diff --git a/connectionbroker/broker.go b/connectionbroker/broker.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f22726f2b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/connectionbroker/broker.go
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+// Package connectionbroker is a layer on top of remotes that returns
+// a gRPC connection to a manager. The connection may be a local connection
+// using a local socket such as a UNIX socket.
+package connectionbroker
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/docker/swarmkit/api"
+	"github.com/docker/swarmkit/remotes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc"
+)
+
+// Broker is a simple connection broker. It can either return a fresh
+// connection to a remote manager selected with weighted randomization, or a
+// local gRPC connection to the local manager.
+type Broker struct {
+	mu        sync.Mutex
+	remotes   remotes.Remotes
+	localConn *grpc.ClientConn
+}
+
+// New creates a new connection broker.
+func New(remotes remotes.Remotes) *Broker {
+	return &Broker{
+		remotes: remotes,
+	}
+}
+
+// SetLocalConn changes the local gRPC connection used by the connection broker.
+func (b *Broker) SetLocalConn(localConn *grpc.ClientConn) {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	defer b.mu.Unlock()
+
+	b.localConn = localConn
+}
+
+// Select a manager from the set of available managers, and return a connection.
+func (b *Broker) Select(dialOpts ...grpc.DialOption) (*Conn, error) {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	localConn := b.localConn
+	b.mu.Unlock()
+
+	if localConn != nil {
+		return &Conn{
+			ClientConn: localConn,
+			isLocal:    true,
+		}, nil
+	}
+
+	return b.SelectRemote(dialOpts...)
+}
+
+// SelectRemote chooses a manager from the remotes, and returns a TCP
+// connection.
+func (b *Broker) SelectRemote(dialOpts ...grpc.DialOption) (*Conn, error) {
+	peer, err := b.remotes.Select()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	cc, err := grpc.Dial(peer.Addr, dialOpts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		b.remotes.ObserveIfExists(peer, -remotes.DefaultObservationWeight)
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &Conn{
+		ClientConn: cc,
+		remotes:    b.remotes,
+		peer:       peer,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// Remotes returns the remotes interface used by the broker, so the caller
+// can make observations or see weights directly.
+func (b *Broker) Remotes() remotes.Remotes {
+	return b.remotes
+}
+
+// Conn is a wrapper around a gRPC client connection.
+type Conn struct {
+	*grpc.ClientConn
+	isLocal bool
+	remotes remotes.Remotes
+	peer    api.Peer
+}
+
+// Close closes the client connection if it is a remote connection. It also
+// records a positive experience with the remote peer if success is true,
+// otherwise it records a negative experience. If a local connection is in use,
+// Close is a noop.
+func (c *Conn) Close(success bool) error {
+	if c.isLocal {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if success {
+		c.remotes.ObserveIfExists(c.peer, -remotes.DefaultObservationWeight)
+	} else {
+		c.remotes.ObserveIfExists(c.peer, remotes.DefaultObservationWeight)
+	}
+
+	return c.ClientConn.Close()
+}