diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a610533..96391b4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def reqs(f):
 
 # -*- Tests Requires -*-
 
-tests_require = reqs('test.txt') + reqs('test_django.txt')
+tests_require = ""#reqs('test.txt') + reqs('test_django.txt')
 
 # -*- Long Description -*-
 
diff --git a/thorn/conf.py b/thorn/conf.py
index bced6af..6280087 100644
--- a/thorn/conf.py
+++ b/thorn/conf.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ class Settings(object):
     default_signal_honors_transaction = False
     default_hmac_signer = 'thorn.utils.hmac:compat_sign'
     default_allow_redirects = False
+    default_raise_http_error = False
 
     def __init__(self, app=None):
         self.app = app_or_default(app or self.app)
@@ -107,6 +108,12 @@ def THORN_ALLOW_REDIRECTS(self):
         return self._get(
             'THORN_ALLOW_REDIRECTS', self.default_allow_redirects)
 
+    @cached_property
+    def THORN_RAISE_HTTP_ERROR(self):
+        # type: () -> bool
+        return self._get(
+            'THORN_RAISE_HTTP_ERROR', self.default_raise_http_error)
+
     def _get(self, key, default=None):
         # type: (str, Any) -> Any
         return self._get_lazy(key, lambda: default)
diff --git a/thorn/dispatch/celery.py b/thorn/dispatch/celery.py
index a514d98..aacae23 100644
--- a/thorn/dispatch/celery.py
+++ b/thorn/dispatch/celery.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 __all__ = ['Dispatcher', 'WorkerDispatcher']
 
-
 class _CeleryDispatcher(base.Dispatcher):
 
     def as_request_group(self, requests):
diff --git a/thorn/request.py b/thorn/request.py
index dc3407b..9a19d25 100644
--- a/thorn/request.py
+++ b/thorn/request.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 from celery import uuid
 from celery.utils import cached_property
-from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError, Timeout
+from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError, HTTPError, Timeout
 from requests.packages.urllib3.util.url import Url, parse_url
 from vine import maybe_promise, promise
 from vine.abstract import Thenable, ThenableProxy
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ def __init__(self, event, data, sender, subscriber,
         ))
         if user_agent:
             self.user_agent = user_agent
+        self.raise_http_error = self.app.settings.THORN_RAISE_HTTP_ERROR
+        if self.raise_http_error:
+            self.connection_errors = (ConnectionError, HTTPError)
 
     def validate_recipient(self, url):
         # type: (str) -> None
@@ -142,6 +145,8 @@ def dispatch(self, session=None, propagate=False):
             self.validate_recipient(self.subscriber.url)
             with self._finalize_unless_request_error(propagate):
                 self.response = self.post(session=session)
+                if self.raise_http_error:
+                    self.response.raise_for_status()
             return self
 
     @contextmanager
@@ -198,18 +203,35 @@ def post(self, session=None):
         host, url = self.to_safeurl(self.subscriber.url)
 
         with self.session_or_acquire(session) as session:
-            return session.post(
-                url=url,
-                data=self.data,
-                allow_redirects=self.allow_redirects,
-                timeout=self.timeout,
-                headers=self.annotate_headers({
-                    'Hook-HMAC': self.sign_request(self.subscriber, self.data),
-                    'Hook-Subscription': str(self.subscriber.uuid),
-                    'Host': host,
-                }),
-                verify=False,
-            )
+            try:
+                return session.post(
+                    url=url,
+                    data=self.data,
+                    allow_redirects=self.allow_redirects,
+                    timeout=self.timeout,
+                    headers=self.annotate_headers({
+                        'Hook-HMAC': self.sign_request(self.subscriber, self.data),
+                        'Hook-Subscription': str(self.subscriber.uuid),
+                        'Host': host,
+                    }),
+                    verify=False,
+                )
+            except requests.exceptions.SSLError as e:
+                addr = socket.gethostbyname(host)
+                url = url.replace(addr, host)
+
+                return session.post(
+                    url=url,
+                    data=self.data,
+                    allow_redirects=self.allow_redirects,
+                    timeout=self.timeout,
+                    headers=self.annotate_headers({
+                        'Hook-HMAC': self.sign_request(self.subscriber, self.data),
+                        'Hook-Subscription': str(self.subscriber.uuid),
+                        'Host': host,
+                    }),
+                    verify=False,
+                )
 
     def handle_timeout_error(self, exc, propagate=False):
         # type: (Exception, bool) -> Any