody fileBody = new FileBody(new File("/path/stuff.bin"), ContentType.DEFAULT_BINARY);
         final FormBodyPart bodyPart2 = builder
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ public class TestFormBodyPartBuilder {
                 new MimeField("header3", "blah"),
                 new MimeField("header3", "blah"),
                 new MimeField("Content-Disposition", "form-data; name=\"blah\""),
-                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header1.getFields());
 
         final FormBodyPart bodyPart2 = builder
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public class TestFormBodyPartBuilder {
                         new MimeField("header1", "blah"),
                         new MimeField("header2", "yada"),
                         new MimeField("Content-Disposition", "form-data; name=\"blah\""),
-                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header2.getFields());
 
         final FormBodyPart bodyPart3 = builder
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartContentBody.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartContentBody.java
index f05e56b89..5c07ae776 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartContentBody.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartContentBody.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class TestMultipartContentBody {
         final StringBody b1 = new StringBody("text", ContentType.DEFAULT_TEXT);
         Assertions.assertEquals(4, b1.getContentLength());
 
-        Assertions.assertEquals("ISO-8859-1", b1.getCharset());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("UTF-8", b1.getCharset());
 
         Assertions.assertNull(b1.getFilename());
         Assertions.assertEquals("text/plain", b1.getMimeType());
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartEntityBuilder.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartEntityBuilder.java
index 963327193..6a55a821e 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartEntityBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartEntityBuilder.java
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ public class TestMultipartEntityBuilder {
         out.close();
         Assertions.assertEquals("--xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx\r\n" +
                 "Content-Disposition: multipart/form-data; name=\"test\"; filename=\"hello world\"\r\n" +
-                "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+                "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
                 "\r\n" +
                 helloWorld + "\r\n" +
                 "--xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx--\r\n", out.toString(StandardCharsets.US_ASCII.name()));
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartForm.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartForm.java
index d211f96f8..9df80b1c9 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartForm.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartForm.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public class TestMultipartForm {
         final FormBodyPart p2 = FormBodyPartBuilder.create(
                 "field2",
                 new StringBody("that stuff", ContentType.create(
-                        ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN.getMimeType(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8))).build();
+                        ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN.getMimeType(), StandardCharsets.ISO_8859_1))).build();
         final FormBodyPart p3 = FormBodyPartBuilder.create(
                 "field3",
                 new StringBody("all kind of stuff", ContentType.DEFAULT_TEXT)).build();
@@ -74,17 +74,17 @@ public class TestMultipartForm {
         final String expected =
             "--foo\r\n" +
             "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"field1\"\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "this stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo\r\n" +
             "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"field2\"\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "that stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo\r\n" +
             "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"field3\"\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "all kind of stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo--\r\n";
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public class TestMultipartForm {
         final String expected =
                 "--foo\r\n" +
                         "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"field1\"\r\n" +
-                        "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+                        "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
                         "\r\n" +
                         "this stuff\r\n" +
                         "--foo\r\n" +
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartMixed.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartMixed.java
index 77bd2c6a5..65faea0b5 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartMixed.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartMixed.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class TestMultipartMixed {
                 new StringBody("this stuff", ContentType.DEFAULT_TEXT)).build();
         final MultipartPart p2 = MultipartPartBuilder.create(
                 new StringBody("that stuff", ContentType.create(
-                        ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN.getMimeType(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8))).build();
+                        ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN.getMimeType(), StandardCharsets.ISO_8859_1))).build();
         final MultipartPart p3 = MultipartPartBuilder.create(
                 new StringBody("all kind of stuff", ContentType.DEFAULT_TEXT)).build();
         final HttpStrictMultipart multipart = new HttpStrictMultipart(null, "foo",
@@ -70,15 +70,15 @@ public class TestMultipartMixed {
 
         final String expected =
             "--foo\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "this stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "that stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo\r\n" +
-            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
             "\r\n" +
             "all kind of stuff\r\n" +
             "--foo--\r\n";
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ public class TestMultipartMixed {
 
         final String expected =
                 "--foo\r\n" +
-                        "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n" +
+                        "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\r\n" +
                         "\r\n" +
                         "this stuff\r\n" +
                         "--foo\r\n" +
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartPartBuilder.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartPartBuilder.java
index 5c7c66be3..0c1f01117 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartPartBuilder.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/entity/mime/TestMultipartPartBuilder.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public class TestMultipartPartBuilder {
         final Header header = part.getHeader();
         Assertions.assertNotNull(header);
         assertFields(Collections.singletonList(
-                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header.getFields());
     }
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public class TestMultipartPartBuilder {
         final Header header1 = part1.getHeader();
         Assertions.assertNotNull(header1);
         assertFields(Collections.singletonList(
-                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header1.getFields());
         final FileBody fileBody = new FileBody(new File("/path/stuff.bin"), ContentType.DEFAULT_BINARY);
         final MultipartPart part2 = builder
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class TestMultipartPartBuilder {
                 new MimeField("header3", "blah"),
                 new MimeField("header3", "blah"),
                 new MimeField("header3", "blah"),
-                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header1.getFields());
 
         final MultipartPart part2 = builder
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public class TestMultipartPartBuilder {
         assertFields(Arrays.asList(
                         new MimeField("header1", "blah"),
                         new MimeField("header2", "yada"),
-                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1")),
+                        new MimeField("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8")),
                 header2.getFields());
 
         final MultipartPart part3 = builder
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/utils/TestURIUtils.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/utils/TestURIUtils.java
index 1efbbdd8a..ab4d839c9 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/utils/TestURIUtils.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/utils/TestURIUtils.java
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ public class TestURIUtils {
 
         Assertions.assertEquals(new HttpHost("localhost",8080),
                 URIUtils.extractHost(new URI("http://user:pass@localhost:8080/abcd")));
+
         Assertions.assertEquals(new HttpHost("local_host",8080),
                 URIUtils.extractHost(new URI("http://user:pass@local_host:8080/abcd")));
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e1b3a02c5..b5c21bea5 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
   <properties>
     <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
     <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
-    <httpcore.version>5.2.2</httpcore.version>
+    <httpcore.version>5.3-alpha1</httpcore.version>
     <log4j.version>2.22.0</log4j.version>
     <brotli.version>0.1.2</brotli.version>
     <conscrypt.version>2.5.2</conscrypt.version>