diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4fa33d71..48591b34 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -473,6 +473,36 @@ XRayMiddleware(app, xray_recorder)
 db = XRayFlaskSqlAlchemy(app)
 
 ```
+
+### Ignoring httplib requests
+
+If you want to ignore certain httplib requests you can do so based on the hostname or URL that is being requsted. The hostname is matched using the Python [fnmatch library](https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html) which does Unix glob style matching.
+
+```python
+from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored as xray_add_ignored
+
+# ignore requests to test.myapp.com
+xray_add_ignored(hostname='test.myapp.com')
+
+# ignore requests to a subdomain of myapp.com with a glob pattern
+xray_add_ignored(hostname='*.myapp.com')
+
+# ignore requests to /test-url and /other-test-url
+xray_add_ignored(urls=['/test-path', '/other-test-path'])
+
+# ignore requests to myapp.com for /test-url
+xray_add_ignored(hostname='myapp.com', urls=['/test-url'])
+```
+
+If you use a subclass of httplib to make your requests, you can also filter on the class name that initiates the request. This must use the complete package name to do the match.
+
+```python
+from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored as xray_add_ignored
+
+# ignore all requests made by botocore
+xray_add_ignored(subclass='botocore.awsrequest.AWSHTTPConnection')
+```
+
 ## License
 
 The AWS X-Ray SDK for Python is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See LICENSE and NOTICE.txt for more information.
diff --git a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/__init__.py b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/__init__.py
index bad026d2..ca643471 100644
--- a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/__init__.py
+++ b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-from .patch import patch, unpatch
+from .patch import patch, unpatch, add_ignored, reset_ignored
 
-__all__ = ['patch', 'unpatch']
+__all__ = ['patch', 'unpatch', 'add_ignored', 'reset_ignored']
diff --git a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/patch.py b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/patch.py
index 6a1ed24d..bfb4fce2 100644
--- a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/patch.py
+++ b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/httplib/patch.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 import sys
 import wrapt
-
+import fnmatch
 import urllib3.connection
 
 from aws_xray_sdk.core import xray_recorder
@@ -22,8 +22,33 @@
 
 _XRAY_PROP = '_xray_prop'
 _XRay_Data = namedtuple('xray_data', ['method', 'host', 'url'])
+_XRay_Ignore = namedtuple('xray_ignore', ['subclass', 'hostname', 'urls'])
 # A flag indicates whether this module is X-Ray patched or not
 PATCH_FLAG = '__xray_patched'
+# Calls that should be ignored
+_XRAY_IGNORE = set()
+
+
+def add_ignored(subclass=None, hostname=None, urls=None):
+    global _XRAY_IGNORE
+    if subclass is not None or hostname is not None or urls is not None:
+        urls = urls if urls is None else tuple(urls)
+        _XRAY_IGNORE.add(_XRay_Ignore(subclass=subclass, hostname=hostname, urls=urls))
+
+
+def reset_ignored():
+    global _XRAY_IGNORE
+    _XRAY_IGNORE.clear()
+    _ignored_add_default()
+
+
+def _ignored_add_default():
+    # skip httplib tracing for SDK built-in centralized sampling pollers
+    add_ignored(subclass='botocore.awsrequest.AWSHTTPConnection', urls=['/GetSamplingRules', '/SamplingTargets'])
+
+
+# make sure we have the default rules
+_ignored_add_default()
 
 
 def http_response_processor(wrapped, instance, args, kwargs, return_value,
@@ -77,11 +102,26 @@ def http_send_request_processor(wrapped, instance, args, kwargs, return_value,
         subsegment.add_exception(exception, stack)
 
 
+def _ignore_request(instance, hostname, url):
+    global _XRAY_IGNORE
+    module = instance.__class__.__module__
+    if module is None or module == str.__class__.__module__:
+        subclass = instance.__class__.__name__
+    else:
+        subclass = module + '.' + instance.__class__.__name__
+    for rule in _XRAY_IGNORE:
+        subclass_match = subclass == rule.subclass if rule.subclass is not None else True
+        host_match = fnmatch.fnmatch(hostname, rule.hostname) if rule.hostname is not None else True
+        url_match = url in rule.urls if rule.urls is not None else True
+        if url_match and host_match and subclass_match:
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
 def _send_request(wrapped, instance, args, kwargs):
     def decompose_args(method, url, body, headers, encode_chunked=False):
-        # skip httplib tracing for SDK built-in centralized sampling pollers
-        if (('/GetSamplingRules' in args or '/SamplingTargets' in args) and
-                type(instance).__name__ == 'botocore.awsrequest.AWSHTTPConnection'):
+        # skip any ignored requests
+        if _ignore_request(instance, instance.host, url):
             return wrapped(*args, **kwargs)
 
         # Only injects headers when the subsegment for the outgoing
diff --git a/tests/ext/httplib/test_httplib.py b/tests/ext/httplib/test_httplib.py
index 56061a4c..5ddf9573 100644
--- a/tests/ext/httplib/test_httplib.py
+++ b/tests/ext/httplib/test_httplib.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def construct_ctx():
     so that later subsegment can be attached. After each test run
     it cleans up context storage again.
     """
-    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import unpatch
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import unpatch, reset_ignored
 
     patch(('httplib',))
     xray_recorder.configure(service='test', sampling=False, context=Context())
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ def construct_ctx():
     yield
     xray_recorder.clear_trace_entities()
     unpatch()
+    reset_ignored()
 
 
 def _do_req(url, method='GET', use_https=True):
@@ -141,3 +142,67 @@ def test_correct_identify_https():
 
     https_meta = subsegment.http
     assert https_meta['request']['url'].split(":")[0] == 'https'
+
+
+def test_ignore_url():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    url = 'https://{}{}'.format(BASE_URL, path)
+    add_ignored(urls=[path])
+    _do_req(url, use_https=True)
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) == 0
+
+
+def test_ignore_hostname():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    url = 'https://{}{}'.format(BASE_URL, path)
+    add_ignored(hostname=BASE_URL)
+    _do_req(url, use_https=True)
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) == 0
+
+
+def test_ignore_hostname_glob():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    url = 'https://{}{}'.format(BASE_URL, path)
+    add_ignored(hostname='http*.org')
+    _do_req(url, use_https=True)
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) == 0
+
+
+class CustomHttpsConnection(httplib.HTTPSConnection):
+    pass
+
+
+def test_ignore_subclass():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    subclass = 'tests.ext.httplib.test_httplib.CustomHttpsConnection'
+    add_ignored(subclass=subclass)
+    conn = CustomHttpsConnection(BASE_URL)
+    conn.request('GET', path)
+    conn.getresponse()
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) == 0
+
+
+def test_ignore_multiple_match():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    subclass = 'tests.ext.httplib.test_httplib.CustomHttpsConnection'
+    add_ignored(subclass=subclass, hostname=BASE_URL)
+    conn = CustomHttpsConnection(BASE_URL)
+    conn.request('GET', path)
+    conn.getresponse()
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) == 0
+
+
+def test_ignore_multiple_no_match():
+    from aws_xray_sdk.ext.httplib import add_ignored
+    path = '/status/200'
+    subclass = 'tests.ext.httplib.test_httplib.CustomHttpsConnection'
+    add_ignored(subclass=subclass, hostname='fake.host')
+    conn = CustomHttpsConnection(BASE_URL)
+    conn.request('GET', path)
+    conn.getresponse()
+    assert len(xray_recorder.current_segment().subsegments) > 0