diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index cd954f2d5..207a294ce 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${python:Depends},
     graphviz,
     python-feedparser,
     python-imaging,
+    python-requests,
     python-vobject,
     uwsgi,
     uwsgi-plugin-python
diff --git a/tests/utilities.py b/tests/utilities.py
index 8fae3cc9d..0c2235692 100644
--- a/tests/utilities.py
+++ b/tests/utilities.py
@@ -272,9 +272,6 @@ class HttpRequestsMocking(object):
                 self.headers = headers or {}
                 self.length = len(data or '')
 
-            def getheader(self, header):
-                return self.headers.get(header, None)
-
         if status is None:
             raise ConnectionError('error')
         return FakeResponse(status, data, headers), status, data, None
diff --git a/wcs/qommon/misc.py b/wcs/qommon/misc.py
index 094908e01..fb04fb8c2 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/misc.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/misc.py
@@ -20,10 +20,7 @@ import calendar
 import re
 import os
 import time
-import httplib
 import urllib
-import socket
-import ssl
 import base64
 import json
 import subprocess
@@ -31,6 +28,8 @@ import tempfile
 import unicodedata
 import hashlib
 
+import requests
+
 try:
     from PIL import Image
 except ImportError:
@@ -277,6 +276,7 @@ def _http_request(url, method='GET', body=None, headers={}, cert_file=None, time
     else:
         hostname, query = urllib.splithost(url[6:])
 
+    auth = None
     if '@' in hostname:
         authenticator, hostname = hostname.split('@')
         if ':' in authenticator:
@@ -284,39 +284,19 @@ def _http_request(url, method='GET', body=None, headers={}, cert_file=None, time
         else:
             username = authenticator
             password = ''
-        headers['Authorization'] = 'Basic %s' % base64.b64encode('%s:%s' % (username, password))
-
-    connection_kwargs = {'host': hostname}
-    if timeout:
-        connection_kwargs['timeout'] = timeout
-    if cert_file:
-        connection_kwargs['cert_file'] = cert_file
-    if url.startswith('http://'):
-        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(**connection_kwargs)
-    else: # https
-        conn = httplib.HTTPSConnection(**connection_kwargs)
-    query = query.replace('&', '&')
+        auth = (username, password)
 
     try:
-        conn.request(method, query, body, headers)
-        response = conn.getresponse()
-    except socket.gaierror, (err, msg):
-        conn.close()
-        raise ConnectionError('error while connecting to %s (%s)' % (hostname, msg))
-    except socket.timeout, err:
-        conn.close()
+        response = requests.request(method, url, headers=headers, data=body,
+                timeout=timeout, cert=cert_file)
+    except requests.Timeout:
         raise ConnectionError('connection timed out while fetching the page')
-    except socket.error, err:
-        conn.close()
-        raise ConnectionError('error while fetching the page (%s)' % err)
-    except ssl.CertificateError, err:
-        conn.close()
-        raise ConnectionError('certificate error when connecting (%s)' % err)
+    except requests.RequestException as err:
+        raise ConnectionError('error in http request to to %s (%s)' % (hostname, err))
     else:
-        data = response.read()
-        status = response.status
-        auth_header = response.getheader('WWW-Authenticate')
-        conn.close()
+        data = response.content
+        status = response.status_code
+        auth_header = response.headers.get('WWW-Authenticate')
 
     return response, status, data, auth_header
 
diff --git a/wcs/qommon/saml2.py b/wcs/qommon/saml2.py
index f5fbe8247..b85653187 100644
--- a/wcs/qommon/saml2.py
+++ b/wcs/qommon/saml2.py
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 # along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 import os
-import httplib
-import urllib
 import urlparse
 import time
 import sys
diff --git a/wcs/wf/wscall.py b/wcs/wf/wscall.py
index 47ac2bbde..c909c46e4 100644
--- a/wcs/wf/wscall.py
+++ b/wcs/wf/wscall.py
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ class WebserviceCallStatusItem(WorkflowStatusItem):
             return
 
         app_error_code = 0
-        app_error_code_header = response.getheader('x-error-code')
+        app_error_code_header = response.headers.get('x-error-code')
         if app_error_code_header:
             # result is good only if header value is '0'
             try:
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ class WebserviceCallStatusItem(WorkflowStatusItem):
                     elif d.get('display_id'):
                         formdata.id_display = d.get('display_id')
         else: # store result as attachment
-            content_type = response.getheader('content-type') or ''
+            content_type = response.headers.get('content-type') or ''
             if content_type:
                 content_type = content_type.split(';')[0].strip().lower()
             workflow_data['%s_content_type' % self.varname] = content_type