diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 32cbb221..891193de 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 - IMPROVE: add possibility to choose matcher on include exclude and conflict manager rules in ivy files, and on resolver per module in ivyconf (IVY-161)
 - IMPROVE: add regexp management in the install ant task (IVY-154)
 
+- FIX: httclient is not registered for https urls (IVY-171)
 - FIX: post resolve tasks like retrieve or cachepath should be able to run from cache information (IVY-169)
 - FIX: resolve fails without appropriate message when cache is empty and a module in the repository has no revision (IVY-165)
 - FIX: resolve problem with configuration inheritance (IVY-164)
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Main.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Main.java
index e3bb356c..9d068516 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Main.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/Main.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.types.Path;
 
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.report.ResolveReport;
+import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandler;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandlerDispatcher;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandlerRegistry;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.util.DefaultMessageImpl;
@@ -318,7 +319,9 @@ public class Main {
     }
     private static void configureURLHandler(String realm, String host, String username, String passwd) {
         URLHandlerDispatcher dispatcher = new URLHandlerDispatcher();
-        dispatcher.setDownloader("http", URLHandlerRegistry.getHttp(realm, host, username, passwd));
+        URLHandler httpHandler = URLHandlerRegistry.getHttp(realm, host, username, passwd);
+        dispatcher.setDownloader("http", httpHandler);
+        dispatcher.setDownloader("https", httpHandler);
         URLHandlerRegistry.setDefault(dispatcher);
     }
     
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyConfigure.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyConfigure.java
index 8c6944f2..4dc00621 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyConfigure.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/ant/IvyConfigure.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Property;
 
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.Ivy;
+import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandler;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandlerDispatcher;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.url.URLHandlerRegistry;
 import fr.jayasoft.ivy.util.Message;
@@ -139,7 +140,9 @@ public class IvyConfigure extends IvyTask {
     }
     private void configureURLHandler() {
         URLHandlerDispatcher dispatcher = new URLHandlerDispatcher();
-        dispatcher.setDownloader("http", URLHandlerRegistry.getHttp(getRealm(), getHost(), getUsername(), getPasswd()));
+        URLHandler httpHandler = URLHandlerRegistry.getHttp(getRealm(), getHost(), getUsername(), getPasswd());
+        dispatcher.setDownloader("http", httpHandler);
+        dispatcher.setDownloader("https", httpHandler);
         URLHandlerRegistry.setDefault(dispatcher);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/HttpClientHandler.java b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/HttpClientHandler.java
index c466a877..ecbf6a9a 100644
--- a/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/HttpClientHandler.java
+++ b/src/java/fr/jayasoft/ivy/url/HttpClientHandler.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpException;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpMethodBase;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpStatus;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.UsernamePasswordCredentials;
+import org.apache.commons.httpclient.cookie.CookiePolicy;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.GetMethod;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.HeadMethod;