diff --git a/src/calibre/library/server/base.py b/src/calibre/library/server/base.py
index 46db62a299..0b5fead634 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/server/base.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/server/base.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from cherrypy.process.plugins import SimplePlugin
 from calibre.constants import __appname__, __version__
 from calibre.utils.date import fromtimestamp
 from calibre.library.server import listen_on, log_access_file, log_error_file
-from calibre.library.server.utils import expose
+from calibre.library.server.utils import expose, AuthController
 from calibre.utils.mdns import publish as publish_zeroconf, \
             stop_server as stop_zeroconf, get_external_ip
 from calibre.library.server.content import ContentServer
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ from calibre import prints, as_unicode
 
 class DispatchController(object): # {{{
 
-    def __init__(self, prefix, wsgi=False):
+    def __init__(self, prefix, wsgi=False, auth_controller=None):
         self.dispatcher = cherrypy.dispatch.RoutesDispatcher()
         self.funcs = []
         self.seen = set()
+        self.auth_controller = auth_controller
         self.prefix = prefix if prefix else ''
         if wsgi:
             self.prefix = ''
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ class DispatchController(object): # {{{
             raise NameError('Route name: '+ repr(name) + ' already used')
         self.seen.add(name)
         kwargs['action'] = 'f_%d'%len(self.funcs)
+        aw = kwargs.pop('android_workaround', False)
         if route != '/':
             route = self.prefix + route
         elif self.prefix:
@@ -52,6 +54,8 @@ class DispatchController(object): # {{{
             self.dispatcher.connect(name+'prefix_extra_trailing',
                     self.prefix+'/', self, **kwargs)
         self.dispatcher.connect(name, route, self, **kwargs)
+        if self.auth_controller is not None:
+            func = self.auth_controller(func, aw)
         self.funcs.append(expose(func))
 
     def __getattr__(self, attr):
@@ -156,6 +160,8 @@ class LibraryServer(ContentServer, MobileServer, XMLServer, OPDSServer, Cache,
         self.config = {}
         self.is_running = False
         self.exception = None
+        auth_controller = None
+        self.users_dict = {}
         #self.config['/'] = {
         #    'tools.sessions.on' : True,
         #    'tools.sessions.timeout': 60, # Session times out after 60 minutes
@@ -171,15 +177,12 @@ class LibraryServer(ContentServer, MobileServer, XMLServer, OPDSServer, Cache,
             }
 
             if opts.password:
-                self.config['/'] = {
-                        'tools.digest_auth.on'    : True,
-                        'tools.digest_auth.realm' : (
-                            'Your calibre library. Username: '
-                            + opts.username.strip()),
-                        'tools.digest_auth.users' : {opts.username.strip():opts.password.strip()},
-                }
+                self.users_dict[opts.username.strip()] = opts.password.strip()
+                auth_controller = AuthController('Your calibre library',
+                        self.users_dict)
 
-        self.__dispatcher__ = DispatchController(self.opts.url_prefix, wsgi)
+        self.__dispatcher__ = DispatchController(self.opts.url_prefix,
+                wsgi=wsgi, auth_controller=auth_controller)
         for x in self.__class__.__bases__:
             if hasattr(x, 'add_routes'):
                 x.__init__(self)
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/server/content.py b/src/calibre/library/server/content.py
index 8ab44d27f3..5b723d078e 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/server/content.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/server/content.py
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ class ContentServer(object):
         connect('root', '/', self.index)
         connect('old', '/old', self.old)
         connect('get', '/get/{what}/{id}', self.get,
-                conditions=dict(method=["GET", "HEAD"]))
+                conditions=dict(method=["GET", "HEAD"]),
+                android_workaround=True)
         connect('static', '/static/{name:.*?}', self.static,
                 conditions=dict(method=["GET", "HEAD"]))
         connect('favicon', '/favicon.png', self.favicon,
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/server/utils.py b/src/calibre/library/server/utils.py
index 111f535686..1c58e4fa8e 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/server/utils.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/server/utils.py
@@ -5,11 +5,12 @@ __license__   = 'GPL v3'
 __copyright__ = '2010, Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>'
 __docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
 
-import time, sys
+import time, sys, uuid, hashlib
 from urllib import quote as quote_, unquote as unquote_
 from functools import wraps
 
 import cherrypy
+from cherrypy.lib.auth_digest import digest_auth, get_ha1_dict_plain
 
 from calibre import strftime as _strftime, prints, isbytestring
 from calibre.utils.date import now as nowf
@@ -58,6 +59,53 @@ def expose(func):
 
     return do
 
+class AuthController(object):
+
+    MAX_AGE = 3600 # Number of seconds after a successful digest auth for which
+                   # the cookie auth will be allowed
+
+    def __init__(self, realm, users_dict):
+        self.realm = realm
+        self.users_dict = users_dict
+        self.secret = bytes(uuid.uuid4().hex)
+        self.cookie_name = 'android_workaround'
+
+    def hashit(self, raw):
+        return hashlib.sha1(raw).hexdigest()
+
+    def __call__(self, func, allow_cookie_auth):
+
+        @wraps(func)
+        def authenticate(*args, **kwargs):
+            cookie = cherrypy.request.cookie.get(self.cookie_name, None)
+            if not (allow_cookie_auth and self.is_valid(cookie)):
+                digest_auth(self.realm, get_ha1_dict_plain(self.users_dict),
+                            self.secret)
+
+            cookie = cherrypy.response.cookie
+            cookie[self.cookie_name] = self.generate_cookie()
+            cookie[self.cookie_name]['path'] = '/'
+            cookie[self.cookie_name]['version'] = '1'
+
+            return func(*args, **kwargs)
+
+        authenticate.im_self = func.im_self
+        return authenticate
+
+    def generate_cookie(self, timestamp=None):
+        timestamp = int(time.time()) if timestamp is None else timestamp
+        key = self.hashit('%d:%s'%(timestamp, self.secret))
+        return '%d:%s'%(timestamp, key)
+
+    def is_valid(self, cookie):
+        try:
+            timestamp, hashpart = cookie.value.split(':', 1)
+            timestamp = int(timestamp)
+        except:
+            return False
+        s_timestamp, s_hashpart = self.generate_cookie(timestamp).split(':', 1)
+        is_valid = s_hashpart == hashpart
+        return (is_valid and (time.time() - timestamp) < self.MAX_AGE)
 
 def strftime(fmt='%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S', dt=None):
     if not hasattr(dt, 'timetuple'):