diff --git a/caddytls/config.go b/caddytls/config.go
index 40cc4bea..49b2e9c7 100644
--- a/caddytls/config.go
+++ b/caddytls/config.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/codahale/aesnicheck"
 	"github.com/mholt/caddy"
 	"github.com/xenolf/lego/acme"
 )
@@ -294,7 +295,7 @@ func (c *Config) buildStandardTLSConfig() error {
 
 	// default cipher suites
 	if len(config.CipherSuites) == 0 {
-		config.CipherSuites = defaultCiphers
+		config.CipherSuites = getPreferredDefaultCiphers()
 	}
 
 	// for security, ensure TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV is always included first
@@ -380,7 +381,7 @@ func RegisterConfigGetter(serverType string, fn ConfigGetter) {
 func SetDefaultTLSParams(config *Config) {
 	// If no ciphers provided, use default list
 	if len(config.Ciphers) == 0 {
-		config.Ciphers = defaultCiphers
+		config.Ciphers = getPreferredDefaultCiphers()
 	}
 
 	// Not a cipher suite, but still important for mitigating protocol downgrade attacks
@@ -464,6 +465,35 @@ var defaultCiphers = []uint16{
 	tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
 }
 
+// List of ciphers we should prefer if native AESNI support is missing
+var defaultCiphersNonAESNI = []uint16{
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
+	tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
+	tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
+	tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
+}
+
+// getPreferredDefaultCiphers returns an appropriate cipher suite to use, depending on
+// the hardware support available for AES-NI.
+//
+// See https://github.com/mholt/caddy/issues/1674
+func getPreferredDefaultCiphers() []uint16 {
+	if aesnicheck.HasAESNI() {
+		return defaultCiphers
+	}
+
+	// Return a cipher suite that prefers ChaCha20
+	return defaultCiphersNonAESNI
+}
+
 // Map of supported curves
 // https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/tls/#CurveID
 var supportedCurvesMap = map[string]tls.CurveID{
diff --git a/caddytls/config_test.go b/caddytls/config_test.go
index 5fccb1ba..c4e11ba6 100644
--- a/caddytls/config_test.go
+++ b/caddytls/config_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/codahale/aesnicheck"
 )
 
 func TestConvertTLSConfigProtocolVersions(t *testing.T) {
@@ -60,10 +62,11 @@ func TestConvertTLSConfigCipherSuites(t *testing.T) {
 		{Enabled: true, Ciphers: nil},
 	}
 
+	defaultCiphersExpected := getPreferredDefaultCiphers()
 	expectedCiphers := [][]uint16{
 		{tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV, 0xc02c, 0xc030},
 		{tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV, 0xc012, 0xc030, 0xc00a},
-		append([]uint16{tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV}, defaultCiphers...),
+		append([]uint16{tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV}, defaultCiphersExpected...),
 	}
 
 	for i, config := range configs {
@@ -79,6 +82,21 @@ func TestConvertTLSConfigCipherSuites(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetPreferredDefaultCiphers(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedCiphers := defaultCiphers
+	if !aesnicheck.HasAESNI() {
+		expectedCiphers = defaultCiphersNonAESNI
+	}
+
+	// Ensure ordering is correct and ciphers are what we expected.
+	result := getPreferredDefaultCiphers()
+	for i, actual := range result {
+		if actual != expectedCiphers[i] {
+			t.Errorf("Expected cipher in position %d to be %0x, got %0x", i, expectedCiphers[i], actual)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestStorageForNoURL(t *testing.T) {
 	c := &Config{}
 	if _, err := c.StorageFor(""); err == nil {
diff --git a/caddytls/setup_test.go b/caddytls/setup_test.go
index ed18bb0d..b609fde7 100644
--- a/caddytls/setup_test.go
+++ b/caddytls/setup_test.go
@@ -58,21 +58,7 @@ func TestSetupParseBasic(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// Cipher checks
-	expectedCiphers := []uint16{
-		tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
-		tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
-		tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,
-		tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,
-	}
+	expectedCiphers := append([]uint16{tls.TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV}, getPreferredDefaultCiphers()...)
 
 	// Ensure count is correct (plus one for TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV)
 	if len(cfg.Ciphers) != len(expectedCiphers) {