diff --git a/lib/excon/constants.rb b/lib/excon/constants.rb
index 899ebce5..da9e13ae 100644
--- a/lib/excon/constants.rb
+++ b/lib/excon/constants.rb
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ module Excon
     :ssl_version,
     :ssl_min_version,
     :ssl_max_version,
+    :ssl_security_level,
     :ssl_proxy_headers,
     :ssl_uri_schemes,
     :tcp_nodelay,
diff --git a/lib/excon/ssl_socket.rb b/lib/excon/ssl_socket.rb
index dceb8cc4..897786f5 100644
--- a/lib/excon/ssl_socket.rb
+++ b/lib/excon/ssl_socket.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ def initialize(data = {})
       # create ssl context
       ssl_context = OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext.new
 
+      # set the security level before setting other parameters affected by it
+      if @data[:ssl_security_level]
+        ssl_context.security_level = @data[:ssl_security_level]
+      end
+
       # disable less secure options, when supported
       ssl_context_options = OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext::DEFAULT_PARAMS[:options]
       if defined?(OpenSSL::SSL::OP_DONT_INSERT_EMPTY_FRAGMENTS)