diff --git a/elasticsearch/connection/http.py b/elasticsearch/connection/http.py
index 9e15e43e..d6399848 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/connection/http.py
+++ b/elasticsearch/connection/http.py
@@ -15,18 +15,23 @@ class RequestsHttpConnection(Connection):
 
     :arg http_auth: optional http auth information as either ':' separated
         string or a tuple
+    :arg use_https: use https for the connection if `True`
     """
-    def __init__(self, host='localhost', port=9200, http_auth=None, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, host='localhost', port=9200, http_auth=None, use_https=False, **kwargs):
         super(RequestsHttpConnection, self).__init__(host=host, port=port, **kwargs)
         self.session = requests.session()
-        if http_auth is not None: 
+        if http_auth is not None:
             if not isinstance(http_auth, tuple):
                 http_auth = tuple(http_auth.split(':', 1))
             self.session.auth = http_auth
+        self.base_url = 'http%s://%s:%d%s' % (
+            's' if use_https else '',
+            host, port, self.url_prefix
+        )
 
 
     def perform_request(self, method, url, params=None, body=None, timeout=None):
-        url = self.host + self.url_prefix + url
+        url = self.base_url + url
 
         # use prepared requests so that requests formats url and params for us to log
         request = requests.Request(method, url, params=params or {}, data=body).prepare()
@@ -54,8 +59,9 @@ class Urllib3HttpConnection(Connection):
 
     :arg http_auth: optional http auth information as either ':' separated
         string or a tuple
+    :arg use_https: use https for the connection if `True`
     """
-    def __init__(self, host='localhost', port=9200, http_auth=None, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, host='localhost', port=9200, http_auth=None, use_https=False, **kwargs):
         super(Urllib3HttpConnection, self).__init__(host=host, port=port, **kwargs)
         headers = {}
         if http_auth is not None:
@@ -63,7 +69,11 @@ class Urllib3HttpConnection(Connection):
                 http_auth = ':'.join(http_auth)
             headers = urllib3.make_headers(basic_auth=http_auth)
 
-        self.pool = urllib3.HTTPConnectionPool(host, port=port, timeout=kwargs.get('timeout', None), headers=headers)
+        pool_class = urllib3.HTTPConnectionPool
+        if use_https:
+            pool_class = urllib3.HTTPSConnectionPool
+
+        self.pool = pool_class(host, port=port, timeout=kwargs.get('timeout', None), headers=headers)
 
     def perform_request(self, method, url, params=None, body=None, timeout=None):
         url = self.url_prefix + url
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
index c1f68719..f5cefec7 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_connection.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import re
 from mock import Mock, patch
+import urllib3
 
 from elasticsearch.exceptions import TransportError
 from elasticsearch.connection import RequestsHttpConnection, Urllib3HttpConnection
@@ -15,6 +16,13 @@ class TestUrllib3Connection(TestCase):
         con = Urllib3HttpConnection(http_auth=('username', 'secret'))
         self.assertEquals({'authorization': 'Basic dXNlcm5hbWU6c2VjcmV0'}, con.pool.headers)
 
+    def test_uses_https_if_specified(self):
+        con = Urllib3HttpConnection(use_https=True)
+        self.assertIsInstance(con.pool, urllib3.HTTPSConnectionPool)
+
+    def test_doesnt_use_https_if_not_specified(self):
+        con = Urllib3HttpConnection()
+        self.assertIsInstance(con.pool, urllib3.HTTPConnectionPool)
 
 class TestRequestsConnection(TestCase):
     def _get_mock_connection(self, connection_params={}, status_code=200, response_body=u'{}'):
@@ -41,6 +49,14 @@ class TestRequestsConnection(TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(1, len(args))
         return args[0]
 
+    def test_use_https_if_specified(self):
+        con = self._get_mock_connection({'use_https': True, 'url_prefix': 'url'})
+        request = self._get_request(con, 'GET', '/')
+
+        self.assertEquals('https://localhost:9200/url/', request.url)
+        self.assertEquals('GET', request.method)
+        self.assertEquals(None, request.body)
+
     def test_http_auth(self):
         con = RequestsHttpConnection(http_auth='username:secret')
         self.assertEquals(('username', 'secret'), con.session.auth)