diff --git a/Doc/library/ssl.rst b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
--- a/Doc/library/ssl.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
@@ -1422,6 +1422,13 @@
    The protocol version chosen when constructing the context.  This attribute
    is read-only.
 
+.. attribute:: SSLContext.verify_depth
+
+   The maximum depth for the certificate chain verification that shall be
+   allowed for context
+   
+    .. versionadded:: 3.5
+		      
 .. attribute:: SSLContext.verify_flags
 
    The flags for certificate verification operations. You can set flags like
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
@@ -815,6 +815,17 @@
         with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
             ctx.verify_mode = 42
 
+    def test_verify_depth(self):
+        ctx = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLSv1)
+        # Default value
+        self.assertEqual(ctx.verify_depth, -1)
+        ctx.verify_mode = 0
+        self.assertEqual(ctx.verify_depth, 0)
+
+        for depth in range(120):
+            ctx.verify_depth = depth
+            self.assertEqual(ctx.verify_depth, depth)
+
     @unittest.skipUnless(have_verify_flags(),
                          "verify_flags need OpenSSL > 0.9.8")
     def test_verify_flags(self):
diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -2550,6 +2550,35 @@
     return 0;
 }
 
+
+static PyObject *
+get_verify_depth(PySSLContext *self)
+{
+    int n;
+    n = SSL_CTX_get_verify_depth(self->ctx);
+    return PyLong_FromLong(n);
+}
+
+static int
+set_verify_depth(PySSLContext *self, PyObject *arg)
+{
+    int depth;
+    if (!PyArg_Parse(arg, "i", &depth))
+        return -1;
+    
+    /*
+    SSL will happily take negative numbers -- throw an exception?
+
+    if (depth < -10) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
+                        "invalid value for verify_depth");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    */
+    SSL_CTX_set_verify_depth(self->ctx, depth);
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static PyObject *
 get_verify_flags(PySSLContext *self, void *c)
 {
@@ -3509,6 +3538,8 @@
                        (setter) set_check_hostname, NULL},
     {"options", (getter) get_options,
                 (setter) set_options, NULL},
+    {"verify_depth", (getter) get_verify_depth,
+                     (setter) set_verify_depth, NULL},
     {"verify_flags", (getter) get_verify_flags,
                      (setter) set_verify_flags, NULL},
     {"verify_mode", (getter) get_verify_mode,