diff --git a/cms/envs/common.py b/cms/envs/common.py
index 3226d99005..1767202141 100644
--- a/cms/envs/common.py
+++ b/cms/envs/common.py
@@ -94,8 +94,9 @@ JASMINE_TEST_DIRECTORY = PROJECT_ROOT + '/static/coffee'
 #################### CAPA External Code Evaluation #############################
 XQUEUE_INTERFACE = {
     'url': 'http://localhost:8888',
-    'auth': {'username': 'local',
-             'password': 'local'}
+    'django_auth': {'username': 'local',
+                    'password': 'local'},
+    'basic_auth': None,
 }
 
 
diff --git a/common/lib/capa/capa/xqueue_interface.py b/common/lib/capa/capa/xqueue_interface.py
index 9573599245..d9822d24f3 100644
--- a/common/lib/capa/capa/xqueue_interface.py
+++ b/common/lib/capa/capa/xqueue_interface.py
@@ -60,10 +60,10 @@ class XQueueInterface:
     Interface to the external grading system
     '''
 
-    def __init__(self, url, auth):
+    def __init__(self, url, django_auth, basic_auth=None):
         self.url  = url
-        self.auth = auth
-        self.session = requests.session()
+        self.auth = django_auth
+        self.session = requests.session(auth=basic_auth)
         
     def send_to_queue(self, header, body, file_to_upload=None):
         '''
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
index 46889c878b..08c11b50b7 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ log = logging.getLogger("mitx.courseware")
 
 xqueue_interface = XQueueInterface(
     settings.XQUEUE_INTERFACE['url'],
-    settings.XQUEUE_INTERFACE['auth']
+    settings.XQUEUE_INTERFACE['django_auth'],
+    settings.XQUEUE_INTERFACE['basic_auth'],
 )
 
 
diff --git a/lms/envs/dev.py b/lms/envs/dev.py
index 38d38034b5..882a82b8f0 100644
--- a/lms/envs/dev.py
+++ b/lms/envs/dev.py
@@ -55,10 +55,11 @@ CACHES = {
 
 XQUEUE_INTERFACE = {
     "url": "http://xqueue.sandbox.edx.org",
-    "auth": {
+    "django_auth": {
         "username": "lms",
         "password": "***REMOVED***"
-    }
+    },
+    "basic_auth": ('anant', 'agarwal'),
 }
 
 # Make the keyedcache startup warnings go away
diff --git a/lms/envs/test.py b/lms/envs/test.py
index 7af7acfc37..187cb5c68e 100644
--- a/lms/envs/test.py
+++ b/lms/envs/test.py
@@ -52,10 +52,11 @@ GITHUB_REPO_ROOT = ENV_ROOT / "data"
 
 XQUEUE_INTERFACE = {
     "url": "http://xqueue.sandbox.edx.org",
-    "auth": {
+    "django_auth": {
         "username": "lms",
         "password": "***REMOVED***"
-    }
+    },
+    "basic_auth": ('anant', 'agarwal'),
 }