diff --git a/pingora-load-balancing/src/lib.rs b/pingora-load-balancing/src/lib.rs
index c5adea30..4009dc13 100644
--- a/pingora-load-balancing/src/lib.rs
+++ b/pingora-load-balancing/src/lib.rs
@@ -77,12 +77,18 @@ impl Backend {
     /// Create a new [Backend] with `weight` 1. The function will try to parse
     ///  `addr` into a [std::net::SocketAddr].
     pub fn new(addr: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::new_with_weight(addr, 1)
+    }
+
+    /// Creates a new [Backend] with the specified `weight`. The function will try to parse
+    /// `addr` into a [std::net::SocketAddr].
+    pub fn new_with_weight(addr: &str, weight: usize) -> Result<Self> {
         let addr = addr
             .parse()
             .or_err(ErrorType::InternalError, "invalid socket addr")?;
         Ok(Backend {
             addr: SocketAddr::Inet(addr),
-            weight: 1,
+            weight,
             ext: Extensions::new(),
         })
         // TODO: UDS