diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index 5b252bc..a91037b 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 
+# must be here for adsmutils to override it using env vars
+# but if left empty (resolving to False) it won't be used
+SERVICE_TOKEN = None
+
 LOG_STDOUT = True
 VAULT_QUERY_URL = 'https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/vault/query'
 BUMBLEBEE_URL = 'https://qa.adsabs.harvard.edu/'
diff --git a/tugboat/client.py b/tugboat/client.py
index e3d1a01..9e46b57 100644
--- a/tugboat/client.py
+++ b/tugboat/client.py
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
+import requests
+from flask import current_app, request
 
-from flask import current_app
+requests.packages.urllib3.disable_warnings()
 
-client = lambda: Client(current_app.config).session
+client = lambda: Client(current_app.config)
 
 
 class Client:
     """
-    The Client class is a thin wrapper around adsmutils ADSFlask client; Use it as a centralized
+    The Client class is a thin wrapper around requests; Use it as a centralized
     place to set application specific parameters, such as the oauth2
     authorization header
     """
@@ -16,4 +18,20 @@ def __init__(self, config):
         :param client_config: configuration dictionary of the client
         """
 
-        self.session = current_app.client # Use HTTP pool provided by adsmutils ADSFlask
+        self.session = requests.Session()
+
+    def _sanitize(self, args, kwargs):
+        headers = kwargs.get('headers', {})
+        if 'Authorization' not in headers:
+            headers['Authorization'] = current_app.config.get('SERVICE_TOKEN', None) or request.headers.get('X-Forwarded-Authorization', request.headers.get('Authorization', None))
+        kwargs['headers'] = headers
+        return (args, kwargs)
+
+    def get(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        args, kwargs = self._sanitize(args, kwargs)
+        return self.session.get(*args, **kwargs)
+    
+    def post(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        args, kwargs = self._sanitize(args, kwargs)
+        return self.session.post(*args, **kwargs)
+
diff --git a/tugboat/views.py b/tugboat/views.py
index 6d4b442..f91a606 100644
--- a/tugboat/views.py
+++ b/tugboat/views.py
@@ -1425,7 +1425,6 @@ def post(self):
             'fq': ['{!bitset}']
         }
 
-        headers={'Authorization': current_app.config.get('SERVICE_TOKEN', request.headers.get('X-Forwarded-Authorization', request.headers.get('Authorization', '')))}
 
         # POST the query
         # https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/vault/query