diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a625c4b..eb9609c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -47,6 +47,14 @@ alias work_haste="HASTE_SERVER=http://something.com haste"
 
 After which you can use `work_haste` to send hastes to that server instead.
 
+### Basic Auth
+
+If your haste-server requires basic http authentication, you can use:
+
+``` bash
+HASTE_SERVER=http://something.com HASTE_USER=user HASTE_PWD=pass haste some_file.txt
+```
+
 ## Windows Support
 
 If you'd like an alternative on Windows that supports functionality similar to `pbcopy`, check out Aidan Ryan's [WinHaste](https://github.com/ajryan/WinHaste) project.
diff --git a/lib/haste.rb b/lib/haste.rb
index 229e88a..68763c2 100644
--- a/lib/haste.rb
+++ b/lib/haste.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ module Haste
         abort 'No input file given' unless file
         abort "#{file}: No such path" unless File.exists?(file)
         @input = open(file).read
+        @user = ENV['HASTE_USER']
+        @password = ENV['HASTE_PWD']
       else
         @input = STDIN.readlines.join
       end
@@ -26,12 +28,16 @@ module Haste
     # Upload the and output the URL we get back
     def start
       uri = URI.parse server
-      http = Net::HTTP.new uri.host, uri.port
-      if uri.scheme =~ /^https/
-        http.use_ssl = true
-        http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
+      post = Net::HTTP::Post.new '/documents'
+      post.body = @input
+      post.basic_auth @user, @password if @user && @password
+      response = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port).start do |http|
+        if uri.scheme =~ /^https/
+          http.use_ssl = true
+          http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
+        end
+        http.request(post)
       end
-      response = http.post '/documents', @input
       if response.is_a?(Net::HTTPOK)
         data = JSON.parse(response.body)
         method = STDOUT.tty? ? :puts : :print