diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 2ee45b5..327046d 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ rvm:
   - 2.2.4
   - 2.3.0
   - jruby
+env:
+  global:
+    - JRUBY_OPTS="--2.0"
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 39770f4..f491647 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ gemspec
 
 gem 'jruby-openssl',                                       :platforms => :jruby
 
+# compatibility restrictions for http clients under existing travis test environments
+gem 'public_suffix', '~> 2.0'   # or remove rubies < 2.1 from travis.yml
+
 # http clients
 gem 'httpclient',          '~> 2.3',    :require => false
 gem 'curb',                '~> 0.8',    :require => false, :platforms => :ruby
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 62e1522..b6001e4 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new "spec_integration" do |t|
   t.pattern = "spec/integration/*_spec.rb"
 end
 
-task :default => :spec
-
 desc "Run RSpec code and integration examples"
-task :ci => [:spec, :spec_integration]
+RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new "ci" do |t|
+  t.pattern = "spec/{httpi,integration}/**/*_spec.rb"
+end
+
+task :default => :spec
diff --git a/lib/httpi/adapter/net_http.rb b/lib/httpi/adapter/net_http.rb
index 6390178..9aa3855 100644
--- a/lib/httpi/adapter/net_http.rb
+++ b/lib/httpi/adapter/net_http.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class NetHTTP < Base
 
       register :net_http, :deps => %w(net/https)
       def initialize(request)
-        check_net_ntlm_version!
+        check_net_ntlm_version! if request.auth.ntlm?
         @request = request
         @client = create_client
       end
@@ -55,11 +55,15 @@ def request(method)
       end
 
       private
+      def ntlm_version
+        Net::NTLM::VERSION::STRING
+      end
+
       def check_net_ntlm_version!
         begin
           require 'net/ntlm'
           require 'net/ntlm/version' unless Net::NTLM.const_defined?(:VERSION, false)
-          unless Net::NTLM::VERSION::STRING >= '0.3.2'
+          unless ntlm_version >= '0.3.2'
             raise ArgumentError, 'Invalid version of rubyntlm. Please use v0.3.2+.'
           end
         rescue LoadError
diff --git a/spec/httpi/adapter/net_http_spec.rb b/spec/httpi/adapter/net_http_spec.rb
index 0158fef..51e94e2 100644
--- a/spec/httpi/adapter/net_http_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/httpi/adapter/net_http_spec.rb
@@ -132,6 +132,33 @@
         to raise_error(HTTPI::NotSupportedError, /Net::NTLM is not available/)
     end
 
+    it 'does not require ntlm when ntlm authenication is not requested' do 
+      HTTPI::Adapter::NetHTTP.any_instance.stubs(:check_net_ntlm_version!).raises(RuntimeError)
+        request = HTTPI::Request.new(@server.url)
+        expect(request.auth.ntlm?).to be false
+
+        # make sure a request doesn't call ntlm check if we don't ask for it.
+        expect { HTTPI.get(request, adapter) }.not_to raise_error
+      HTTPI::Adapter::NetHTTP.any_instance.unstub(:check_net_ntlm_version!)
+    end
+
+    it 'does check ntlm when ntlm authentication is requested' do 
+      request = HTTPI::Request.new(@server.url + "ntlm-auth")
+      request.auth.ntlm("tester", "vReqSoafRe5O")
+        
+      expect { HTTPI.get(request, adapter) }.not_to raise_error
+
+      # the check should also verify that the version of ntlm is supported and still fail if it isn't
+      HTTPI::Adapter::NetHTTP.any_instance.stubs(:ntlm_version).returns("0.1.1")
+
+        request = HTTPI::Request.new(@server.url + "ntlm-auth")
+        request.auth.ntlm("tester", "vReqSoafRe5O")
+        
+        expect { HTTPI.get(request, adapter) }.to raise_error(ArgumentError, /Invalid version/)
+
+      HTTPI::Adapter::NetHTTP.any_instance.unstub(:ntlm_version)
+    end
+
     it "does not crash when authenticate header is missing (on second request)" do
       request = HTTPI::Request.new(@server.url + 'ntlm-auth')
       request.auth.ntlm("tester", "vReqSoafRe5O")
diff --git a/spec/integration/net_http_persistent_spec.rb b/spec/integration/net_http_persistent_spec.rb
index c1e89a6..28aabbf 100644
--- a/spec/integration/net_http_persistent_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/net_http_persistent_spec.rb
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@
     end
 
     it "executes POST requests" do
-      response = HTTPI.post(@server.url, "<some>xml</some>", adapter)
+      request = HTTPI::Request.new(url: @server.url, open_timeout: 1, read_timeout: 1, body: "<some>xml</some>")
+      
+      response = HTTPI.post(request, adapter)
       expect(response.body).to eq("post")
       expect(response.headers["Content-Type"]).to eq("text/plain")
     end