diff --git a/elasticsearch.go b/elasticsearch.go
index 4224754702..0d312aa500 100755
--- a/elasticsearch.go
+++ b/elasticsearch.go
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	Password  string   // Password for HTTP Basic Authentication.
 
 	CloudID string // Endpoint for the Elastic Service (https://elastic.co/cloud).
+	APIKey  string // Base64-encoded token for authorization; if set, overrides username and password.
+
 	Transport http.RoundTripper  // The HTTP transport object.
 	Logger    estransport.Logger // The logger object.
 }
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ func NewClient(cfg Config) (*Client, error) {
 		URLs:     urls,
 		Username: cfg.Username,
 		Password: cfg.Password,
+		APIKey:   cfg.APIKey,
 
 		Transport: cfg.Transport,
 		Logger:    cfg.Logger,
diff --git a/estransport/estransport.go b/estransport/estransport.go
index 70ce829f93..cd5c62f3c2 100755
--- a/estransport/estransport.go
+++ b/estransport/estransport.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	URLs     []*url.URL
 	Username string
 	Password string
+	APIKey   string
 
 	Transport http.RoundTripper
 	Logger    Logger
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ type Client struct {
 	urls     []*url.URL
 	username string
 	password string
+	apikey   string
 
 	transport http.RoundTripper
 	selector  Selector
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ func New(cfg Config) *Client {
 		urls:     cfg.URLs,
 		username: cfg.Username,
 		password: cfg.Password,
+		apikey:   cfg.APIKey,
 
 		transport: cfg.Transport,
 		selector:  NewRoundRobinSelector(cfg.URLs...),
@@ -89,7 +92,7 @@ func (c *Client) Perform(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 	c.setUserAgent(req)
 
 	if _, ok := req.Header["Authorization"]; !ok {
-		c.setBasicAuth(u, req)
+		c.setAuthorization(u, req)
 	}
 
 	var dupReqBody *bytes.Buffer
@@ -154,13 +157,22 @@ func (c *Client) setURL(u *url.URL, req *http.Request) *http.Request {
 	return req
 }
 
-func (c *Client) setBasicAuth(u *url.URL, req *http.Request) *http.Request {
+func (c *Client) setAuthorization(u *url.URL, req *http.Request) *http.Request {
 	if u.User != nil {
 		password, _ := u.User.Password()
 		req.SetBasicAuth(u.User.Username(), password)
 		return req
 	}
 
+	if c.apikey != "" {
+		var b bytes.Buffer
+		b.Grow(len("APIKey ") + len(c.apikey))
+		b.WriteString("APIKey ")
+		b.WriteString(c.apikey)
+		req.Header.Set("Authorization", b.String())
+		return req
+	}
+
 	if c.username != "" && c.password != "" {
 		req.SetBasicAuth(c.username, c.password)
 		return req
diff --git a/estransport/estransport_internal_test.go b/estransport/estransport_internal_test.go
index 29e0f7724b..5fcc9dff46 100755
--- a/estransport/estransport_internal_test.go
+++ b/estransport/estransport_internal_test.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func TestTransportPerform(t *testing.T) {
 		tp := New(Config{URLs: []*url.URL{u}})
 
 		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
-		tp.setBasicAuth(u, req)
+		tp.setAuthorization(u, req)
 
 		username, password, ok := req.BasicAuth()
 		if !ok {
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestTransportPerform(t *testing.T) {
 		tp := New(Config{URLs: []*url.URL{u}, Username: "foo", Password: "bar"})
 
 		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
-		tp.setBasicAuth(u, req)
+		tp.setAuthorization(u, req)
 
 		username, password, ok := req.BasicAuth()
 		if !ok {
@@ -126,6 +126,23 @@ func TestTransportPerform(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	})
 
+	t.Run("Sets APIKey Authentication from configuration", func(t *testing.T) {
+		u, _ := url.Parse("http://example.com")
+		tp := New(Config{URLs: []*url.URL{u}, APIKey: "Zm9vYmFy"}) // foobar
+
+		req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
+		tp.setAuthorization(u, req)
+
+		value := req.Header.Get("Authorization")
+		if value == "" {
+			t.Errorf("Expected the request to have the Authorization header set")
+		}
+
+		if value != "APIKey Zm9vYmFy" {
+			t.Errorf(`Unexpected value for Authorization: want="APIKey Zm9vYmFy", got="%s"`, value)
+		}
+	})
+
 	t.Run("Sets UserAgent", func(t *testing.T) {
 		u, _ := url.Parse("http://example.com")
 		tp := New(Config{URLs: []*url.URL{u}})