diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b88ed824..f31dfb2c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -276,6 +276,13 @@ The default value is `'keep'`.
   - `'keep'` The session in the store will be kept, but modifications made during
     the request are ignored and not saved.
 
+##### signature
+
+Pass in your own cookie signing object/module here that implements the
+`sign(value, secret)` and `unsign(value, secret)` functions.
+
+The default value is the [`cookie-signature`](https://github.com/tj/node-cookie-signature) module.
+
 ### req.session
 
 To store or access session data, simply use the request property `req.session`,
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 5794118f..119f86b7 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ var deprecate = require('depd')('express-session');
 var parseUrl = require('parseurl');
 var uid = require('uid-safe').sync
   , onHeaders = require('on-headers')
-  , signature = require('cookie-signature')
+  , cookiesignature = require('cookie-signature')
 
 var Session = require('./session/session')
   , MemoryStore = require('./session/memory')
@@ -65,6 +65,22 @@ var defer = typeof setImmediate === 'function'
   ? setImmediate
   : function(fn){ process.nextTick(fn.bind.apply(fn, arguments)) }
 
+/**
+ * Updated signature that prefixes s: to signed cookies. Done for compatibility
+ * with previous version of session
+ */
+var signature = {
+  sign: function(val, sig) {
+    return 's:' + cookiesignature.sign(val, sig);
+  },
+  unsign: function(val, sig) {
+    if (val.substr(0, 2) === 's:')
+      return cookiesignature.unsign(val.slice(2), sig);
+    else
+      return false;
+  }
+};
+
 /**
  * Setup session store with the given `options`.
  *
@@ -78,6 +94,8 @@ var defer = typeof setImmediate === 'function'
  * @param {Boolean} [options.saveUninitialized] Save uninitialized sessions to the store
  * @param {String|Array} [options.secret] Secret for signing session ID
  * @param {Object} [options.store=MemoryStore] Session store
+ * @param {Object} [options.signature=cookie-signature] Object that has two functions,
+ * sign(val, secret) and unsign(val, secret). Compatible with cookie-signature
  * @param {String} [options.unset]
  * @return {Function} middleware
  * @public
@@ -131,6 +149,16 @@ function session(options) {
     throw new TypeError('unset option must be "destroy" or "keep"');
   }
 
+  var signer = signature;
+  if (typeof opts.signature === 'object') {
+    if (typeof opts.signature.sign !== 'function' ||
+      typeof opts.signature.unsign !== 'function') {
+        throw new TypeError('signature option object must have sign and unsign functions');
+    }
+
+    signer = options.signature;
+  }
+
   // TODO: switch to "destroy" on next major
   var unsetDestroy = opts.unset === 'destroy'
 
@@ -212,7 +240,7 @@ function session(options) {
     req.sessionStore = store;
 
     // get the session ID from the cookie
-    var cookieId = req.sessionID = getcookie(req, name, secrets);
+    var cookieId = req.sessionID = getcookie(req, name, secrets, signer);
 
     // set-cookie
     onHeaders(res, function(){
@@ -235,7 +263,7 @@ function session(options) {
       req.session.touch();
 
       // set cookie
-      setcookie(res, name, req.sessionID, secrets[0], req.session.cookie.data);
+      setcookie(res, name, req.sessionID, secrets[0], req.session.cookie.data, signer);
     });
 
     // proxy end() to commit the session
@@ -483,7 +511,7 @@ function generateSessionId(sess) {
  * @private
  */
 
-function getcookie(req, name, secrets) {
+function getcookie(req, name, secrets, signer) {
   var header = req.headers.cookie;
   var raw;
   var val;
@@ -495,15 +523,11 @@ function getcookie(req, name, secrets) {
     raw = cookies[name];
 
     if (raw) {
-      if (raw.substr(0, 2) === 's:') {
-        val = unsigncookie(raw.slice(2), secrets);
+      val = unsigncookie(raw, secrets, signer);
 
-        if (val === false) {
-          debug('cookie signature invalid');
-          val = undefined;
-        }
-      } else {
-        debug('cookie unsigned')
+      if (val === false) {
+        debug('cookie signature missing or invalid');
+        val = undefined;
       }
     }
   }
@@ -522,19 +546,15 @@ function getcookie(req, name, secrets) {
     raw = req.cookies[name];
 
     if (raw) {
-      if (raw.substr(0, 2) === 's:') {
-        val = unsigncookie(raw.slice(2), secrets);
+      val = unsigncookie(raw, secrets, signer);
 
-        if (val) {
-          deprecate('cookie should be available in req.headers.cookie');
-        }
+      if (val) {
+        deprecate('cookie should be available in req.headers.cookie');
+      }
 
-        if (val === false) {
-          debug('cookie signature invalid');
-          val = undefined;
-        }
-      } else {
-        debug('cookie unsigned')
+      if (val === false) {
+        debug('cookie signature missing or invalid');
+        val = undefined;
       }
     }
   }
@@ -602,8 +622,8 @@ function issecure(req, trustProxy) {
  * @private
  */
 
-function setcookie(res, name, val, secret, options) {
-  var signed = 's:' + signature.sign(val, secret);
+function setcookie(res, name, val, secret, options, signer) {
+  var signed = signer.sign(val, secret);
   var data = cookie.serialize(name, signed, options);
 
   debug('set-cookie %s', data);
@@ -624,9 +644,9 @@ function setcookie(res, name, val, secret, options) {
  * @returns {String|Boolean}
  * @private
  */
-function unsigncookie(val, secrets) {
+function unsigncookie(val, secrets, signer) {
   for (var i = 0; i < secrets.length; i++) {
-    var result = signature.unsign(val, secrets[i]);
+    var result = signer.unsign(val, secrets[i]);
 
     if (result !== false) {
       return result;
diff --git a/test/session.js b/test/session.js
index f9419d48..95a1ff78 100644
--- a/test/session.js
+++ b/test/session.js
@@ -2179,6 +2179,44 @@ describe('session()', function(){
       })
     })
 
+    it('should reject invalid custom signature objects', function(){
+      assert.throws(session.bind(null, { signature: { sign: 'bogus!' } }), /signature.*sign.*unsign/)
+    });
+
+    it('should use a custom signature object if passed in', function(done){
+      var app = express()
+        .use(cookieParser())
+        .use(function(req, res, next){ req.headers.cookie = 'foo=bar'; next() })
+        .use(session({ 
+          secret: 'keyboard cat',
+          key: 'sessid',
+          signature: {
+            sign: function(val, secret) {
+              return secret + val + secret;
+            },
+            unsign: function(val, secret) {
+              return val.replace(/secret/g, '')
+            }
+          }
+        }))
+        .use(function(req, res, next){
+          req.session.count = req.session.count || 0
+          req.session.count++
+          res.end(req.session.count.toString())
+        })
+
+      request(app)
+      .get('/')
+      .expect(200, '1', function (err, res) {
+        if (err) return done(err)
+        var val = cookie(res).replace(/...\./, '.')
+        request(app)
+        .get('/')
+        .set('Cookie', val)
+        .expect(200, '1', done)
+      })
+    })
+
     it('should read from req.signedCookies', function(done){
       var app = express()
         .use(cookieParser('keyboard cat'))