diff --git a/lib/httparty.rb b/lib/httparty.rb
index a6b4512..4a5a74a 100644
--- a/lib/httparty.rb
+++ b/lib/httparty.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ require 'rubygems'
 gem 'crack'
 require 'crack'
 
+require 'httparty/cookie_hash'
+
 module HTTParty
   
   AllowedFormats = {
@@ -26,7 +28,9 @@ module HTTParty
     base.extend ClassMethods
     base.send :include, HTTParty::ModuleInheritableAttributes
     base.send(:mattr_inheritable, :default_options)
+    base.send(:mattr_inheritable, :default_cookies)
     base.instance_variable_set("@default_options", {})
+    base.instance_variable_set("@default_cookies", CookieHash.new)
   end
   
   module ClassMethods
@@ -90,8 +94,7 @@ module HTTParty
 
     def cookies(h={})
       raise ArgumentError, 'Cookies must be a hash' unless h.is_a?(Hash)
-      default_options[:cookies] ||= CookieHash.new
-      default_options[:cookies].add_cookies(h)
+      default_cookies.add_cookies(h)
     end
     
     # Allows setting the format with which to parse.
@@ -157,11 +160,10 @@ module HTTParty
       end
 
       def process_cookies(options) #:nodoc:
-        return unless options[:cookies] || default_options[:cookies]
+        return unless options[:cookies] || default_cookies
         options[:headers] ||= {}
-        options[:headers]["cookie"] = cookies(options[:cookies] || {}).to_cookie_string
+        options[:headers]["cookie"] = cookies.merge(options[:cookies] || {}).to_cookie_string
 
-        default_options.delete(:cookies)
         options.delete(:cookies)
       end
   end
@@ -198,7 +200,6 @@ module HTTParty
   end
 end
 
-require 'httparty/cookie_hash'
 require 'httparty/core_extensions'
 require 'httparty/exceptions'
 require 'httparty/request'
diff --git a/spec/httparty_spec.rb b/spec/httparty_spec.rb
index 9679f5c..83fc558 100644
--- a/spec/httparty_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/httparty_spec.rb
@@ -96,6 +96,13 @@ describe HTTParty do
         @klass.get("")
       end
 
+      it "should pass the proper cookies when requested multiple times" do
+        2.times do
+          expect_cookie_header "type=snickerdoodle"
+          @klass.get("")
+        end
+      end
+
       it "should allow the class defaults to be overridden" do
         expect_cookie_header "type=chocolate_chip"