diff --git a/test/test_zencoder.py b/test/test_zencoder.py
index ffcc1f0..06b0eed 100644
--- a/test/test_zencoder.py
+++ b/test/test_zencoder.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import unittest
 import os
 from zencoder import Zencoder
+import zencoder
 
 class TestZencoder(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
@@ -34,6 +35,16 @@ def test_set_api_edge_version(self):
         zc = Zencoder(api_version='edge')
         self.assertEquals(zc.base_url, 'https://app.zencoder.com/api/')
 
+    def test_set_base_url(self):
+        os.environ['ZENCODER_API_KEY'] = 'abcd123'
+        zc = Zencoder(base_url='https://localhost:800/foo/')
+        self.assertEquals(zc.base_url, 'https://localhost:800/foo/')
+
+    def test_set_base_url_and_version_fails(self):
+        os.environ['ZENCODER_API_KEY'] = 'abcd123'
+        with self.assertRaises(zencoder.core.ZencoderError):
+            zc = Zencoder(base_url='https://localhost:800/foo/', api_version='v3')
+
     def test_set_timeout(self):
         api_key = 'testapikey'
         zc = Zencoder(api_key=api_key, timeout=999)
diff --git a/zencoder/core.py b/zencoder/core.py
index 858e4fa..4d14550 100644
--- a/zencoder/core.py
+++ b/zencoder/core.py
@@ -158,17 +158,26 @@ class Zencoder(object):
     def __init__(self,
                  api_key=None,
                  api_version=None,
+                 base_url=None,
                  timeout=None,
                  test=False,
                  proxies=None,
                  cert=None,
                  verify=True):
-        if not api_version:
-            api_version = 'v2'
 
-        self.base_url = 'https://app.zencoder.com/api/'
-        if not api_version == 'edge':
-            self.base_url = self.base_url + '%s/' % api_version
+        if base_url and api_version:
+            raise ZencoderError('Cannot set both `base_url` and `api_version`.')
+
+        if base_url:
+            self.base_url = base_url
+        else:
+            self.base_url = 'https://app.zencoder.com/api/'
+
+            if not api_version:
+                api_version = 'v2'
+
+            if api_version != 'edge':
+                self.base_url = '{0}{1}/'.format(self.base_url, api_version)
 
         if not api_key:
             try: