diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 291e1c76..4b56e39a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ index.set_settings searchableAttributes: %w(
 )
 ```
 
+**Note:** If you are behind a proxy, set `HTTP_PROXY` environment variable.
+
 ## Search
 
 You can now search for contacts using `firstname`, `lastname`, `company`, etc. (even with typos):
diff --git a/lib/algolia/client.rb b/lib/algolia/client.rb
index 5e4afb4c..97f7f032 100644
--- a/lib/algolia/client.rb
+++ b/lib/algolia/client.rb
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ def delete(uri, type = :write, request_options = {})
     def thread_local_hosts(read)
       thread_hosts_key = read ? "algolia_search_hosts_#{application_id}" : "algolia_hosts_#{application_id}"
       Thread.current[thread_hosts_key] ||= (read ? search_hosts : hosts).each_with_index.map do |host, i|
-        client = HTTPClient.new
+        client = HTTPClient.new(ENV["HTTP_PROXY"])
         client.ssl_config.ssl_version = @ssl_version if @ssl && @ssl_version
         client.transparent_gzip_decompression = @gzip
         client.ssl_config.add_trust_ca File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'resources', 'ca-bundle.crt'))