diff --git a/python/kvikio/kvikio/remote_file.py b/python/kvikio/kvikio/remote_file.py
index 2fa0cb2c92..90a8b81fb4 100644
--- a/python/kvikio/kvikio/remote_file.py
+++ b/python/kvikio/kvikio/remote_file.py
@@ -33,17 +33,39 @@ def _get_remote_module():
 
 
 class RemoteFile:
-    """File handle of a remote file (currently, only AWS S3 is supported)."""
+    """File handle of a remote file."""
 
-    def __init__(self, url: str, nbytes: Optional[int] = None):
-        """Open a remote file given a bucket and object name.
+    def __init__(self, handle):
+        """Create a remote file from a Cython handle.
+
+        This constructor should not be called directly instead use a
+        factory method like `RemoteFile.from_http_url()`
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        handle : kvikio._lib.remote_handle.RemoteFile
+            The Cython handle
+        """
+        assert isinstance(handle, _get_remote_module().RemoteFile)
+        self._handle = handle
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_http_url(
+        cls,
+        url: str,
+        nbytes: Optional[int] = None,
+    ) -> RemoteFile:
+        """Open a http file.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
         url
             URL to the remote file.
+        nbytes
+            The size of the file. If None, KvikIO will ask the server
+            for the file size.
         """
-        self._handle = _get_remote_module().RemoteFile.from_url(url, nbytes)
+        return RemoteFile(_get_remote_module().RemoteFile.from_url(url, nbytes))
 
     def __enter__(self) -> RemoteFile:
         return self
diff --git a/python/kvikio/tests/test_http_io.py b/python/kvikio/tests/test_http_io.py
index 9b510d042e..6bfb34c93a 100644
--- a/python/kvikio/tests/test_http_io.py
+++ b/python/kvikio/tests/test_http_io.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def http_server(request, tmpdir):
 def test_file_size(http_server, tmpdir):
     a = np.arange(100)
     a.tofile(tmpdir / "a")
-    with kvikio.RemoteFile(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
+    with kvikio.RemoteFile.from_http_url(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
         assert f.nbytes() == a.nbytes
 
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def test_read(http_server, tmpdir, xp, size, nthreads, tasksize):
 
     with kvikio.defaults.set_num_threads(nthreads):
         with kvikio.defaults.set_task_size(tasksize):
-            with kvikio.RemoteFile(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
+            with kvikio.RemoteFile.from_http_url(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
                 assert f.nbytes() == a.nbytes
                 b = xp.empty_like(a)
                 assert f.read(b) == a.nbytes
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def test_large_read(http_server, tmpdir, xp, nthreads):
     a.tofile(tmpdir / "a")
 
     with kvikio.defaults.set_num_threads(nthreads):
-        with kvikio.RemoteFile(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
+        with kvikio.RemoteFile.from_http_url(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
             assert f.nbytes() == a.nbytes
             b = xp.empty_like(a)
             assert f.read(b) == a.nbytes
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def test_error_too_small_file(http_server, tmpdir, xp):
     a = xp.arange(10, dtype="uint8")
     b = xp.empty(100, dtype="uint8")
     a.tofile(tmpdir / "a")
-    with kvikio.RemoteFile(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
+    with kvikio.RemoteFile.from_http_url(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
         assert f.nbytes() == a.nbytes
         with pytest.raises(
             ValueError, match=r"cannot read 0\+100 bytes into a 10 bytes file"
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def test_no_range_support(http_server, tmpdir, xp):
     a = xp.arange(100, dtype="uint8")
     a.tofile(tmpdir / "a")
     b = xp.empty_like(a)
-    with kvikio.RemoteFile(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
+    with kvikio.RemoteFile.from_http_url(f"{http_server}/a") as f:
         assert f.nbytes() == a.nbytes
         with pytest.raises(
             OverflowError, match="maybe the server doesn't support file ranges?"