diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 886031f..99b839b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,3 +33,15 @@ Retrieves events from the HID Evo Solo door controllers, and pushes them to a SQ
 ## Systemd
 
 There are systemd units in the [`systemd`](./systemd/) folder, which can be used to run the various scripts regularly.
+
+## SSL Certificates
+
+The HID Evo Solo door controllers we use have a self-signed certificate, which is included in this repo as [`hidglobal.com.pem`](./hidglobal.com.pem).
+
+If you need to use a different certificate, you can either download it with your browser or the following command (replacing `SERVER` by the address of the door):
+
+```sh
+openssl s_client -connect SERVER:443 </dev/null | sed -ne '/-BEGIN CERTIFICATE-/,/-END CERTIFICATE-/p' > example.pem
+```
+
+Then set `doorControllerCA_BUNDLE` in `config.yaml` to the path to the created pem file. If your doors have different certificates, (which ours annoyingly don't), you will need to concatenate the certificates together into a single file.
diff --git a/config.example.yaml b/config.example.yaml
index 9d6059b..ea9a079 100644
--- a/config.example.yaml
+++ b/config.example.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ doorControllers:
   Wood Shop Rear: {ip: 172.18.51.15, access: Wood Shop}
   Storage Closet: {ip: 172.18.51.16, access: Storage Closet}
 
+doorControllerCA_BUNDLE: "hidglobal.com.pem"
+
 # {member type: door schedule}
 memberLevels:
   CMS Staff: 7x24
diff --git a/hidglobal.com.pem b/hidglobal.com.pem
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..395c11e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hidglobal.com.pem
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
+MIID9TCCAt2gAwIBAgIJAPBotjnyfGu6MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMIGQMQswCQYD
+VQQGEwJVUzERMA8GA1UECAwIQ29sb3JhZG8xFDASBgNVBAcMC1dlc3RtaW5zdGVy
+MQwwCgYDVQQKDANISUQxDDAKBgNVBAsMA05BUzEWMBQGA1UEAwwNaGlkZ2xvYmFs
+LmNvbTEkMCIGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYVc3VwcG9ydEBoaWRnbG9iYWwuY29tMB4XDTE5
+MDcyMjEwMTQxMFoXDTI5MDcxOTEwMTQxMFowgZAxCzAJBgNVBAYTAlVTMREwDwYD
+VQQIDAhDb2xvcmFkbzEUMBIGA1UEBwwLV2VzdG1pbnN0ZXIxDDAKBgNVBAoMA0hJ
+RDEMMAoGA1UECwwDTkFTMRYwFAYDVQQDDA1oaWRnbG9iYWwuY29tMSQwIgYJKoZI
+hvcNAQkBFhVzdXBwb3J0QGhpZGdsb2JhbC5jb20wggEiMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUA
+A4IBDwAwggEKAoIBAQDSibuXB9Tn0EdwL2jDig26s/b1D9SX5B4xnZM+xZ4/mE6U
+Meg5xbiTSMiWqtoSMVxG1WJDxogJWxCgZis2qk3AG89PBarg17pBmxPLYyCLricx
+alyNvTJBxYgA/zKagPof6h6UqKOkhsW9qvulEmPe+TKk47pmlZXe+v+1A6PQDY5B
+Y3MtqE23cnZ5nBTVanFAc1vbokMXUCCtRvE1Y/KhvuaJr2VjOSJ/KV3vcdTSCLGc
+W9/n/Fv8udvI/eIkoPNpCUwngm8j3Aa7qN/OSg3SvVvBcl/Ykc08STSyZPMJGBaR
+EuUcAraEBZbUDOCinDS488jKVHAXhrnvzzi7RMlhAgMBAAGjUDBOMB0GA1UdDgQW
+BBSvOzxCjQi86ZUsuW0o4aa7GNAeSTAfBgNVHSMEGDAWgBSvOzxCjQi86ZUsuW0o
+4aa7GNAeSTAMBgNVHRMEBTADAQH/MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAA4IBAQA/8FCv6x8v
+PHm2Ya/hbZ/S3amdl7/E1illeApNRZodTGCn/rlVSGanCfWYzEY2naHiDC2ImhZq
+NkHK9uvUtxaVQFq5VN6WQMo351J78LLfcoqpKOLGX3b9byFvrw7WporZx3C7yL1U
+LS3oxI/pgavxy1KbOIw/yl+QgV50vlfvQ7sKZ1E5YOrgWLP5nJ9OeEKRdsASJyZS
+Jjl0k/eGaZreSvAZPmx4kaePfbi7DNDA+mNhSFygwt6AakjjVoF2xUZ1F+qwBtER
+GPxdZWldywUYsdBRG1PPvBsMo9ME46HpPdXRIjMge8P01fsaMr/6H86ojWg9uJmH
+cCKtiouo08hL
+-----END CERTIFICATE-----
diff --git a/memberPlumbing/config.py b/memberPlumbing/config.py
index 18c9817..024aebb 100644
--- a/memberPlumbing/config.py
+++ b/memberPlumbing/config.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ class Config:
                 self.DOOR_PASSWORD,
                 name=doorName,
                 access=doorData["access"],
+                cert=self.doorControllerCA_BUNDLE
             )
             for doorName, doorData in self.doorControllers.items()
         }
diff --git a/memberPlumbing/hid/DoorController.py b/memberPlumbing/hid/DoorController.py
index f94d037..b60c13d 100644
--- a/memberPlumbing/hid/DoorController.py
+++ b/memberPlumbing/hid/DoorController.py
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@ from datetime import datetime
 from io import StringIO
 
