diff --git includes/common.inc includes/common.inc
index 9fc82bb..7657ccc 100644
--- includes/common.inc
+++ includes/common.inc
@@ -784,6 +784,21 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
     $result->code = -1002;
     return $result;
   }
+  // Proxy setup - normal sites don't need a proxy.
+  $proxy_server = variable_get('proxy_server', '');
+  if ($proxy_server && _drupal_http_use_proxy($uri['host'])) {
+    // Since the url is passed as the path, we won't use the parsed values.
+    $uri = array();
+    // We assume all proxy communication is over http.
+    $uri['scheme'] = 'http';
+    $uri['host'] = $proxy_server;
+    $uri['port'] = variable_get('proxy_port', 8080);
+    $uri['path'] = $url;
+    if ($proxy_username = variable_get('proxy_username', '')) {
+      $proxy_password = variable_get('proxy_password', '');
+      $options['headers']['Proxy-Authorization'] = 'Basic ' . base64_encode($proxy_username . (!empty($proxy_password) ? ":" . $proxy_password : ''));
+    }
+  }
 
   timer_start(__FUNCTION__);
 
@@ -1022,6 +1037,18 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
 
   return $result;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Helper function for determining hosts excluded from needing a proxy.
+ *
+ * @return
+ *   TRUE if a proxy should be used for this host.
+ */
+function _drupal_http_use_proxy($host) {
+  $proxy_exceptions = variable_get('proxy_exceptions', array('localhost', '127.0.0.1'));
+  return !in_array(strtolower($host), $proxy_exceptions, TRUE);
+}
+
 /**
  * @} End of "HTTP handling".
  */
diff --git sites/default/default.settings.php sites/default/default.settings.php
index d1bb23a..ff08992 100644
--- sites/default/default.settings.php
+++ sites/default/default.settings.php
@@ -429,3 +429,18 @@ ini_set('session.cookie_lifetime', 2000000);
  * Remove the leading hash signs to disable.
  */
 # $conf['allow_authorize_operations'] = FALSE;
+
+/**
+ * External access proxy settings:
+ *
+ * If your site must access the internet via a web proxy then you can enter
+ * the proxy settings here. Currently only basic authentication is supported
+ * by using the username and password variables. The proxy_exceptions variable
+ * is an array of host names to be accessed directly, not via proxy.
+ */
+# $conf['proxy_server'] = '';
+# $conf['proxy_port'] = 8080;
+# $conf['proxy_username'] = '';
+# $conf['proxy_password'] = '';
+# $conf['proxy_exceptions'] = array('127.0.0.1', 'localhost');
+