diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8003ec6b..2308d485 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -232,6 +232,9 @@ i18n.configure({
 
     // sets a custom cookie name to parse locale settings from - defaults to NULL
     cookie: 'yourcookiename',
+	
+	// sets a custom header name to read the language preference from - accept-language header by default
+	header: 'accept-language',
 
     // query parameter to switch locale (ie. /home?lang=ch) - defaults to NULL
     queryParameter: 'lang',
diff --git a/i18n.js b/i18n.js
index d4f6fcb5..80312562 100644
--- a/i18n.js
+++ b/i18n.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ const i18n = function I18n(_OPTS = false) {
     pathsep = path.sep, // ---> means win support will be available in node 0.8.x and above
     autoReload,
     cookiename,
+	languageHeaderName,
     defaultLocale,
     retryInDefaultLocale,
     directory,
@@ -110,6 +111,9 @@ const i18n = function I18n(_OPTS = false) {
 
     // sets a custom cookie name to parse locale settings from
     cookiename = (typeof opt.cookie === 'string') ? opt.cookie : null;
+	
+	// set the custom header name to extract the language locale
+    languageHeaderName = (typeof opt.header === 'string') ? opt.header : 'accept-language';
 
     // query-string parameter to be watched - @todo: add test & doc
     queryParameter = (typeof opt.queryParameter === 'string') ? opt.queryParameter : null;
@@ -701,7 +705,7 @@ const i18n = function I18n(_OPTS = false) {
 
   var guessLanguage = function(request) {
     if (typeof request === 'object') {
-      var languageHeader = request.headers? request.headers['accept-language'] : undefined,
+      var languageHeader = request.headers? request.headers[languageHeaderName] : undefined,
         languages = [],
         regions = [];