diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0bd5ae41..5a84d81a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ For more details, see [Usage](#usage)
   - [Monitoring a service using ICMP](#monitoring-a-service-using-icmp)
   - [Monitoring a service using DNS queries](#monitoring-a-service-using-dns-queries)
   - [Monitoring a service using STARTTLS](#monitoring-a-service-using-starttls)
+  - [Monitoring a service using TLS](#monitoring-a-service-using-tls)
   - [Basic authentication](#basic-authentication)
   - [disable-monitoring-lock](#disable-monitoring-lock)
   - [Reloading configuration on the fly](#reloading-configuration-on-the-fly)
@@ -963,6 +964,24 @@ services:
   - name: starttls-smtp-example
     url: "starttls://smtp.gmail.com:587"
     interval: 30m
+    client:
+        timeout: 5s
+    conditions:
+      - "[CONNECTED] == true"
+      - "[CERTIFICATE_EXPIRATION] > 48h"
+```
+
+
+### Monitoring a service using TLS
+Monitoring services using SSL/TLS encryption, such as LDAP over TLS, can help
+detecting certificate expiration:
+```yaml
+services:
+  - name: tls-ldaps-example
+    url: "tls://ldap.example.com:636"
+    interval: 30m
+    client:
+        timeout: 5s
     conditions:
       - "[CONNECTED] == true"
       - "[CERTIFICATE_EXPIRATION] > 48h"
diff --git a/client/client.go b/client/client.go
index 79933d0f..3e46ca88 100644
--- a/client/client.go
+++ b/client/client.go
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ func CanPerformStartTLS(address string, config *Config) (connected bool, certifi
 	if len(hostAndPort) != 2 {
 		return false, nil, errors.New("invalid address for starttls, format must be host:port")
 	}
-	smtpClient, err := smtp.Dial(address)
+	conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", address, config.Timeout)
+	if err != nil {
+	    return
+	}
+	smtpClient, err := smtp.NewClient(conn, hostAndPort[0])
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -57,6 +61,28 @@ func CanPerformStartTLS(address string, config *Config) (connected bool, certifi
 	return true, certificate, nil
 }
 
+// CanPerformTLS checks whether a connection can be established to an address using the TLS protocol
+func CanPerformTLS(address string, config *Config) (connected bool, certificate *x509.Certificate, err error) {
+	conn, err := tls.DialWithDialer(&net.Dialer{Timeout: config.Timeout}, "tcp", address, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+	    return
+	}
+	defer conn.Close()
+
+	verifiedChains := conn.ConnectionState().VerifiedChains
+	if len(verifiedChains) == 0 {
+	    return
+	}
+
+	chain := verifiedChains[0] // VerifiedChains[0] == PeerCertificates[0]
+	if len(chain) == 0 {
+	    return
+	}
+
+	certificate = chain[0]
+	return true, certificate, nil
+}
+
 // Ping checks if an address can be pinged and returns the round-trip time if the address can be pinged
 //
 // Note that this function takes at least 100ms, even if the address is 127.0.0.1
diff --git a/client/client_test.go b/client/client_test.go
index 7f1046f9..5bbb4d99 100644
--- a/client/client_test.go
+++ b/client/client_test.go
@@ -91,6 +91,56 @@ func TestCanPerformStartTLS(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCanPerformTLS(t *testing.T) {
+       type args struct {
+               address  string
+               insecure bool
+       }
+       tests := []struct {
+               name          string
+               args          args
+               wantConnected bool
+               wantErr       bool
+       }{
+               {
+                       name: "invalid address",
+                       args: args{
+                               address: "test",
+                       },
+                       wantConnected: false,
+                       wantErr:       true,
+               },
+               {
+                       name: "error dial",
+                       args: args{
+                               address: "test:1234",
+                       },
+                       wantConnected: false,
+                       wantErr:       true,
+               },
+               {
+                       name: "valid tls",
+                       args: args{
+                               address: "smtp.gmail.com:465",
+                       },
+                       wantConnected: true,
+                       wantErr:       false,
+               },
+       }
+       for _, tt := range tests {
+               t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+                       connected, _, err := CanPerformTLS(tt.args.address, &Config{Insecure: tt.args.insecure, Timeout: 5 * time.Second})
+                       if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
+                               t.Errorf("CanPerformTLS() err=%v, wantErr=%v", err, tt.wantErr)
+                               return
+                       }
+                       if connected != tt.wantConnected {
+                               t.Errorf("CanPerformTLS() connected=%v, wantConnected=%v", connected, tt.wantConnected)
+                       }
+               })
+       }
+}
+
 func TestCanCreateTCPConnection(t *testing.T) {
 	if CanCreateTCPConnection("127.0.0.1", &Config{Timeout: 5 * time.Second}) {
 		t.Error("should've failed, because there's no port in the address")
diff --git a/core/service.go b/core/service.go
index 4840e9d5..726d5e03 100644
--- a/core/service.go
+++ b/core/service.go
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ func (service *Service) call(result *Result) {
 	isServiceTCP := strings.HasPrefix(service.URL, "tcp://")
 	isServiceICMP := strings.HasPrefix(service.URL, "icmp://")
 	isServiceStartTLS := strings.HasPrefix(service.URL, "starttls://")
-	isServiceHTTP := !isServiceDNS && !isServiceTCP && !isServiceICMP && !isServiceStartTLS
+	isServiceTLS := strings.HasPrefix(service.URL, "tls://")
+	isServiceHTTP := !isServiceDNS && !isServiceTCP && !isServiceICMP && !isServiceStartTLS && !isServiceTLS
 	if isServiceHTTP {
 		request = service.buildHTTPRequest()
 	}
@@ -225,8 +226,18 @@ func (service *Service) call(result *Result) {
 	if isServiceDNS {
 		service.DNS.query(service.URL, result)
 		result.Duration = time.Since(startTime)
-	} else if isServiceStartTLS {
-		result.Connected, certificate, err = client.CanPerformStartTLS(strings.TrimPrefix(service.URL, "starttls://"), service.ClientConfig)
+	} else if isServiceStartTLS || isServiceTLS {
+		var clientFunction func(address string, config *client.Config) (connected bool, certificate *x509.Certificate, err error)
+		var addressPrefix string
+		if isServiceStartTLS {
+		    clientFunction = client.CanPerformStartTLS
+		    addressPrefix = "starttls://"
+		} else if isServiceTLS {
+		    clientFunction = client.CanPerformTLS
+		    addressPrefix = "tls://"
+		}
+
+		result.Connected, certificate, err = clientFunction(strings.TrimPrefix(service.URL, addressPrefix), service.ClientConfig)
 		if err != nil {
 			result.AddError(err.Error())
 			return