diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index d765cdb3..551fbab6 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ protocol (which is included in the value in case of redirects across protocols):
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    $ http --proxy=http:10.10.1.10:3128 --proxy=https:10.10.1.10:1080 example.org
+    $ http --proxy=http:http://10.10.1.10:3128 --proxy=https:https://10.10.1.10:1080 example.org
 
 
 With Basic authentication:
@@ -565,8 +565,8 @@ In your ``~/.bash_profile``:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
- export HTTP_PROXY=10.10.1.10:3128
- export HTTPS_PROXY=10.10.1.10:1080
+ export HTTP_PROXY=http://10.10.1.10:3128
+ export HTTPS_PROXY=https://10.10.1.10:1080
  export NO_PROXY=localhost,example.com
 
 
diff --git a/httpie/cli.py b/httpie/cli.py
index 4b0a6a69..beb78bbd 100644
--- a/httpie/cli.py
+++ b/httpie/cli.py
@@ -430,11 +430,12 @@ network.add_argument(
     '--proxy',
     default=[],
     action='append',
-    metavar='PROTOCOL:HOST',
+    metavar='PROTOCOL:PROXY_URL',
     type=KeyValueArgType(SEP_PROXY),
     help="""
-    String mapping protocol to the URL of the proxy (e.g. http:foo.bar:3128).
-    You can specify multiple proxies with different protocols.
+    String mapping protocol to the URL of the proxy
+    (e.g. http:http://foo.bar:3128). You can specify multiple proxies with
+    different protocols.
 
     """
 )