diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 452290b..c5055d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@ You can also pass options into `reverse_proxy`
 reverse_proxy "http://localhost:8000", path: "custom-path", headers: { 'X-Foo' => "Bar" }
 ```
 
+If you'd like to bypass SSL verification
+
+```ruby
+reverse_proxy "http://localhost:8000", verify_ssl: false
+```
+
 Use this method to determine what version you're running
 
 ```ruby
diff --git a/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb b/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
index 16df1c6..f60eebd 100644
--- a/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
+++ b/lib/reverse_proxy/client.rb
@@ -37,10 +37,11 @@ module ReverseProxy
 
     def request(env, options = {}, &block)
       options.reverse_merge!(
-        headers: {},
-        path: nil,
-        username: nil,
-        password: nil
+        headers:    {},
+        path:       nil,
+        username:   nil,
+        password:   nil,
+        verify_ssl: true
       )
 
       source_request = Rack::Request.new(env)
@@ -78,8 +79,12 @@ module ReverseProxy
       # within Varnish (503)
       target_request['Accept-Encoding'] = nil
 
+      http_options = {}
+      http_options[:use_ssl] = (uri.scheme == "https")
+      http_options[:verify_mode] = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if options[:verify_ssl]
+
       # Make the request
-      Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: (uri.scheme == "https"), :verify_mode: => OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE) do |http|
+      Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, http_options) do |http|
         target_response = http.request(target_request)
       end