diff --git a/conf/diffido.conf b/conf/diffido.conf
index 7d5d23f..456a6b3 100644
--- a/conf/diffido.conf
+++ b/conf/diffido.conf
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ smtp_host='localhost'
 #smtp_ssl_keyfile=None
 #smtp_ssl_certfile=None
 #smtp_ssl_context=None
+#smtp_username=''
+#smtp_password=''
diff --git a/diffido.py b/diffido.py
index 614c31d..8793d00 100755
--- a/diffido.py
+++ b/diffido.py
@@ -306,17 +306,21 @@ def send_email(to, subject='diffido', body='', from_=None):
     try:
         if use_ssl:
             with smtplib.SMTP_SSL(**args) as s:
+                if args.get('username'):
+                    s.login(args.get('username', ''), args.get('password', ''))
                 s.send_message(msg)
         else:
             tls_args = {}
             for key in ('ssl_keyfile', 'ssl_certfile', 'ssl_context'):
                 if key in args:
-                    tls_args = args[key]
+                    tls_args[key] = args[key].replace('ssl_', '')
                     del args[key]
             with smtplib.SMTP(**args) as s:
                 if starttls:
                     s.starttls(**tls_args)
                     s.ehlo_or_helo_if_needed()
+                if args.get('username'):
+                    s.login(args.get('username', ''), args.get('password', ''))
                 s.send_message(msg)
     except Exception as e:
         logger.error('unable to send email to %s: %s' % (to, e))
@@ -713,9 +717,11 @@ def serve():
     define('smtp-local-hostname', default=None, help='SMTP local hostname', type=str)
     define('smtp-use-ssl', default=False, help='Use SSL to connect to the SMTP server', type=bool)
     define('smtp-starttls', default=False, help='Use STARTTLS to connect to the SMTP server', type=bool)
-    define('smtp-ssl-keyfile', default=None, help='SSL key file', type=str)
-    define('smtp-ssl-certfile', default=None, help='SSL cert file', type=str)
-    define('smtp-ssl-context', default=None, help='SSL context', type=str)
+    define('smtp-ssl-keyfile', default=None, help='SMTP SSL key file', type=str)
+    define('smtp-ssl-certfile', default=None, help='SMTP SSL cert file', type=str)
+    define('smtp-ssl-context', default=None, help='SMTP SSL context', type=str)
+    define('smtp-username', default=None, help='SMTP username', type=str)
+    define('smtp-password', default=None, help='SMTP password', type=str)
     define('debug', default=False, help='run in debug mode', type=bool)
     define('config', help='read configuration file',
             callback=lambda path: tornado.options.parse_config_file(path, final=False))