diff --git a/autopush/main.py b/autopush/main.py
index e3bb82a3..8a8a0fdf 100644
--- a/autopush/main.py
+++ b/autopush/main.py
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@ def from_argparse(cls, ns):
             cors=not ns.no_cors,
             bear_hash_key=ns.auth_key,
             proxy_protocol_port=ns.proxy_protocol_port,
+            use_cryptography=ns.use_cryptography,
         )
 
 
@@ -281,4 +282,5 @@ def from_argparse(cls, ns):
             auto_ping_timeout=ns.auto_ping_timeout,
             max_connections=ns.max_connections,
             close_handshake_timeout=ns.close_handshake_timeout,
+            use_cryptography=ns.use_cryptography,
         )
diff --git a/autopush/main_argparse.py b/autopush/main_argparse.py
index 6d59e667..6416e799 100644
--- a/autopush/main_argparse.py
+++ b/autopush/main_argparse.py
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ def add_shared_args(parser):
                         help="Enable the debug _memusage API on Port",
                         type=int, default=None,
                         env_var='MEMUSAGE_PORT')
+    parser.add_argument('--use_cryptography',
+                        help="Use the cryptography library vs. JOSE",
+                        action="store_true",
+                        default=False, env_var="USE_CRYPTOGRAPHY")
     # No ENV because this is for humans
     _add_external_router_args(parser)
     _obsolete_args(parser)
diff --git a/autopush/settings.py b/autopush/settings.py
index d073d2cb..5e30ff9b 100644
--- a/autopush/settings.py
+++ b/autopush/settings.py
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ class AutopushSettings(object):
     # generate legacy data.
     _notification_legacy = attrib(default=False)  # type: bool
 
+    # Use the cryptography library
+    use_cryptography = attrib(default=False)  # type: bool
+
     def __attrs_post_init__(self):
         """Initialize the Settings object"""
         # Setup hosts/ports/urls
diff --git a/autopush/tests/test_integration.py b/autopush/tests/test_integration.py
index a9ce9645..6fe5f58c 100644
--- a/autopush/tests/test_integration.py
+++ b/autopush/tests/test_integration.py
@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ class IntegrationBase(unittest.TestCase):
         router_tablename=ROUTER_TABLE,
         storage_tablename=STORAGE_TABLE,
         message_tablename=MESSAGE_TABLE,
+        use_cryptography=True,
     )
 
     _conn_defaults = dict(
@@ -359,6 +360,7 @@ class IntegrationBase(unittest.TestCase):
         router_tablename=ROUTER_TABLE,
         storage_tablename=STORAGE_TABLE,
         message_tablename=MESSAGE_TABLE,
+        use_cryptography=True,
     )
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/autopush/tests/test_web_validation.py b/autopush/tests/test_web_validation.py
index f899d7d3..62748514 100644
--- a/autopush/tests/test_web_validation.py
+++ b/autopush/tests/test_web_validation.py
@@ -856,8 +856,9 @@ def test_valid_vapid_crypto_header(self):
         eq_(errors, {})
         ok_("jwt" in result)
 
-    def test_valid_vapid_crypto_header_webpush(self):
+    def test_valid_vapid_crypto_header_webpush(self, use_crypto=False):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context["settings"].use_cryptography = use_crypto
 
         header = {"typ": "JWT", "alg": "ES256"}
         payload = {"aud": "https://pusher_origin.example.com",
@@ -887,6 +888,9 @@ def test_valid_vapid_crypto_header_webpush(self):
         eq_(errors, {})
         ok_("jwt" in result)
 
+    def test_valid_vapid_crypto_header_webpush_crypto(self):
+        self.test_valid_vapid_crypto_header_webpush(use_crypto=True)
+
     def test_valid_vapid_02_crypto_header_webpush(self):
         schema = self._make_fut()
 
@@ -985,6 +989,8 @@ def test_bad_vapid_02_crypto_header(self):
 
     def test_invalid_vapid_draft2_crypto_header(self):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context["settings"].use_cryptography = True
+
         header = {"typ": "JWT", "alg": "ES256"}
         payload = {"aud": "https://pusher_origin.example.com",
                    "exp": int(time.time()) + 86400,
@@ -1018,6 +1024,8 @@ def test_invalid_vapid_draft2_crypto_header(self):
     @patch("autopush.web.webpush.extract_jwt")
     def test_invalid_vapid_crypto_header(self, mock_jwt):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context["settings"].use_cryptography = True
+
         mock_jwt.side_effect = ValueError("Unknown public key "
                                           "format specified")
 
@@ -1154,6 +1162,7 @@ def test_invalid_encryption_header(self, mock_jwt):
     @patch("autopush.web.webpush.extract_jwt")
     def test_invalid_encryption_jwt(self, mock_jwt):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context['settings'].use_cryptography = True
         # use a deeply superclassed error to make sure that it gets picked up.
         mock_jwt.side_effect = InvalidSignature("invalid signature")
 
