diff --git a/bin/httparty b/bin/httparty
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/lib/httparty.rb b/lib/httparty.rb
index aef4ee6..9885e58 100644
--- a/lib/httparty.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty.rb
@@ -299,6 +299,17 @@ module HTTParty
       default_options[:query_string_normalizer] = normalizer
     end
 
+    # Allows setting of SSL version to use. This only works in Ruby 1.9.
+    # You can get a list of valid versions from OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext::METHODS.
+    #
+    #   class Foo
+    #     include HTTParty
+    #     ssl_version :SSLv3
+    #   end
+    def ssl_version(version)
+      default_options[:ssl_version] = version
+    end
+
     # Allows setting an OpenSSL certificate authority file
     #
     #   class Foo
diff --git a/lib/httparty/connection_adapter.rb b/lib/httparty/connection_adapter.rb
index 9c542b6..8865a23 100644
--- a/lib/httparty/connection_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty/connection_adapter.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ module HTTParty
           http.ca_path = options[:ssl_ca_path]
           http.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER
         end
+
+        if options[:ssl_version] && http.respond_to?(:ssl_version=)
+          http.ssl_version = options[:ssl_version]
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/httparty/connection_adapter_spec.rb b/spec/httparty/connection_adapter_spec.rb
index 4273efe..e919e9b 100644
--- a/spec/httparty/connection_adapter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/httparty/connection_adapter_spec.rb
@@ -56,25 +56,20 @@ describe HTTParty::ConnectionAdapter do
       subject { adapter.connection }
       it { should be_an_instance_of Net::HTTP }
 
+      context "using port 80" do
+        let(:uri) { URI 'http://foobar.com' }
+        it { should_not use_ssl }
+      end
+
       context "when dealing with ssl" do
-        Spec::Matchers.define :use_ssl do
-          match do |connection|
-            connection.use_ssl?
-          end
-        end
+        let(:uri) { URI 'https://foobar.com' }
 
         context "using port 443 for ssl" do
           let(:uri) { URI 'https://api.foo.com/v1:443' }
           it { should use_ssl }
         end
 
-        context "using port 80" do
-          let(:uri) { URI 'http://foobar.com' }
-          it { should_not use_ssl }
-        end
-
         context "https scheme with default port" do
-          let(:uri) { URI 'https://foobar.com' }
           it { should use_ssl }
         end
 
@@ -82,6 +77,14 @@ describe HTTParty::ConnectionAdapter do
           let(:uri) { URI 'https://foobar.com:123456' }
           it { should use_ssl }
         end
+
+        context "when ssl version is set" do
+          let(:options) { {:ssl_version => :TLSv1} }
+
+          it "sets ssl version" do
+            subject.ssl_version.should == :TLSv1
+          end
+        end
       end
 
       context "when timeout is not set" do
@@ -199,6 +202,5 @@ describe HTTParty::ConnectionAdapter do
         end
       end
     end
-
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/httparty_spec.rb b/spec/httparty_spec.rb
index a5516fb..f62a322 100644
--- a/spec/httparty_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/httparty_spec.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ describe HTTParty do
     end
   end
 
+  describe 'ssl_version' do
+    it 'should set the ssl_version content' do
+      @klass.ssl_version :SSLv3
+      @klass.default_options[:ssl_version].should == :SSLv3
+    end
+  end
+
   describe 'http_proxy' do
     it 'should set the address' do
       @klass.http_proxy 'proxy.foo.com', 80
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 514c490..a85b2b1 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -22,3 +22,9 @@ Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
     FakeWeb.allow_net_connect = true
   end
 end
+
+Spec::Matchers.define :use_ssl do
+  match do |connection|
+    connection.use_ssl?
+  end
+end