diff --git a/keystoneclient/session.py b/keystoneclient/session.py
index 650cbfcc9..91721052e 100644
--- a/keystoneclient/session.py
+++ b/keystoneclient/session.py
@@ -114,7 +114,8 @@ class Session(object):
     @utils.positional(enforcement=utils.positional.WARN)
     def request(self, url, method, json=None, original_ip=None,
                 user_agent=None, redirect=None, authenticated=None,
-                endpoint_filter=None, auth=None, requests_auth=None, **kwargs):
+                endpoint_filter=None, auth=None, requests_auth=None,
+                raise_exc=True, **kwargs):
         """Send an HTTP request with the specified characteristics.
 
         Wrapper around `requests.Session.request` to handle tasks such as
@@ -157,6 +158,9 @@ class Session(object):
                               passed via kwarg because the `auth` kwarg
                               collides with our own auth plugins. (optional)
         :type requests_auth: :class:`requests.auth.AuthBase`
+        :param bool raise_exc: If True then raise an appropriate exception for
+                               failed HTTP requests. If False then return the
+                               request object. (optional, default True)
         :param kwargs: any other parameter that can be passed to
                        requests.Session.request (such as `headers`). Except:
                        'data' will be overwritten by the data in 'json' param.
@@ -256,7 +260,7 @@ class Session(object):
         # returned by the requests library.
         resp.history = tuple(resp.history)
 
-        if resp.status_code >= 400:
+        if raise_exc and resp.status_code >= 400:
             _logger.debug('Request returned failure status: %s',
                           resp.status_code)
             raise exceptions.from_response(resp, method, url)
diff --git a/keystoneclient/tests/test_session.py b/keystoneclient/tests/test_session.py
index c86bc3554..869d4396b 100644
--- a/keystoneclient/tests/test_session.py
+++ b/keystoneclient/tests/test_session.py
@@ -393,6 +393,19 @@ class SessionAuthTests(utils.TestCase):
                           endpoint_filter={'service_type': 'unknown',
                                            'interface': 'public'})
 
+    @httpretty.activate
+    def test_raises_exc_only_when_asked(self):
+        # A request that returns a HTTP error should by default raise an
+        # exception by default, if you specify raise_exc=False then it will not
+
+        self.stub_url(httpretty.GET, status=401)
+
+        sess = client_session.Session()
+        self.assertRaises(exceptions.Unauthorized, sess.get, self.TEST_URL)
+
+        resp = sess.get(self.TEST_URL, raise_exc=False)
+        self.assertEqual(401, resp.status_code)
+
     @httpretty.activate
     def test_passed_auth_plugin(self):
         passed = CalledAuthPlugin()