diff --git a/livekit-api/livekit/api/_twirp_client.py b/livekit-api/livekit/api/_twirp_client.py
index 9182afe0..55deab8b 100644
--- a/livekit-api/livekit/api/_twirp_client.py
+++ b/livekit-api/livekit/api/_twirp_client.py
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@
 
 import aiohttp
 from google.protobuf.message import Message
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
-DEFAULT_PREFIX = "/twirp"
+DEFAULT_PREFIX = "twirp"
 
 
 class TwirpError(Exception):
@@ -52,7 +53,9 @@ class TwirpErrorCode:
 
 class TwirpClient:
     def __init__(self, host: str, pkg: str, prefix: str = DEFAULT_PREFIX) -> None:
-        self.host = host
+        parse_res = urlparse(host)
+        host = f"http://{parse_res.netloc}/{parse_res.path}"
+        self.host = host.rstrip("/")
         self.pkg = pkg
         self.prefix = prefix
         self.session = aiohttp.ClientSession()
@@ -69,8 +72,8 @@ async def request(
         headers["Content-Type"] = "application/protobuf"
 
         serialized_data = data.SerializeToString()
-        async with self.session.post(
-            url, headers=headers, data=serialized_data
+        async with self.session.request(
+            "post", url, headers=headers, data=serialized_data
         ) as resp:
             if resp.status == 200:
                 return response_class.FromString(await resp.read())