diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 8e0593b..1d3fc6a 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ Read the user's default netrc file (`$HOME/.netrc` on Unix;
 
     n = Netrc.read
 
+Configure netrc to allow permissive files (with permissions other than 0600):
+
+    Netrc.configure do |config|
+      config[:allow_permissive_netrc_file] = true
+    end
+
 Look up a username and password:
 
     user, pass = n["example.com"]
diff --git a/lib/netrc.rb b/lib/netrc.rb
index 9b37520..b3fa321 100644
--- a/lib/netrc.rb
+++ b/lib/netrc.rb
@@ -15,9 +15,18 @@ def self.default_path
     end
   end
 
+  def self.config
+    @config ||= {}
+  end
+
+  def self.configure
+    yield(self.config) if block_given?
+    self.config
+  end
+
   def self.check_permissions(path)
     perm = File.stat(path).mode & 0777
-    if perm != 0600 && !(WINDOWS)
+    if perm != 0600 && !(WINDOWS) && !(Netrc.config[:allow_permissive_netrc_file])
       raise Error, "Permission bits for '#{path}' should be 0600, but are "+perm.to_s(8)
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/test_netrc.rb b/test/test_netrc.rb
index 3bb459d..177985b 100644
--- a/test/test_netrc.rb
+++ b/test/test_netrc.rb
@@ -62,12 +62,30 @@ def test_permission_error
     original_windows = Netrc::WINDOWS
     Netrc.const_set(:WINDOWS, false)
     Netrc.read("data/permissive.netrc")
+    assert false, "Should raise an error if permissions are wrong on a non-windows system."
   rescue Netrc::Error
-    assert true, "Should raise an error if permissions are wrong on a non-windows system."
+    assert true, ""
   ensure
     Netrc.const_set(:WINDOWS, original_windows)
   end
 
+  def test_allow_permissive_netrc_file_option
+    Netrc.configure do |config|
+      config[:allow_permissive_netrc_file] = true
+    end
+    original_windows = Netrc::WINDOWS
+    Netrc.const_set(:WINDOWS, false)
+    Netrc.read("data/permissive.netrc")
+    assert true, ""
+  rescue Netrc::Error
+    assert false, "Should not raise an error if allow_permissive_netrc_file option is set to true"
+  ensure
+    Netrc.const_set(:WINDOWS, original_windows)
+    Netrc.configure do |config|
+      config[:allow_permissive_netrc_file] = false
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_permission_error_windows
     original_windows = Netrc::WINDOWS
     Netrc.const_set(:WINDOWS, true)