diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
index b158deb..3b64025 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Puppet::Type.type(:puppetdb_conn_validator).provide(:puppet_https) do
 
   # @api private
   def validator
-    @validator ||= Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator.new(resource[:puppetdb_server], resource[:puppetdb_port])
+    @validator ||= Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator.new(resource[:puppetdb_server], resource[:puppetdb_port], resource[:use_ssl])
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb b/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
index 48cb8e9..012612b 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:puppetdb_conn_validator) do
     desc 'The port that the puppetdb server should be listening on.'
   end
 
+  newparam(:use_ssl) do
+    desc 'Whether the connection will be attemped using https'
+    defaultto true
+  end
+
   newparam(:timeout) do
     desc 'The max number of seconds that the validator should wait before giving up and deciding that puppetdb is not running; defaults to 15 seconds.'
     defaultto 15
diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/puppetdb_validator.rb b/lib/puppet/util/puppetdb_validator.rb
index 97aeaa0..e7203ba 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/util/puppetdb_validator.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/puppetdb_validator.rb
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ module Puppet
       attr_reader :puppetdb_server
       attr_reader :puppetdb_port
 
-      def initialize(puppetdb_server, puppetdb_port)
+      def initialize(puppetdb_server, puppetdb_port, use_ssl=true)
         @puppetdb_server = puppetdb_server
-        @puppetdb_port = puppetdb_port
+        @puppetdb_port   = puppetdb_port
+        @use_ssl         = use_ssl
       end
 
       # Utility method; attempts to make an https connection to the puppetdb server.
@@ -22,7 +23,16 @@ module Puppet
         # on the puppetdb server.
         path = "/metrics/mbean/java.lang:type=Memory"
         headers = {"Accept" => "application/json"}
-        conn = Puppet::Network::HttpPool.http_instance(@puppetdb_server, @puppetdb_port, true)
+        if @use_ssl
+          conn = Puppet::Network::HttpPool.http_instance(@puppetdb_server, @puppetdb_port, @use_ssl)
+        else
+          # the Puppet httppool only supports disabling ssl in Puppet > 3.x
+          # this code allows ssl to be disabled for the connection on both 2.7 and 3.x
+          conn = Net::HTTP.new(@puppetdb_server, @puppetdb_port)
+          conn.read_timeout = Puppet[:configtimeout]
+          conn.open_timeout = Puppet[:configtimeout]
+        end
+
         response = conn.get(path, headers)
         unless response.kind_of?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
           Puppet.notice "Unable to connect to puppetdb server (#{@puppetdb_server}:#{@puppetdb_port}): [#{response.code}] #{response.msg}"
diff --git a/spec/unit/util/puppetdb_validator_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/puppetdb_validator_spec.rb
index 2c07f98..0631400 100644
--- a/spec/unit/util/puppetdb_validator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/util/puppetdb_validator_spec.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ describe 'Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator' do
 
     conn_ok = stub()
     conn_ok.stubs(:get).with('/metrics/mbean/java.lang:type=Memory', {"Accept" => "application/json"}).returns(response_ok)
+    conn_ok.stubs(:read_timeout=).with(2)
+    conn_ok.stubs(:open_timeout=).with(2)
 
     conn_not_found = stub()
     conn_not_found.stubs(:get).with('/metrics/mbean/java.lang:type=Memory', {"Accept" => "application/json"}).returns(response_not_found)
@@ -21,6 +23,7 @@ describe 'Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator' do
     Puppet::Network::HttpPool.stubs(:http_instance).with('mypuppetdb.com', 8080, true).raises('Connection refused')
     Puppet::Network::HttpPool.stubs(:http_instance).with('mypuppetdb.com', 8081, true).returns(conn_ok)
     Puppet::Network::HttpPool.stubs(:http_instance).with('wrongserver.com', 8081, true).returns(conn_not_found)
+    Net::HTTP.stubs(:new).with('mypuppetdb.com', 8080).returns(conn_ok)
   end
 
   it 'returns true if connection succeeds' do
@@ -28,6 +31,12 @@ describe 'Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator' do
     validator.attempt_connection.should be_true
   end
 
+  it 'should still validate without ssl' do
+    Puppet[:configtimeout] = 2
+    validator = Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator.new('mypuppetdb.com', 8080, false)
+    validator.attempt_connection.should be_true
+  end
+
   it 'returns false and issues an appropriate notice if connection is refused' do
     puppetdb_server = 'mypuppetdb.com'
     puppetdb_port = 8080
@@ -53,4 +62,6 @@ describe 'Puppet::Util::PuppetdbValidator' do
     Puppet.expects(:notice).with("Unable to connect to puppetdb server (#{puppetdb_server}:#{puppetdb_port}): Unknown host")
     validator.attempt_connection.should be_false    
   end
+
+
 end