diff --git a/lib/http-proxy.js b/lib/http-proxy.js
index b1ad646f4..8d37dd212 100644
--- a/lib/http-proxy.js
+++ b/lib/http-proxy.js
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ module.exports.createProxyServer =
    *    prependPath: <true/false, Default: true - specify whether you want to prepend the target's path to the proxy path>
    *    localAddress : <Local interface string to bind for outgoing connections>
    *    changeOrigin: <true/false, Default: false - changes the origin of the host header to the target URL>
+   *    auth   : Basic authentication i.e. 'user:password' to compute an Authorization header.  
    *    hostRewrite: rewrites the location hostname on (301/302/307/308) redirects, Default: null.
    *  }
    *
diff --git a/lib/http-proxy/common.js b/lib/http-proxy/common.js
index 66e80f9a1..59ece4dfb 100644
--- a/lib/http-proxy/common.js
+++ b/lib/http-proxy/common.js
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ common.setupOutgoing = function(outgoing, options, req, forward) {
     extend(outgoing.headers, options.headers);
   }
 
+  if (options.auth) {
+    outgoing.auth = options.auth;
+  }
+
   if (isSSL.test(options[forward || 'target'].protocol)) {
     outgoing.rejectUnauthorized = (typeof options.secure === "undefined") ? true : options.secure;
   }
diff --git a/test/lib-http-proxy-common-test.js b/test/lib-http-proxy-common-test.js
index 5cf36c232..007ba39a4 100644
--- a/test/lib-http-proxy-common-test.js
+++ b/test/lib-http-proxy-common-test.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ describe('lib/http-proxy/common.js', function () {
         },
         headers: {'fizz': 'bang', 'overwritten':true},
         localAddress: 'local.address',
+        auth:'username:pass'
       },
       {
         method    : 'i',
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ describe('lib/http-proxy/common.js', function () {
       expect(outgoing.headers.fizz).to.eql('bang');
       expect(outgoing.headers.overwritten).to.eql(true);
       expect(outgoing.localAddress).to.eql('local.address');
+      expect(outgoing.auth).to.eql('username:pass');
     });
 
     it('should not override agentless upgrade header', function () {
diff --git a/test/lib-http-proxy-passes-web-incoming-test.js b/test/lib-http-proxy-passes-web-incoming-test.js
index f2c6f1304..cf9bf6b75 100644
--- a/test/lib-http-proxy-passes-web-incoming-test.js
+++ b/test/lib-http-proxy-passes-web-incoming-test.js
@@ -299,4 +299,31 @@ describe('#createProxyServer.web() using own http server', function () {
 
     http.request('http://127.0.0.1:8081', function() {}).end();
   });
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+
+  it('should proxy the request with the Authorization header set', function (done) {
+    var proxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer({
+      target: 'http://127.0.0.1:8080',
+      auth: 'user:pass'
+    });
+
+    function requestHandler(req, res) {
+      proxy.web(req, res);
+    }
+
+    var proxyServer = http.createServer(requestHandler);
+
+    var source = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+      source.close();
+      proxyServer.close();
+      var auth = new Buffer(req.headers.authorization.split(' ')[1], 'base64');
+      expect(req.method).to.eql('GET');
+      expect(auth.toString()).to.eql('user:pass');
+      done();
+    });
+
+    proxyServer.listen('8081');
+    source.listen('8080');
+
+    http.request('http://127.0.0.1:8081', function() {}).end();
+  });
+});