diff --git a/src/Purl.php b/src/Purl.php
index 41189f0..31db926 100644
--- a/src/Purl.php
+++ b/src/Purl.php
@@ -205,7 +205,12 @@ public function execute()
         if (isset($this->_options[CURLOPT_COOKIE])) {
             $this->_headers['Cookie'] = $this->_options[CURLOPT_COOKIE];            
         }
-                
+              
+        // Support basic authentication
+        if (isset($this->_options[CURLOPT_USERPWD])) {
+            $this->_headers['Authorization'] = 'Basic ' . base64_encode($this->_options[CURLOPT_USERPWD]);
+        } 
+        
         if ($this->_headers) {
             foreach ($this->_headers as $name => $value) {
                 $headers .= $name . ': ' . $value . "\r\n";
@@ -319,4 +324,4 @@ private function _errorHandler()
             $this->_errorno = 100;                         
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}