diff --git a/lib/restclient/request.rb b/lib/restclient/request.rb
index 7d69bd8..b7ff76b 100644
--- a/lib/restclient/request.rb
+++ b/lib/restclient/request.rb
@@ -105,7 +105,11 @@ module RestClient
 
 			net = net_http_class.new(uri.host, uri.port)
 			net.use_ssl = uri.is_a?(URI::HTTPS)
-			net.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if @verify_ssl == false
+			if @verify_ssl == false
+        net.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
+      elsif @verify_ssl.is_a? Integer
+        net.verify_mode = @verify_ssl
+      end
 			net.cert = @ssl_client_cert if @ssl_client_cert
 			net.key = @ssl_client_key if @ssl_client_key
 			net.ca_file = @ssl_ca_file if @ssl_ca_file
diff --git a/spec/request_spec.rb b/spec/request_spec.rb
index 461ebe9..c56f158 100644
--- a/spec/request_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/request_spec.rb
@@ -330,13 +330,13 @@ describe RestClient::Request do
 		@request.verify_ssl.should == false
 	end
 
-	it "should set net.verify_mode to OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if verify_ssl is false" do
-		@net.should_receive(:verify_mode=).with(OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE)
-		@http.stub!(:request)
-		@request.stub!(:process_result)
-		@request.stub!(:response_log)
-		@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
-	end
+  it "should set net.verify_mode to OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if verify_ssl is false" do
+    @net.should_receive(:verify_mode=).with(OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE)
+    @http.stub!(:request)
+    @request.stub!(:process_result)
+    @request.stub!(:response_log)
+    @request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
+  end
 
 	it "should not set net.verify_mode to OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE if verify_ssl is true" do
 		@request = RestClient::Request.new(:method => :put, :url => 'https://some/resource', :payload => 'payload', :verify_ssl => true)
@@ -347,6 +347,20 @@ describe RestClient::Request do
 		@request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
 	end
 
+  it "should set net.verify_mode to the passed value if verify_ssl is an OpenSSL constant" do
+    mode     = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER |
+               OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT
+		@request = RestClient::Request.new( :method     => :put,
+		                                    :url        => 'https://some/resource',
+		                                    :payload    => 'payload',
+		                                    :verify_ssl => mode )
+    @net.should_receive(:verify_mode=).with(mode)
+    @http.stub!(:request)
+    @request.stub!(:process_result)
+    @request.stub!(:response_log)
+    @request.transmit(@uri, 'req', 'payload')
+  end
+
 	it "should default to not having an ssl_client_cert" do
 		@request.ssl_client_cert.should be(nil)
 	end