diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
index d7768c9072..3d25bf1589 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
@@ -312,13 +312,10 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorDidSkipOptionalLogin = @"BITAuthenticato
                           completion:(void (^)(BOOL, NSError *))completion {
   NSParameterAssert(email && email.length);
   NSParameterAssert(self.authenticationType == BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmail || (password && password.length));
-  NSString *authenticationPath = [self authenticationPath];
-  NSDictionary *params = [self parametersForAuthenticationEmail:email password:password];
-  
+  NSURLRequest* request = [self requestForAuthenticationEmail:email password:password];
   __weak typeof (self) weakSelf = self;
-  [self.hockeyAppClient postPath:authenticationPath
-                      parameters:params
-                      completion:^(BITHTTPOperation *operation, id response, NSError *error) {
+  BITHTTPOperation *operation = [self.hockeyAppClient operationWithURLRequest:request
+                                                                   completion:^(BITHTTPOperation *operation, id response, NSError *error) {
                         typeof (self) strongSelf = weakSelf;
                         if(nil == response) {
                           NSError *error = [NSError errorWithDomain:kBITAuthenticatorErrorDomain
@@ -356,21 +353,33 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorDidSkipOptionalLogin = @"BITAuthenticato
                           }
                         }
                       }];
-  
+  [self.hockeyAppClient enqeueHTTPOperation:operation];
 }
 
-- (NSDictionary *) parametersForAuthenticationEmail:(NSString*) email password:(NSString*) password {
-  if(BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmailAndPassword == self.authenticationType) {
-    return @{ @"user" : [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%@", email, password] };
-  } else {
+- (NSURLRequest *) requestForAuthenticationEmail:(NSString*) email password:(NSString*) password {
+  NSString *authenticationPath = [self authenticationPath];
+  NSDictionary *params = nil;
+  
+  if(BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmail == self.authenticationType) {
     NSString *authCode = BITHockeyMD5([NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@%@",
                                        self.authenticationSecret ? : @"",
                                        email ? : @""]);
-    return @{
+    params = @{
              @"email" : email ? : @"",
              @"authcode" : authCode.lowercaseString,
              };
   }
+
+  NSMutableURLRequest *request = [self.hockeyAppClient requestWithMethod:@"POST"
+                                                                    path:authenticationPath
+                                                              parameters:params];
+  if(BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmailAndPassword == self.authenticationType) {
+    NSString *authStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%@", email, password];
+    NSData *authData = [authStr dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
+    NSString *authValue = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Basic %@", bit_base64String(authData, authData.length)];
+    [request setValue:authValue forHTTPHeaderField:@"Authorization"];
+  }
+  return request;
 }
 
 - (NSString *) authenticationPath {
diff --git a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
index 211c5298f1..ea7758d30e 100644
--- a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
+++ b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 /* NSString helpers */
 NSString *bit_URLEncodedString(NSString *inputString);
 NSString *bit_URLDecodedString(NSString *inputString);
+NSString *bit_base64String(NSData * data, unsigned long length);
+
 NSComparisonResult bit_versionCompare(NSString *stringA, NSString *stringB);
 NSString *bit_encodeAppIdentifier(NSString *inputString);
 NSString *bit_appName(NSString *placeHolderString);
diff --git a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
index ca25a46c8d..19f064f2e9 100644
--- a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
+++ b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@
 #import "HockeySDKPrivate.h"
 #import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h>
 
+static char base64EncodingTable[64] = {
+  'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', 'G', 'H', 'I', 'J', 'K', 'L', 'M', 'N', 'O', 'P',
+  'Q', 'R', 'S', 'T', 'U', 'V', 'W', 'X', 'Y', 'Z', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f',
+  'g', 'h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v',
+  'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '+', '/'
+};
 
 #pragma mark NSString helpers
 
@@ -52,6 +58,61 @@ NSString *bit_URLDecodedString(NSString *inputString) {
                            );
 }
 
+NSString *bit_base64String(NSData * data, unsigned long length) {
+  unsigned long ixtext, lentext;
+  long ctremaining;
+  unsigned char input[3], output[4];
+  short i, charsonline = 0, ctcopy;
+  const unsigned char *raw;
+  NSMutableString *result;
+  
+  lentext = [data length];
+  if (lentext < 1)
+    return @"";
+  result = [NSMutableString stringWithCapacity: lentext];
+  raw = [data bytes];
+  ixtext = 0;
+  
+  while (true) {
+    ctremaining = (long)(lentext - ixtext);
+    if (ctremaining <= 0)
+      break;
+    for (unsigned long y = 0; y < 3; y++) {
+      unsigned long ix = (ixtext + y);
+      if (ix < lentext)
+        input[y] = raw[ix];
+      else
+        input[y] = 0;
+    }
+    output[0] = (input[0] & 0xFC) >> 2;
+    output[1] = (unsigned char)((input[0] & 0x03) << 4) | ((input[1] & 0xF0) >> 4);
+    output[2] = (unsigned char)((input[1] & 0x0F) << 2) | ((input[2] & 0xC0) >> 6);
+    output[3] = input[2] & 0x3F;
+    ctcopy = 4;
+    switch (ctremaining) {
+      case 1:
+        ctcopy = 2;
+        break;
+      case 2:
+        ctcopy = 3;
+        break;
+    }
+    
+    for (i = 0; i < ctcopy; i++)
+      [result appendString: [NSString stringWithFormat: @"%c", base64EncodingTable[output[i]]]];
+    
+    for (i = ctcopy; i < 4; i++)
+      [result appendString: @"="];
+    
+    ixtext += 3;
+    charsonline += 4;
+    
+    if ((length > 0) && (charsonline >= length))
+      charsonline = 0;
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
 NSComparisonResult bit_versionCompare(NSString *stringA, NSString *stringB) {
   // Extract plain version number from self
   NSString *plainSelf = stringA;