diff --git a/_modules/gerrit.py b/_modules/gerrit.py
index bd21b2e..369c2a2 100644
--- a/_modules/gerrit.py
+++ b/_modules/gerrit.py
@@ -457,11 +457,16 @@
     protocol = get('protocol', 'http')
     username = get('user', 'admin')
     password = get('password', 'admin')
+    auth_method = get('auth_method', 'digest')
 
     url = protocol+"://"+str(host)+':'+str(http_port)
 
-    auth = requests.auth.HTTPDigestAuth(
-        username, password)
+    if auth_method == 'digest':
+        auth = requests.auth.HTTPDigestAuth(username, password)
+    elif auth_method == 'basic':
+        auth = requests.auth.HTTPBasicAuth(username, password)
+    else:
+        raise Exception("Unknown auth_method %s" % auth_method)
 
     gerrit = pygerrit.rest.GerritRestAPI(
         url=url, auth=auth)
diff --git a/gerrit/files/_gerrit.conf b/gerrit/files/_gerrit.conf
index 85d04df..4cbbec5 100644
--- a/gerrit/files/_gerrit.conf
+++ b/gerrit/files/_gerrit.conf
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 gerrit:
   host: {{ client.server.host }}
   user: {{ client.server.user }}
+  auth_method: {{ client.server.get('auth_method', 'digest')
   {%- if client.server.protocol is defined %}
   protocol: {{ client.server.protocol }}
   {%- endif %}
@@ -13,4 +14,4 @@
   {%- endif %}
   {%- if client.server.key is defined %}
   keyfile: {{ client.config.key }}
-  {%- endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
+  {%- endif %}