diff --git a/lib/sinatra/base.rb b/lib/sinatra/base.rb
index 329a4ef1..104e1cc5 100644
--- a/lib/sinatra/base.rb
+++ b/lib/sinatra/base.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ module Sinatra
     rescue EOFError, Errno::ESPIPE
       self.GET
     end
+
+    def secure?
+      (@env['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] || @env['rack.url_scheme']) == 'https'
+    end
   end
 
   # The response object. See Rack::Response and Rack::ResponseHelpers for
diff --git a/test/request_test.rb b/test/request_test.rb
index 44dac6cb..f213646c 100644
--- a/test/request_test.rb
+++ b/test/request_test.rb
@@ -15,4 +15,19 @@ class RequestTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     )
     assert_equal 'bar', request.params['foo']
   end
+
+  it 'is secure when the url scheme is https' do
+    request = Sinatra::Request.new('rack.url_scheme' => 'https')
+    assert request.secure?
+  end
+
+  it 'is not secure when the url scheme is http' do
+    request = Sinatra::Request.new('rack.url_scheme' => 'http')
+    assert !request.secure?
+  end
+
+  it 'respects X-Forwarded-Proto header for proxied SSL' do
+    request = Sinatra::Request.new('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO' => 'https')
+    assert request.secure?
+  end
 end