diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 80bed650..c0e81a8d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .DS_Store
 bin
+.idea/
 
 
diff --git a/claims.go b/claims.go
index f0228f02..62489066 100644
--- a/claims.go
+++ b/claims.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ type Claims interface {
 // https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519#section-4.1
 // See examples for how to use this with your own claim types
 type StandardClaims struct {
-	Audience  string `json:"aud,omitempty"`
+	Audience  []string `json:"aud,omitempty"`
 	ExpiresAt int64  `json:"exp,omitempty"`
 	Id        string `json:"jti,omitempty"`
 	IssuedAt  int64  `json:"iat,omitempty"`
@@ -90,15 +90,17 @@ func (c *StandardClaims) VerifyNotBefore(cmp int64, req bool) bool {
 
 // ----- helpers
 
-func verifyAud(aud string, cmp string, required bool) bool {
-	if aud == "" {
+func verifyAud(aud []string, cmp string, required bool) bool {
+	if len(aud) == 0 {
 		return !required
 	}
-	if subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(aud), []byte(cmp)) != 0 {
-		return true
-	} else {
-		return false
+
+	for _, a := range aud {
+		if subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(a), []byte(cmp)) != 0 {
+			return true
+		}
 	}
+	return false
 }
 
 func verifyExp(exp int64, now int64, required bool) bool {
diff --git a/map_claims.go b/map_claims.go
index 291213c4..e1c80656 100644
--- a/map_claims.go
+++ b/map_claims.go
@@ -13,7 +13,13 @@ type MapClaims map[string]interface{}
 // Compares the aud claim against cmp.
 // If required is false, this method will return true if the value matches or is unset
 func (m MapClaims) VerifyAudience(cmp string, req bool) bool {
-	aud, _ := m["aud"].(string)
+	aud, _ := m["aud"].([]string)
+
+	// special case where aud is a single string not list of strings
+	if aud == nil {
+		strAud, _ := m["aud"].(string)
+		aud = append(aud, strAud)
+	}
 	return verifyAud(aud, cmp, req)
 }
 
diff --git a/map_claims_test.go b/map_claims_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7fc1d837
--- /dev/null
+++ b/map_claims_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package jwt
+
+import "testing"
+
+func Test_mapClaims_list_aud(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+		"aud": []string{"foo"},
+	}
+	want := true
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", true)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
+func Test_mapClaims_string_aud(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+		"aud": "foo",
+	}
+	want := true
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", true)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_mapClaims_list_aud_no_match(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+		"aud": []string{"bar"},
+	}
+	want := false
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", true)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
+func Test_mapClaims_string_aud_fail(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+		"aud": "bar",
+	}
+	want := false
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", true)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_mapClaims_string_aud_no_claim(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+	}
+	want := false
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", true)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_mapClaims_string_aud_no_claim_not_required(t *testing.T){
+	mapClaims := MapClaims{
+		//"aud": "",
+	}
+	want := false
+	got := mapClaims.VerifyAudience("foo", false)
+
+	if want != got {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to verify claims, wanted: %v got %v", want, got)
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file