 import requests
-import urllib3
 from lxml import etree
 from lxml.builder import ElementMaker
+from requests import Session
+from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 
 E_plain = ElementMaker(nsmap={"hid": "http://www.hidglobal.com/VertX"})
 E = ElementMaker(
@@ -22,9 +23,10 @@ fieldnames = "CardNumber,CardFormat,PinRequired,PinCode,ExtendedAccess,ExpiryDat
     ","
 )
 
-# TODO: where should this live?
-# it's fine, ssl certs are for losers anyway
-urllib3.disable_warnings(urllib3.exceptions.InsecureRequestWarning)
+
+class HostNameIgnoringAdapter(HTTPAdapter):
+    def init_poolmanager(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().init_poolmanager(*args, **kwargs, assert_hostname=False)
 
 
 class RemoteError(Exception):
@@ -33,12 +35,16 @@ class RemoteError(Exception):
 
 
 class DoorController:
-    def __init__(self, ip, username, password, name="", access=""):
+    def __init__(self, ip, username, password, name="", access="", cert=None):
         self.ip = ip
         self.username = username
         self.password = password
         self.name = name
         self.access = access
+        self.session = Session()
+        if cert is not None:
+            self.session.mount("https://", HostNameIgnoringAdapter())
+            self.session.verify = cert
 
     # lazy evaluated, hopefully won't change for the lifetime of this object
     @property
@@ -55,13 +61,12 @@ class DoorController:
 
     def doImport(self, params=None, files=None):
         """Send a request to the door control import script"""
-        r = requests.post(
+        r = self.session.post(
             "https://" + self.ip + "/cgi-bin/import.cgi",
             params=params,
             files=files,
             auth=requests.auth.HTTPDigestAuth(self.username, self.password),
             timeout=60,
-            verify=False,
         )  # ignore insecure SSL
         xml = etree.XML(r.content)
         if (
@@ -82,11 +87,10 @@ class DoorController:
     def doXMLRequest(self, xml, prefix=b'<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>'):
         if not isinstance(xml, bytes):
             xml = etree.tostring(xml)
-        r = requests.get(
+        r = self.session.get(
             "https://" + self.ip + "/cgi-bin/vertx_xml.cgi",
             params={"XML": prefix + xml},
             auth=requests.auth.HTTPDigestAuth(self.username, self.password),
-            verify=False,
         )
         resp_xml = etree.XML(r.content)
         # probably meed to be more sane about this