diff --git a/headphones/__init__.py b/headphones/__init__.py
index 380a31bf..821fb202 100644
--- a/headphones/__init__.py
+++ b/headphones/__init__.py
@@ -292,6 +292,8 @@ JOURNAL_MODE = None
 
 UMASK = None
 
+VERIFY_SSL_CERT = True
+
 def CheckSection(sec):
     """ Check if INI section exists, if not create it """
     try:
@@ -360,7 +362,7 @@ def initialize():
                 XBMC_NOTIFY, LMS_ENABLED, LMS_HOST, NMA_ENABLED, NMA_APIKEY, NMA_PRIORITY, NMA_ONSNATCH, SYNOINDEX_ENABLED, ALBUM_COMPLETION_PCT, PREFERRED_BITRATE_HIGH_BUFFER, \
                 PREFERRED_BITRATE_LOW_BUFFER, PREFERRED_BITRATE_ALLOW_LOSSLESS, CACHE_SIZEMB, JOURNAL_MODE, UMASK, ENABLE_HTTPS, HTTPS_CERT, HTTPS_KEY, \
                 PLEX_ENABLED, PLEX_SERVER_HOST, PLEX_CLIENT_HOST, PLEX_USERNAME, PLEX_PASSWORD, PLEX_UPDATE, PLEX_NOTIFY, PUSHALOT_ENABLED, PUSHALOT_APIKEY, \
-                PUSHALOT_ONSNATCH, SONGKICK_ENABLED, SONGKICK_APIKEY, SONGKICK_LOCATION, SONGKICK_FILTER_ENABLED
+                PUSHALOT_ONSNATCH, SONGKICK_ENABLED, SONGKICK_APIKEY, SONGKICK_LOCATION, SONGKICK_FILTER_ENABLED, VERIFY_SSL_CERT
 
 
         if __INITIALIZED__:
@@ -643,6 +645,8 @@ def initialize():
 
         ALBUM_COMPLETION_PCT = check_setting_int(CFG, 'Advanced', 'album_completion_pct', 80)
 
+        VERIFY_SSL_CERT = bool(check_setting_int(CFG, 'Advanced', 'verify_ssl_cert', True))
+
         # update folder formats in the config & bump up config version
         if CONFIG_VERSION == '0':
             from headphones.helpers import replace_all
@@ -1092,6 +1096,7 @@ def config_write():
     new_config['Advanced']['album_completion_pct'] = ALBUM_COMPLETION_PCT
     new_config['Advanced']['cache_sizemb'] = CACHE_SIZEMB
     new_config['Advanced']['journal_mode'] = JOURNAL_MODE
+    new_config['Advanced']['verify_ssl_cert'] = VERIFY_SSL_CERT
 
     new_config.write()
 
diff --git a/headphones/request.py b/headphones/request.py
index bbb517a9..612d8679 100644
--- a/headphones/request.py
+++ b/headphones/request.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
 import requests
 import feedparser
+import headphones
 
 def request_response(url, method="get", auto_raise=True, whitelist_status_code=None, **kwargs):
     """
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ def request_response(url, method="get", auto_raise=True, whitelist_status_code=N
     if whitelist_status_code and type(whitelist_status_code) != list:
         whitelist_status_code = [whitelist_status_code]
 
+    # Disable verification of SSL certificates if requested. Note: this could
+    # pose a security issue!
+    kwargs["verify"] = headphones.VERIFY_SSL_CERT
+
     # Map method to the request.XXX method. This is a simple hack, but it allows
     # requests to apply more magic per method. See lib/requests/api.py.
     request_method = getattr(requests, method.lower())