diff --git a/httpbin/core.py b/httpbin/core.py
index 764b9af..1e304bd 100644
--- a/httpbin/core.py
+++ b/httpbin/core.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from time import time as now
 from decorator import decorator
 from flask import Flask, Response, request, render_template, redirect, g
 
-from .helpers import get_files, get_headers, status_code, get_dict
+from .helpers import get_files, get_headers, status_code, get_dict, check_basic_authorization
 
 
 app = Flask(__name__)
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ def json_resource(f, runtime=True, *args, **kwargs):
     data = f(*args, **kwargs)
     _t1 = now()
 
+    # we already have a formatted response, move along
+    if isinstance(data, Response):
+        return data
+
     dump = json.dumps(data, sort_keys=True, indent=3)
 
     r = app.make_response(dump)
@@ -196,5 +200,15 @@ def set_cookie(name, value):
     return r
 
 
+@app.route('/basic-auth')
+@json_resource
+def basic_auth():
+    """Prompts the user for authorization using HTTP Basic Auth."""
+
+    if not check_basic_authorization():
+        return status_code(401)
+    return dict(authenticated=True)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     app.run()
diff --git a/httpbin/helpers.py b/httpbin/helpers.py
index 32ca9e7..bba8f93 100644
--- a/httpbin/helpers.py
+++ b/httpbin/helpers.py
@@ -108,4 +108,11 @@ def status_code(code):
         if 'headers' in m:
             r.headers = m['headers']
 
-    return r
\ No newline at end of file
+    return r
+
+
+def check_basic_authorization():
+    """Checks user authentication using HTTP Basic Auth."""
+
+    auth = request.authorization
+    return auth and auth.username == "httpbin" and auth.password == "secret"