diff --git a/src/ibrowse.erl b/src/ibrowse.erl
index fc90dc6..85bb75c 100644
--- a/src/ibrowse.erl
+++ b/src/ibrowse.erl
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ stop() ->
 %% The Status return value indicates the HTTP status code returned by the webserver
 %% @spec send_req(Url::string(), Headers::headerList(), Method::method()) -> response()
 %% headerList() = [{header(), value()}]
-%% header() = atom() | string()
+%% header() = atom() | string() | binary()
 %% value() = term()
 %% method() = get | post | head | options | put | delete | trace | mkcol | propfind | proppatch | lock | unlock | move | copy
 %% Status = string()
diff --git a/src/ibrowse_http_client.erl b/src/ibrowse_http_client.erl
index 64fc443..6ee806b 100644
--- a/src/ibrowse_http_client.erl
+++ b/src/ibrowse_http_client.erl
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ make_request(Method, Headers, AbsPath, RelPath, Body, Options,
     HttpVsn = http_vsn_string(get_value(http_vsn, Options, {1,1})),
     Fun1 = fun({X, Y}) when is_atom(X) ->
                    {to_lower(atom_to_list(X)), X, Y};
-              ({X, Y}) when is_list(X) ->
+              ({X, Y}) when is_list(X); is_binary(X) ->
                    {to_lower(X), X, Y}
            end,
     Headers_0 = [Fun1(X) || X <- Headers],
@@ -1010,7 +1010,7 @@ encode_headers(L) ->
     encode_headers(L, []).
 encode_headers([{http_vsn, _Val} | T], Acc) ->
     encode_headers(T, Acc);
-encode_headers([{Name,Val} | T], Acc) when is_list(Name) ->
+encode_headers([{Name,Val} | T], Acc) when is_list(Name); is_binary(Name) ->
     encode_headers(T, [[Name, ": ", fmt_val(Val), crnl()] | Acc]);
 encode_headers([{Name,Val} | T], Acc) when is_atom(Name) ->
     encode_headers(T, [[atom_to_list(Name), ": ", fmt_val(Val), crnl()] | Acc]);
@@ -1072,7 +1072,7 @@ parse_response(Data, #state{reply_buffer = Acc, reqs = Reqs,
             {HttpVsn, StatCode, Headers_1, Status_line, Raw_headers} = parse_headers(Headers),
             do_trace("HttpVsn: ~p StatusCode: ~p Headers_1 -> ~1000.p~n", [HttpVsn, StatCode, Headers_1]),
             LCHeaders = [{to_lower(X), Y} || {X,Y} <- Headers_1],
-            ConnClose = to_lower(get_value("connection", LCHeaders, "false")),
+            ConnClose = to_lower(get_header_value("connection", LCHeaders, "false")),
             IsClosing = is_connection_closing(HttpVsn, ConnClose),
             State_0 = case IsClosing of
                           true ->
@@ -1096,11 +1096,11 @@ parse_response(Data, #state{reply_buffer = Acc, reqs = Reqs,
                                             http_status_code=StatCode}
                       end,
             put(conn_close, ConnClose),
-            TransferEncodings = to_lower(get_value("transfer-encoding", LCHeaders, "false")),
+            TransferEncodings = to_lower(get_header_value("transfer-encoding", LCHeaders, "false")),
             IsChunked = lists:any(fun(Enc) -> string:strip(Enc) =:= "chunked" end,
                                   string:tokens(TransferEncodings, ",")),
             Head_response_with_body = lists:member({workaround, head_response_with_body}, Options),
-            case get_value("content-length", LCHeaders, undefined) of
+            case get_header_value("content-length", LCHeaders, undefined) of
                 _ when Method == connect,
                        hd(StatCode) == $2 ->
                     {_, Reqs_1} = queue:out(Reqs),
@@ -1906,6 +1906,8 @@ cancel_timer(Ref, {eat_message, Msg}) ->
 make_req_id() ->
     now().
 
