diff --git a/src/main/java/com/pusher/client/util/HttpAuthorizer.java b/src/main/java/com/pusher/client/util/HttpAuthorizer.java
index bfee012c..ffb88852 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/pusher/client/util/HttpAuthorizer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/pusher/client/util/HttpAuthorizer.java
@@ -86,16 +86,11 @@ public void setQueryStringParameters(final HashMap<String, String> queryStringPa
     public String authorize(final String channelName, final String socketId) throws AuthorizationFailureException {
 
         try {
-            final StringBuffer urlParameters = new StringBuffer();
-            urlParameters.append("channel_name=").append(URLEncoder.encode(channelName, ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
-            urlParameters.append("&socket_id=").append(URLEncoder.encode(socketId, ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
+            final String body = bodyFactory(channelName, socketId);
 
-            // Adding extra parameters supplied to be added to query string.
-            for (final String parameterName : mQueryStringParameters.keySet()) {
-                urlParameters.append("&").append(parameterName).append("=");
-                urlParameters.append(URLEncoder.encode(mQueryStringParameters.get(parameterName),
-                        ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
-            }
+            final HashMap<String, String> defaultHeaders = new HashMap<String, String>();
+            defaultHeaders.put("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
+            defaultHeaders.put("charset", ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET);
 
             HttpURLConnection connection;
             if (isSSL()) {
@@ -108,14 +103,14 @@ public String authorize(final String channelName, final String socketId) throws
             connection.setDoInput(true);
             connection.setInstanceFollowRedirects(false);
             connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
-            connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
-            connection.setRequestProperty("charset", "utf-8");
-            connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length",
-                    "" + Integer.toString(urlParameters.toString().getBytes().length));
 
             // Add in the user defined headers
-            for (final String headerName : mHeaders.keySet()) {
-                final String headerValue = mHeaders.get(headerName);
+            defaultHeaders.putAll(mHeaders);
+            // Add in the Content-Length, so it can't be overwritten by mHeaders
+            defaultHeaders.put("Content-Length","" + Integer.toString(body.getBytes().length));
+            
+            for (final String headerName : defaultHeaders.keySet()) {
+                final String headerValue = defaultHeaders.get(headerName);
                 connection.setRequestProperty(headerName, headerValue);
             }
 
@@ -123,7 +118,7 @@ public String authorize(final String channelName, final String socketId) throws
 
             // Send request
             final DataOutputStream wr = new DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
-            wr.writeBytes(urlParameters.toString());
+            wr.writeBytes(body);
             wr.flush();
             wr.close();
 
@@ -149,4 +144,22 @@ public String authorize(final String channelName, final String socketId) throws
             throw new AuthorizationFailureException(e);
         }
     }
+
+    protected String bodyFactory(final String channelName, final String socketId) throws Exception {
+        try {
+            final StringBuffer urlParameters = new StringBuffer();
+            urlParameters.append("channel_name=").append(URLEncoder.encode(channelName, ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
+            urlParameters.append("&socket_id=").append(URLEncoder.encode(socketId, ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
+
+            // Adding extra parameters supplied to be added to query string.
+            for (final String parameterName : mQueryStringParameters.keySet()) {
+                urlParameters.append("&").append(parameterName).append("=");
+                urlParameters.append(URLEncoder.encode(mQueryStringParameters.get(parameterName),
+                        ENCODING_CHARACTER_SET));
+            }
+            return urlParameters.toString();
+        } catch (final Exception e) {
+            throw e;
+        }
+    }
 }