diff --git a/lib/fastimage.rb b/lib/fastimage.rb
index f6183f7..59efd8e 100644
--- a/lib/fastimage.rb
+++ b/lib/fastimage.rb
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ class FastImage
   def initialize(uri, options={})
     @property = options[:type_only] ? :type : :size
     @timeout = options[:timeout] || DefaultTimeout
+    @proxy_url = options[:proxy]
     @uri = uri
 
     if uri.respond_to?(:read)
@@ -259,7 +260,11 @@ class FastImage
 
   def proxy_uri
     begin
-      proxy = ENV['http_proxy'] && ENV['http_proxy'] != "" ? Addressable::URI.parse(ENV['http_proxy']) : nil
+      if @proxy_url
+        proxy = Addressable::URI.parse(@proxy_url)
+      else
+        proxy = ENV['http_proxy'] && ENV['http_proxy'] != "" ? Addressable::URI.parse(ENV['http_proxy']) : nil
+      end
     rescue Addressable::URI::InvalidURIError
       proxy = nil
     end
diff --git a/test/test.rb b/test/test.rb
index 3cc99a1..c5b718c 100644
--- a/test/test.rb
+++ b/test/test.rb
@@ -245,6 +245,13 @@ class FastImageTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal actual_size, size
   end
 
+  def test_should_fetch_via_proxy_option
+    file = "test.gif"
+    actual_size = GoodFixtures[file][1]
+    size = FastImage.size(TestUrl + file, proxy: "http://my.proxy.host:8080")
+    assert_equal actual_size, size
+  end
+
   def test_should_handle_https_image
     size = FastImage.size(HTTPSImage)
     assert_equal HTTPSImageInfo[1], size