+to_lower(Str) when is_binary(Str) ->
+    to_lower(binary_to_list(Str));
 to_lower(Str) ->
     to_lower(Str, []).
 to_lower([H|T], Acc) when H >= $A, H =< $Z ->
@@ -2021,3 +2023,13 @@ to_binary({X, _}) when is_function(X) -> to_binary(X);
 to_binary(X) when is_function(X)      -> <<"body generated by function">>;
 to_binary(X) when is_list(X)          -> list_to_binary(X);
 to_binary(X) when is_binary(X)        -> X.
+
+get_header_value(Name, Headers, Default_val) ->
+    case lists:keysearch(Name, 1, Headers) of
+        false ->
+            Default_val;
+        {value, {_, Val}} when is_binary(Val) ->
+            binary_to_list(Val);
+        {value, {_, Val}} ->
+            Val
+    end.
diff --git a/test/ibrowse_test.erl b/test/ibrowse_test.erl
index 4d759eb..407ffcb 100644
--- a/test/ibrowse_test.erl
+++ b/test/ibrowse_test.erl
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
          test_303_response_with_no_body/1,
          test_303_response_with_a_body/0,
          test_303_response_with_a_body/1,
+         test_binary_headers/0,
+         test_binary_headers/1,
          test_generate_body_0/0
 	]).
 
@@ -239,8 +241,8 @@ dump_errors(Key, Iod) ->
                     {local_test_fun, test_pipeline_head_timeout, []},
                     {local_test_fun, test_head_transfer_encoding, []},
                     {local_test_fun, test_head_response_with_body, []},
-                    {local_test_fun, test_303_response_with_a_body, []}
-
+                    {local_test_fun, test_303_response_with_a_body, []},
+                    {local_test_fun, test_binary_headers, []}
 		   ]).
 
 unit_tests() ->
@@ -466,6 +468,28 @@ test_head_transfer_encoding(Url) ->
             {test_failed, Res}
     end.
 
+%%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+%% Test what happens when the response to a HEAD request is a
+%% Chunked-Encoding response with a non-empty body. Issue #67 on
+%% Github
+%% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+test_binary_headers() ->
+    clear_msg_q(),
+    test_binary_headers("http://localhost:8181/ibrowse_echo_header").
+
+test_binary_headers(Url) ->
+    case ibrowse:send_req(Url, [{<<"x-binary">>, <<"x-header">>}], get) of
+        {ok, "200", Headers, _} ->
+            case proplists:get_value("x-binary", Headers) of
+                "x-header" ->
+                    success;
+                V ->
+                    {fail, V}
+            end;
+        Res ->
+            {test_failed, Res}
+    end.
+
 %%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% Test what happens when the response to a HEAD request is a
 %% Chunked-Encoding response with a non-empty body. Issue #67 on
diff --git a/test/ibrowse_test_server.erl b/test/ibrowse_test_server.erl
index 8aed065..703227d 100644
--- a/test/ibrowse_test_server.erl
+++ b/test/ibrowse_test_server.erl
@@ -155,6 +155,25 @@ process_request(Sock, Sock_type,
                          uri = {abs_path, "/ibrowse_head_transfer_enc"}}) ->
     Resp = <<"HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\nServer: Apache-Coyote/1.1\r\nContent-Length:5\r\nDate: Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:53:49 GMT\r\n\r\nabcde">>,
     do_send(Sock, Sock_type, Resp);
+
+process_request(Sock, Sock_type,
+                #request{method='GET',
+                         headers = Headers,
+                         uri = {abs_path, "/ibrowse_echo_header"}}) ->
+    Tag = "x-binary",
+    Headers_1 = [{to_lower(X), to_lower(Y)} || {http_header, _, X, _, Y} <- Headers],
+    X_binary_header_val = case lists:keysearch(Tag, 1, Headers_1) of
+                              false ->
+                                  "not_found";
+                              {value, {_, V}} ->
+                                  V
+                          end,
+    Resp = [<<"HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n">>,
+            <<"Server: ibrowse_test\r\n">>,
+            Tag, ": ", X_binary_header_val, "\r\n",
+            <<"Content-Length: 0\r\n\r\n">>],
+    do_send(Sock, Sock_type, Resp);
+
 process_request(Sock, Sock_type,
                 #request{method='HEAD',
                          headers = _Headers,
@@ -231,3 +250,7 @@ split_list_at(List2, 0, List1) ->
 split_list_at([H | List2], N, List1) ->
     split_list_at(List2, N-1, [H | List1]).
 
+to_lower(X) when is_atom(X) ->
+    list_to_atom(to_lower(atom_to_list(X)));
+to_lower(X) when is_list(X) ->
+    string:to_lower(X).