diff -r 3738d270c54a Doc/library/http.client.rst
--- a/Doc/library/http.client.rst	Mon Dec 31 11:59:48 2012 -0600
+++ b/Doc/library/http.client.rst	Mon Dec 31 15:28:20 2012 -0800
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@
 :class:`HTTPConnection` instances have the following methods:
 
 
-.. method:: HTTPConnection.request(method, url, body=None, headers={})
+.. method:: HTTPConnection.request(method, url, body=None, headers={}, skip_host=False, skip_accept_encoding=False)
 
    This will send a request to the server using the HTTP request
    method *method* and the selector *url*.  If the *body* argument is
@@ -424,10 +424,16 @@
 
    The *headers* argument should be a mapping of extra HTTP
    headers to send with the request.
+
+   To disable automatic sending of ``Host:`` or ``Accept-Encoding:`` headers,
+   specify *skip_host* or *skip_accept_encoding* with non-False values.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.2
       *body* can now be an iterable.
 
+   .. versonchanged:: 3.4
+      added *skip_host* and *skip_accept_encoding*.
+
 .. method:: HTTPConnection.getresponse()
 
    Should be called after a request is sent to get the response from the server.
diff -r 3738d270c54a Lib/http/client.py
--- a/Lib/http/client.py	Mon Dec 31 11:59:48 2012 -0600
+++ b/Lib/http/client.py	Mon Dec 31 15:28:20 2012 -0800
@@ -1047,9 +1047,9 @@
             raise CannotSendHeader()
         self._send_output(message_body)
 
-    def request(self, method, url, body=None, headers={}):
+    def request(self, method, url, body=None, headers={}, skip_host=False, skip_accept_encoding=False):
         """Send a complete request to the server."""
-        self._send_request(method, url, body, headers)
+        self._send_request(method, url, body, headers, skip_host=skip_host, skip_accept_encoding=skip_accept_encoding)
 
     def _set_content_length(self, body):
         # Set the content-length based on the body.
@@ -1068,13 +1068,13 @@
         if thelen is not None:
             self.putheader('Content-Length', thelen)
 
-    def _send_request(self, method, url, body, headers):
+    def _send_request(self, method, url, body, headers, skip_host=False, skip_accept_encoding=False):
         # Honor explicitly requested Host: and Accept-Encoding: headers.
         header_names = dict.fromkeys([k.lower() for k in headers])
         skips = {}
-        if 'host' in header_names:
+        if skip_host or ('host' in header_names):
             skips['skip_host'] = 1
-        if 'accept-encoding' in header_names:
+        if skip_accept_encoding or ('accept-encoding' in header_names):
             skips['skip_accept_encoding'] = 1
 
         self.putrequest(method, url, **skips)
diff -r 3738d270c54a Lib/test/test_httplib.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_httplib.py	Mon Dec 31 11:59:48 2012 -0600
+++ b/Lib/test/test_httplib.py	Mon Dec 31 15:28:20 2012 -0800
@@ -822,6 +822,16 @@
             self.assertEqual("5", message.get("content-length"))
             self.assertEqual(b'body\xc1', f.read())
 
+    def test_skip_accept_encoding(self):
+        self.conn.request("PUT", "/url", "body", skip_accept_encoding=True)
+        message, f = self.get_headers_and_fp()
+        self.assertIsNone(message.get("accept-encoding"))
+
+    def test_skip_host(self):
+        self.conn.request("PUT", "/url", "body", skip_host=True)
+        message, f = self.get_headers_and_fp()
+        self.assertIsNone(message.get("host"))
+
 
 class HTTPResponseTest(TestCase):
 
diff -r 3738d270c54a Misc/ACKS
--- a/Misc/ACKS	Mon Dec 31 11:59:48 2012 -0600
+++ b/Misc/ACKS	Mon Dec 31 15:28:20 2012 -0800
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@
 David Binger
 Dominic Binks
 Philippe Biondi
+Bryan Bishop
 Stuart Bishop
 Roy Bixler
 Jonathan Black