diff --git a/Connection.cc b/Connection.cc
index 006135e..9f39a77 100644
--- a/Connection.cc
+++ b/Connection.cc
@@ -73,6 +73,29 @@ void Connection::reset() {
   stats = ConnectionStats(stats.sampling);
 }
 
+
+void Connection::doPlaintextSASL(string username, string password) {
+  // each line is 4 bytes
+  binary_header h = { 0x80, CMD_SASL, htons(0x05),
+                      0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+                      htonl(5 + 1 + username.length() + 1 + password.length())
+                    };
+  Operation op;
+
+  // This is only done once, so efficiency is not as important.
+  bufferevent_write(bev, &h, 24);
+  bufferevent_write(bev, "PLAIN", 5);
+  bufferevent_write(bev, "\0"   , 1);
+  bufferevent_write(bev, username.c_str(), username.length());
+  bufferevent_write(bev, "\0"   , 1);
+  bufferevent_write(bev, password.c_str(), password.length());
+
+  // Don't care about key nor time
+  op.type = Operation::SASL;
+  op_queue.push(op);
+  read_state = WAITING_FOR_SASL;
+}
+
 void Connection::issue_get(const char* key, uint16_t keylen, double now) {
   Operation op;
   binary_header h;
@@ -507,6 +530,12 @@ void Connection::read_callback() {
 
       break;
 
+    case WAITING_FOR_SASL:
+      assert(op_queue.size() > 0);
+      if (!consume_binary_response(input)) return;
+      pop_op();
+      break;
+
     default: DIE("not implemented");
     }
   }
@@ -537,6 +566,15 @@ bool Connection::consume_binary_response(evbuffer *input) {
       stats.get_misses++;
   }
 
+  #define unlikely(x)     __builtin_expect((x),0)
+  if (unlikely(h->opcode == CMD_SASL)) {
+    if (h->status == RESP_OK) {
+      V("SASL authentication succeeded");
+    } else {
+      DIE("SASL authentication failed");
+    }
+  }
+
   evbuffer_drain(input, targetLen);
   stats.rx_bytes += targetLen;
   return true;
diff --git a/Connection.h b/Connection.h
index 87b2aa1..b5191b5 100644
--- a/Connection.h
+++ b/Connection.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public:
     INIT_READ,
     LOADING,
     IDLE,
+    WAITING_FOR_SASL,
     WAITING_FOR_GET,
     WAITING_FOR_GET_DATA,
     WAITING_FOR_END,
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ public:
   void start_loading();
 
   void reset();
+  void doPlaintextSASL(string username, string password);
 
   void event_callback(short events);
   void read_callback();
@@ -101,11 +103,5 @@ private:
   KeyGenerator *keygen;
   Generator *iagen;
 
-  // Pisces specific
   bool useBinary;
-
-  //TODO(syang0) give meaning to SASL fields!
-  bool useSASL;
-  const char* username;
-  const char* password;
 };
diff --git a/Operation.h b/Operation.h
index b963c30..b594b17 100644
--- a/Operation.h
+++ b/Operation.h
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ public:
   double start_time, end_time;
 
   enum type_enum {
-    GET, SET
+    GET, SET, SASL
   };
 
   type_enum type;
diff --git a/binary_protocol.h b/binary_protocol.h
index 6fd3588..c8f3ba4 100644
--- a/binary_protocol.h
+++ b/binary_protocol.h
@@ -8,8 +8,12 @@
 #ifndef BINARY_PROTOCOL_H
 #define	BINARY_PROTOCOL_H
 
-#define CMD_GET 0x00
-#define CMD_SET 0x01
+#define CMD_GET  0x00
+#define CMD_SET  0x01
+#define CMD_SASL 0x21
+
+#define RESP_OK 0x00
+#define RESP_SASL_ERR 0x20
 
 typedef struct __attribute__ ((__packed__)) {
   uint8_t magic;
diff --git a/cmdline.ggo b/cmdline.ggo
index 81b305d..640dd44 100644
--- a/cmdline.ggo
+++ b/cmdline.ggo
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ text "\nAdvanced options:"
 option "threads" T "Number of threads to spawn." int default="1"
 option "connections" c "Connections to establish per server." int default="1"
 option "depth" d "Maximum depth to pipeline requests." int default="1"
+option "sasl" - "Perform a binary SASL authentication (plaintext) before \
+issuing any requests. String format is user:pass (Note: this does NOT
+automatically set --binary)" string
 option "roundrobin" R "Assign threads to servers in round-robin fashion.  \
 By default, each thread connects to every server."
 
diff --git a/mutilate.cc b/mutilate.cc
index 8a18df8..9f3ad1f 100644
--- a/mutilate.cc
+++ b/mutilate.cc
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ void do_mutilate(const vector<string>& servers, options_t& options,
 
     for (int c = 0; c < options.connections; c++) {
       Connection* conn = new Connection(base, evdns, hostname, port, options,
-                                        args.binary_given,
+                                        args.binary_given || args.sasl_given,
                                         args.agentmode_given ? false :
                                         true);
       connections.push_back(conn);
@@ -652,6 +652,36 @@ void do_mutilate(const vector<string>& servers, options_t& options,
     else break;
   }
 
+  // Do SASL and wait to complete
+  if(args.sasl_given) {
+    char *user, *pass;
+    saveptr = NULL;
+
+    user = strtok_r(args.sasl_arg, ":", &saveptr);
+    pass = strtok_r(NULL, ":", &saveptr);
+
+    if (user == NULL)
+      DIE("strtok(.., \":\") failed to parse %s", args.sasl_arg);
+
+    for (Connection *conn: connections) {
+      conn->doPlaintextSASL(user, (pass == NULL) ? "" : pass);
+    }
+
+    while (1) {
+      // FIXME: If all connections become ready before event_base_loop
+      // is called, this will deadlock.
+      event_base_loop(base, EVLOOP_ONCE);
+
+      bool restart = false;
+      for (Connection *conn: connections)
+        if (conn->read_state != Connection::IDLE)
+          restart = true;
+
+      if (restart) continue;
+      else break;
+    }
+  }
+
   // Load database on lead connection for each server.
   if (!options.noload) {
     V("Loading database.");