diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 82b1bda..0e745e9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -191,6 +191,19 @@ In the case [webhooks](#webhooks) are enabled, the webhook_payload option gives
 `webhook_url`
 The URL on which the webhook calls are made.
 
+`additional_request_headers`
+An object containing headers to be added to every request the crawler makes.
+This can be useful to add authentication headers to crawl protected sites.
+
+E.g. authenticate crawler with basic auth:
+```
+{
+  "additional_request_headers": {
+    "Authorization": "Basic dXNlcjpwYXNzd29yZA=="
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ## Webhooks
 
 To be able to receive updates on the state of the crawler, you need to create a webhook. To do so, you absolutely need to have a public URL that can be reached by the crawler. This URL will be called by the crawler to send you updates.
diff --git a/src/crawler.ts b/src/crawler.ts
index e42da1b..ff39441 100644
--- a/src/crawler.ts
+++ b/src/crawler.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   PuppeteerCrawlingContext,
   PuppeteerCrawlerOptions,
   RequestQueue,
+  PuppeteerHook,
 } from 'crawlee'
 
 import { minimatch } from 'minimatch'
@@ -65,9 +66,28 @@ export class Crawler {
     // type DefaultHandler = Parameters<typeof router.addDefaultHandler>[0];
     router.addDefaultHandler(this.defaultHandler.bind(this))
 
+    const preNavigationHooks: PuppeteerHook[] = this.config
+      .additional_request_headers
+      ? [
+          async (crawlingContext) => {
+            await crawlingContext.addInterceptRequestHandler(
+              async (request) => {
+                return await request.continue({
+                  headers: {
+                    ...request.headers(),
+                    ...this.config.additional_request_headers,
+                  },
+                })
+              }
+            )
+          },
+        ]
+      : []
+
     const puppeteerCrawlerOptions: PuppeteerCrawlerOptions = {
       requestQueue,
       requestHandler: router,
+      preNavigationHooks: preNavigationHooks,
       launchContext: {
         launchOptions: {
           headless: this.config.headless || true,
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 2da52ee..4bf5568 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ export type Config = {
   meilisearch_api_key: string
   start_urls: string[]
   urls_to_exclude?: string[]
+  additional_request_headers?: Record<string, string>
   queue?: string[]
   primary_key?: string
   batch_size?: number