diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e3515db6..2f7105b3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ If the filename ends with `.url` suffix, the content will be processed as a URL
 | `SCRIPT`                   | Absolute path to shell script to execute after a configmap got reloaded. It runs before calls to `REQ_URI`                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | false    | -                                         | string  |
 | `ERROR_THROTTLE_SLEEP`     | How many seconds to wait before watching resources again when an error occurs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | false    | `5`                                       | integer |
 | `SKIP_TLS_VERIFY`          | Set to `true` to skip tls verification for kube api calls                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | false    | -                                         | boolean |
+| `REQ_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY `     | Set to `true` to skip tls verification for all HTTP requests (except the Kube API server, which are controlled by `SKIP_TLS_VERIFY`). Note that the latest 'requests' library no longer offer a way to disable this via env vars; however a custom truststore can be set via REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE.                                    | false    | -                                         | boolean |
 | `UNIQUE_FILENAMES`         | Set to true to produce unique filenames where duplicate data keys exist between ConfigMaps and/or Secrets within the same or multiple Namespaces.                                                                                                                                                                                   | false    | `false`                                   | boolean |
 | `DEFAULT_FILE_MODE`        | The default file system permission for every file. Use three digits (e.g. '500', '440', ...)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | false    | -                                         | string  |
 | `KUBECONFIG`               | if this is given and points to a file or `~/.kube/config` is mounted k8s config will be loaded from this file, otherwise "incluster" k8s configuration is tried.                                                                                                                                                                    | false    | -                                         | string  |
diff --git a/src/helpers.py b/src/helpers.py
index 2fa34d02..53e82314 100755
--- a/src/helpers.py
+++ b/src/helpers.py
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@
     os.getenv("REQ_RETRY_BACKOFF_FACTOR"))
 REQ_TIMEOUT = 10 if os.getenv("REQ_TIMEOUT") is None else float(os.getenv("REQ_TIMEOUT"))
 
+# Allows to suppress TLS verification for all HTTPs requests (except to the API server, which are controller by SKIP_TLS_VERIFY)
+# This is particularly useful when the connection to the main container happens as "localhost"
+# and most likely the TLS cert offered by that will have an external URL in it.
+# Note that the latest 'requests' library no longer offer a way to disable this via
+# env vars; however a custom truststore can be set via REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE
+REQ_TLS_VERIFY = False if os.getenv("REQ_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY ") == "true" else None
+
 # Tune default timeouts as outlined in
 # https://github.com/kubernetes-client/python/issues/1148#issuecomment-626184613
 # https://github.com/kubernetes-client/python/blob/master/examples/watch/timeout-settings.md
@@ -127,9 +134,9 @@ def request(url, method, enable_5xx=False, payload=None):
 
     # If method is not provided use GET as default
     if method == "GET" or not method:
-        res = r.get("%s" % url, auth=auth, timeout=REQ_TIMEOUT)
+        res = r.get("%s" % url, auth=auth, timeout=REQ_TIMEOUT, verify=REQ_TLS_VERIFY)
     elif method == "POST":
-        res = r.post("%s" % url, auth=auth, json=payload, timeout=REQ_TIMEOUT)
+        res = r.post("%s" % url, auth=auth, json=payload, timeout=REQ_TIMEOUT, verify=REQ_TLS_VERIFY)
     else:
         logger.warning(f"Invalid REQ_METHOD: '{method}', please use 'GET' or 'POST'. Doing nothing.")
         return