diff --git a/splunklib/binding.py b/splunklib/binding.py
index 3ae6ef967..4c95aa79e 100644
--- a/splunklib/binding.py
+++ b/splunklib/binding.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import sys
 import Cookie
 
+from base64 import b64encode
 from datetime import datetime
 from functools import wraps
 from StringIO import StringIO
@@ -471,6 +472,7 @@ def __init__(self, handler=None, **kwargs):
         self.namespace = namespace(**kwargs)
         self.username = kwargs.get("username", "")
         self.password = kwargs.get("password", "")
+        self.basic = kwargs.get("basic", False)
         self.autologin = kwargs.get("autologin", False)
 
         # Store any cookies in the self.http._cookies dict
@@ -507,6 +509,9 @@ def _auth_headers(self):
         """
         if self.has_cookies():
             return [("Cookie", _make_cookie_header(self.get_cookies().items()))]
+        elif self.basic and (self.username and self.password):
+            token = 'Basic %s' % b64encode("%s:%s" % (self.username, self.password))
+            return [("Authorization", token)]
         elif self.token is _NoAuthenticationToken:
             return []
         else:
@@ -838,6 +843,11 @@ def login(self):
             # logged in.
             return
 
+        if self.basic and (self.username and self.password):
+            # Basic auth mode requested, so this method is a nop as long
+            # as credentials were passed in.
+            return
+
         # Only try to get a token and updated cookie if username & password are specified
         try:
             response = self.http.post(
diff --git a/tests/test_binding.py b/tests/test_binding.py
index 2a3f079bc..ef0cacc94 100755
--- a/tests/test_binding.py
+++ b/tests/test_binding.py
@@ -686,6 +686,32 @@ def test_namespace(self):
     def test_namespace_fails(self):
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, binding.namespace, sharing="gobble")
 
+class TestBasicAuthentication(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.opts = testlib.parse([], {}, ".splunkrc")
+        opts = self.opts.kwargs.copy()
+        opts["basic"] = True
+        opts["username"] = self.opts.kwargs["username"]
+        opts["password"] = self.opts.kwargs["password"]
+
+        self.context = binding.connect(**opts)
+        import splunklib.client as client
+        service = client.Service(**opts)
+
+    if getattr(unittest.TestCase, 'assertIsNotNone', None) is None:
+        def assertIsNotNone(self, obj, msg=None):
+           if obj is None:
+               raise self.failureException, (msg or '%r is not None' % obj)
+
+    def test_basic_in_auth_headers(self):
+        self.assertIsNotNone(self.context._auth_headers)
+        self.assertNotEqual(self.context._auth_headers, [])
+        self.assertEqual(len(self.context._auth_headers), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(len(self.context._auth_headers), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(self.context._auth_headers[0][0], "Authorization")
+        self.assertEqual(self.context._auth_headers[0][1][:6], "Basic ")
+        self.assertEqual(self.context.get("/services").status, 200)
+
 class TestTokenAuthentication(BindingTestCase):
     def test_preexisting_token(self):
         token = self.context.token