@@ -1225,6 +1234,7 @@ def test_invalid_crypto_key_header_content(self, mock_jwt):
 
     def test_expired_vapid_header(self):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context["settings"].use_cryptography = True
 
         header = {"typ": "JWT", "alg": "ES256"}
         payload = {"aud": "https://pusher_origin.example.com",
@@ -1291,6 +1301,7 @@ def test_missing_vapid_header(self):
 
     def test_bogus_vapid_header(self):
         schema = self._make_fut()
+        schema.context["settings"].use_cryptography = True
 
         header = {"typ": "JWT", "alg": "ES256"}
         payload = {
diff --git a/autopush/tests/test_web_webpush.py b/autopush/tests/test_web_webpush.py
index 6654f562..ffcc3019 100644
--- a/autopush/tests/test_web_webpush.py
+++ b/autopush/tests/test_web_webpush.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.ap_settings = settings = AutopushSettings(
             hostname="localhost",
             statsd_host=None,
+            use_cryptography=True,
         )
         self.fernet_mock = settings.fernet = Mock(spec=Fernet)
 
diff --git a/autopush/utils.py b/autopush/utils.py
index 4af9d687..5af4e68b 100644
--- a/autopush/utils.py
+++ b/autopush/utils.py
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@
     Tuple,
 )
 from ua_parser import user_agent_parser
+import ecdsa
+from jose import jwt
 
 from autopush.exceptions import (InvalidTokenException, VapidAuthException)
-from autopush.jwt import repad, VerifyJWT as jwt
+from autopush.jwt import repad, VerifyJWT
 from autopush.types import ItemLike  # noqa
 from autopush.web.base import AUTH_SCHEMES
 
@@ -188,17 +190,31 @@ def decipher_public_key(key_data):
     raise ValueError("Unknown public key format specified")
 
 
-def extract_jwt(token, crypto_key, is_trusted=False):
+def extract_jwt(token, crypto_key, is_trusted=False, use_crypto=False):
     # type: (str, str, bool) -> Dict[str, str]
     """Extract the claims from the validated JWT. """
     # first split and convert the jwt.
     if not token or not crypto_key:
         return {}
     if is_trusted:
-        return jwt.extract_assertion(token)
-    return jwt.validate_and_extract_assertion(
-        token,
-        decipher_public_key(crypto_key.encode('utf8')))
+        return VerifyJWT.extract_assertion(token)
+    if use_crypto:
+        return VerifyJWT.validate_and_extract_assertion(
+            token,
+            decipher_public_key(crypto_key.encode('utf8')))
+    else:
+        key = ecdsa.VerifyingKey.from_string(
+            base64.urlsafe_b64decode(
+                repad(crypto_key.encode('utf8')))[-64:],
+            curve=ecdsa.NIST256p
+        )
+        return jwt.decode(token,
+                          dict(keys=[key]),
+                          options=dict(
+                              verify_aud=False,
+                              verify_sub=False,
+                              verify_exp=False,
+                          ))
 
 
 def parse_user_agent(agent_string):
diff --git a/autopush/web/webpush.py b/autopush/web/webpush.py
index 7753edbf..dd99031e 100644
--- a/autopush/web/webpush.py
+++ b/autopush/web/webpush.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     Dict,
     Optional
 )
+from jose import JOSEError, JWTError
 
 from autopush.crypto_key import CryptoKey
 from autopush.db import DatabaseManager  # noqa
@@ -356,6 +357,14 @@ def token_prep(self, d):
         return d
 
     def validate_auth(self, d):
+        crypto_exceptions = [KeyError, ValueError, TypeError,
+                             VapidAuthException]
+
+        if self.context['settings'].use_cryptography:
+            crypto_exceptions.append(InvalidSignature)
+        else:
+            crypto_exceptions.extend([JOSEError, JWTError, AssertionError])
+
         auth = d["headers"].get("authorization")
         needs_auth = d["token_info"]["api_ver"] == "v2"
         if not needs_auth and not auth:
@@ -372,10 +381,10 @@ def validate_auth(self, d):
             jwt = extract_jwt(
                 token,
                 public_key,
-                is_trusted=self.context['settings'].enable_tls_auth
+                is_trusted=self.context['settings'].enable_tls_auth,
+                use_crypto=self.context['settings'].use_cryptography
             )
-        except (KeyError, ValueError, InvalidSignature, TypeError,
-                VapidAuthException):
+        except tuple(crypto_exceptions):
             raise InvalidRequest("Invalid Authorization Header",
                                  status_code=401, errno=109,
                                  headers={"www-authenticate": PREF_SCHEME})
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index 1e493580..a50ddf30 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ objgraph
 pyasn1
 pyfcm
 pyopenssl
+python-jose
 raven
 requests
 service-identity
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ee180622..31aae795 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ cyclone==1.1
 datadog==0.16.0
 decorator==4.0.11         # via datadog
 docutils==0.13.1          # via botocore
+ecdsa==0.13               # via python-jose
 enum34==1.1.6             # via h2
 futures==3.1.1            # via s3transfer
 gcm-client==0.1.4
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ pycparser==2.17           # via cffi
 pyfcm==1.3.1
 pyopenssl==17.1.0
 python-dateutil==2.6.1    # via botocore
+python-jose==1.3.2
 raven==6.1.0
 requests-toolbelt==0.8.0  # via pyfcm
 requests==2.18.1