diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/sources/douban.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/sources/douban.py
index 70bf01a00e..8f8f5b80c4 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/sources/douban.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/sources/douban.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ cover_url      = XPath("descendant::atom:link[@rel='image']/attribute::href")
 
 def get_details(browser, url, timeout): # {{{
     try:
+        if Douban.DOUBAN_API_KEY and Douban.DOUBAN_API_KEY != '':
+            url = url + "?apikey=" + Douban.DOUBAN_API_KEY
         raw = browser.open_novisit(url, timeout=timeout).read()
     except Exception as e:
         gc = getattr(e, 'getcode', lambda : -1)