diff --git a/samples/Http2SampleApp/Http2SampleApp.csproj b/samples/Http2SampleApp/Http2SampleApp.csproj
index 683e6e4041..cd660a6c80 100644
--- a/samples/Http2SampleApp/Http2SampleApp.csproj
+++ b/samples/Http2SampleApp/Http2SampleApp.csproj
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Content Include="../../test/shared/TestCertificates/testCert.pfx" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
+    <Content Include="testCert.pfx">
+      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
+    </Content>
   </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>
diff --git a/samples/Http2SampleApp/testCert.pfx b/samples/Http2SampleApp/testCert.pfx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7118908c2d
Binary files /dev/null and b/samples/Http2SampleApp/testCert.pfx differ
diff --git a/src/Kestrel.Core/Features/ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature.cs b/src/Kestrel.Core/Features/ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature.cs
index 7ad37730d5..8adca3f0e8 100644
--- a/src/Kestrel.Core/Features/ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature.cs
+++ b/src/Kestrel.Core/Features/ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature.cs
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 // Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
 
+using System;
+
 namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Features
 {
-    // TODO: this should be merged with ITlsConnectionFeature
     public interface ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature
     {
-        string ApplicationProtocol { get; }
+        ReadOnlyMemory<byte> ApplicationProtocol { get; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpConnection.cs b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpConnection.cs
index 1ac4945ae4..fcd2c314a8 100644
--- a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpConnection.cs
+++ b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpConnection.cs
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal
 {
     public class HttpConnection : ITimeoutControl, IConnectionTimeoutFeature, IRequestProcessor
     {
+        private static readonly ReadOnlyMemory<byte> Http2Id = new ReadOnlyMemory<byte>(new[] { (byte)'h', (byte)'2' });
+
         private readonly HttpConnectionContext _context;
         private readonly TaskCompletionSource<object> _socketClosedTcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>(TaskCreationOptions.RunContinuationsAsynchronously);
 
@@ -303,7 +305,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal
         private HttpProtocols SelectProtocol()
         {
             var hasTls = _context.ConnectionFeatures.Get<ITlsConnectionFeature>() != null;
-            var applicationProtocol = _context.ConnectionFeatures.Get<ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature>()?.ApplicationProtocol;
+            var applicationProtocol = _context.ConnectionFeatures.Get<ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature>()?.ApplicationProtocol
+                ?? new ReadOnlyMemory<byte>();
             var http1Enabled = (_context.Protocols & HttpProtocols.Http1) == HttpProtocols.Http1;
             var http2Enabled = (_context.Protocols & HttpProtocols.Http2) == HttpProtocols.Http2;
 
@@ -319,7 +322,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal
                 error = CoreStrings.EndPointRequiresTlsForHttp1AndHttp2;
             }
 
-            if (!http1Enabled && http2Enabled && hasTls && applicationProtocol != "h2")
+            if (!http1Enabled && http2Enabled && hasTls && !Http2Id.SequenceEqual(applicationProtocol))
             {
                 error = CoreStrings.EndPointHttp2NotNegotiated;
             }
@@ -330,7 +333,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal
                 return HttpProtocols.None;
             }
 
-            return http2Enabled && (!hasTls || applicationProtocol == "h2") ? HttpProtocols.Http2 : HttpProtocols.Http1;
+            return http2Enabled && (!hasTls || Http2Id.SequenceEqual(applicationProtocol)) ? HttpProtocols.Http2 : HttpProtocols.Http1;
         }
 
         public void Tick(DateTimeOffset now)
diff --git a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpsConnectionAdapter.cs b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpsConnectionAdapter.cs
index cae7d60b2f..5022462886 100644
--- a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpsConnectionAdapter.cs
+++ b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/HttpsConnectionAdapter.cs
@@ -160,20 +160,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Https.Internal
             }
 
 #if NETCOREAPP2_1
-            // Don't allocate in the common case, see https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/issues/25432
-            if (sslStream.NegotiatedApplicationProtocol == SslApplicationProtocol.Http11)
-            {
-                feature.ApplicationProtocol = "http/1.1";
-            }
-            else if (sslStream.NegotiatedApplicationProtocol == SslApplicationProtocol.Http2)
-            {
-                feature.ApplicationProtocol = "h2";
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                feature.ApplicationProtocol = sslStream.NegotiatedApplicationProtocol.ToString();
-            }
-
+            feature.ApplicationProtocol = sslStream.NegotiatedApplicationProtocol.Protocol;
             context.Features.Set<ITlsApplicationProtocolFeature>(feature);
 #endif
             feature.ClientCertificate = ConvertToX509Certificate2(sslStream.RemoteCertificate);
diff --git a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/TlsConnectionFeature.cs b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/TlsConnectionFeature.cs
index d5d7983d8e..a914024131 100644
--- a/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/TlsConnectionFeature.cs
+++ b/src/Kestrel.Core/Internal/TlsConnectionFeature.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Https.Internal
     {
         public X509Certificate2 ClientCertificate { get; set; }
 
-        public string ApplicationProtocol { get; set; }
+        public ReadOnlyMemory<byte> ApplicationProtocol { get; set; }
 
         public Task<X509Certificate2> GetClientCertificateAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
diff --git a/src/Kestrel.Core/Kestrel.Core.csproj b/src/Kestrel.Core/Kestrel.Core.csproj
index 2f6ea2a3bb..59b66b7373 100644
--- a/src/Kestrel.Core/Kestrel.Core.csproj
+++ b/src/Kestrel.Core/Kestrel.Core.csproj
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <AssemblyName>Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core</AssemblyName>
     <RootNamespace>Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core</RootNamespace>
     <Description>Core components of ASP.NET Core Kestrel cross-platform web server.</Description>
-    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFrameworks>netstandard2.0;netcoreapp2.1</TargetFrameworks>
     <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
     <PackageTags>aspnetcore;kestrel</PackageTags>
     <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>