diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index 25fbf82..cbc7c93 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -95,6 +95,17 @@ directory, not directly the ones provided with this module.
 You'll have to restart your Solr server after making such changes, for them to
 take effect.
 
+Hidden Configuration
+----------
+
+The variable search_api_solr_connection_class is used to define the connection
+information that will be used to connect to solr. This was abstracted into a
+variable to allow services that automatically setup solr for a particular site
+to override the default connection class.
+
+The default is the SearchApiSolrConnection class in solr_connection.inc, which
+should be used as the base class for custom modifications.
+
 Developers
 ----------
 
diff --git a/search_api_solr.install b/search_api_solr.install
index 60270c5..5c35455 100644
--- a/search_api_solr.install
+++ b/search_api_solr.install
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ function search_api_solr_uninstall() {
       ->execute();
   }
   variable_del('search_api_solr_last_optimize');
+  variable_del('search_api_solr_connection_class');
   variable_del('search_api_solr_autocomplete_max_occurrences');
 }
 
diff --git a/service.inc b/service.inc
index 9047b08..98a7259 100644
--- a/service.inc
+++ b/service.inc
@@ -270,7 +270,13 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
       if (!class_exists('Apache_Solr_Service')) {
         throw new Exception(t('SolrPhpClient library not found! Please follow the instructions in search_api_solr/INSTALL.txt for installing the Solr search module.'));
       }
-      $this->solr = new SearchApiSolrConnection($this->options);
+      $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+
+      if ( !class_exists( $class ) ) {
+        $class = 'SearchApiSolrConnection';
+      }
+
+      $this->solr = new $class($this->options);
     }
   }
 
@@ -564,7 +570,8 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
         }
       }
       $mlt_params['mlt.fl'] = implode(',', $mlt_fl);
-      $keys = 'id:' . SearchApiSolrConnection::phrase($this->createId($index->machine_name, $mlt['id']));
+      $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+      $keys = 'id:' . call_user_func(array($class, 'phrase'), $this->createId($index->machine_name, $mlt['id']));
     }
 
     // Set defaults
@@ -881,7 +888,8 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
       }
       else {
         $key = trim($key);
-        $key = SearchApiSolrConnection::phrase($key);
+        $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+        $key = call_user_func(array($class, 'phrase'), $key);
         $k[] = $key;
       }
     }
@@ -951,7 +959,8 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
    * and operator.
    */
   protected function createFilterQuery($field, $value, $operator, $field_info) {
-    $field = SearchApiSolrConnection::escapeFieldName($field);
+    $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+    $field = call_user_func(array($class, 'escapeFieldName'), $field);
     if ($value === NULL) {
       return ($operator == '=' ? '-' : '') . "$field:[* TO *]";
     }
@@ -990,8 +999,9 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
         $value = format_date($value, 'custom', self::SOLR_DATE_FORMAT, 'UTC');
         break;
     }
-    return SearchApiSolrConnection::phrase($value);
-  }
+    $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+    return call_user_func(array($class, 'phrase'), $value);
+ }
 
   /**
    * Helper method for creating the facet field parameters.
@@ -1015,7 +1025,8 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
       // Check for the "or" operator.
       if (isset($info['operator']) && $info['operator'] === 'or') {
         // Remember that filters for this field should be tagged.
-        $escaped = SearchApiSolrConnection::escapeFieldName($fields[$info['field']]);
+        $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
+        $escaped = call_user_func(array($class, 'escapeFieldName'), $fields[$info['field']]);
         $taggedFields[$escaped] = "{!tag=$escaped}";
         // Add the facet field.
         $facet_params['facet.field'][] = "{!ex=$escaped}$field";
@@ -1440,8 +1451,9 @@ class SearchApiSolrService extends SearchApiAbstractService {
 
     // Restrict search to searched indexes.
     $index_filter = array();
+    $class = variable_get('search_api_solr_connection_class', 'SearchApiSolrConnection');
     foreach ($query->getIndexes() as $index_id => $index) {
-      $index_filter[] = 'index_id:' . SearchApiSolrConnection::phrase($index_id);
+      $index_filter[] = 'index_id:' . call_user_func(array($class, 'phrase'), $index_id); 
     }
     $fq[] = implode(' OR ', $index_filter);