diff --git a/mopidy/utils/http.py b/mopidy/utils/http.py
index 096a37a0..d0b3cb4c 100644
--- a/mopidy/utils/http.py
+++ b/mopidy/utils/http.py
@@ -7,24 +7,27 @@ import mopidy
 "Helpers for configuring HTTP clients used in Mopidy extensions."
 
 
-def format_proxy(proxy_config):
+def format_proxy(proxy_config, auth=True):
     """Convert a Mopidy proxy config to the commonly used proxy string format.
 
     Outputs ``scheme://host:port``, ``scheme://user:pass@host:port`` or
     :class:`None` depending on the proxy config provided.
+
+    You can also opt out of getting the basic auth by setting ``auth`` to
+    :type:`False`.
     """
     if not proxy_config.get('hostname'):
         return None
 
-    if proxy_config.get('username') and proxy_config.get('password'):
-        template = '{scheme}://{username}:{password}@{hostname}:{port}'
-    else:
-        template = '{scheme}://{hostname}:{port}'
-
     port = proxy_config.get('port', 80)
     if port < 0:
         port = 80
 
+    if proxy_config.get('username') and proxy_config.get('password') and auth:
+        template = '{scheme}://{username}:{password}@{hostname}:{port}'
+    else:
+        template = '{scheme}://{hostname}:{port}'
+
     return template.format(scheme=proxy_config.get('scheme') or 'http',
                            username=proxy_config.get('username'),
                            password=proxy_config.get('password'),
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_http.py b/tests/utils/test_http.py
index dee09c3c..4553dc05 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_http.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_http.py
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ def test_format_proxy(config, expected):
     assert http.format_proxy(config) == expected
 
 
+def test_format_proxy_without_auth():
+    config = {'username': 'user', 'password': 'pass', 'hostname': 'proxy.lan'}
+    formated_proxy = http.format_proxy(config, auth=False)
+    assert formated_proxy == 'http://proxy.lan:80'
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("name,expected", [
     (None, r'^Mopidy/[^ ]+ CPython|/[^ ]+$'),
     ('Foo', r'^Foo Mopidy/[^ ]+ CPython|/[^ ]+$'),