diff --git a/VERSION.cmake b/VERSION.cmake
index 1c558669..8ebe8b0f 100644
--- a/VERSION.cmake
+++ b/VERSION.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 SET(LIBREPO_MAJOR "1")
-SET(LIBREPO_MINOR "17")
-SET(LIBREPO_PATCH "2")
+SET(LIBREPO_MINOR "18")
+SET(LIBREPO_PATCH "0")
diff --git a/librepo.spec b/librepo.spec
index 3a5757fe..25dc741c 100644
--- a/librepo.spec
+++ b/librepo.spec
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 %global dnf_conflict 2.8.8
 
 Name:           librepo
-Version:        1.17.2
+Version:        1.18.0
 Release:        1%{?dist}
 Summary:        Repodata downloading library
 
diff --git a/librepo/handle.c b/librepo/handle.c
index 27fcbbbd..eec674dc 100644
--- a/librepo/handle.c
+++ b/librepo/handle.c
@@ -407,6 +407,14 @@ lr_handle_setopt(LrHandle *handle,
         c_rc = curl_easy_setopt(c_h, CURLOPT_USERPWD, va_arg(arg, char *));
         break;
 
+    case LRO_USERNAME:
+        c_rc = curl_easy_setopt(c_h, CURLOPT_USERNAME, va_arg(arg, char *));
+        break;
+
+    case LRO_PASSWORD:
+        c_rc = curl_easy_setopt(c_h, CURLOPT_PASSWORD, va_arg(arg, char *));
+        break;
+
     case LRO_PROXY:
         c_rc = curl_easy_setopt(c_h, CURLOPT_PROXY, va_arg(arg, char *));
         break;
diff --git a/librepo/handle.h.in b/librepo/handle.h.in
index b3c19007..dc10b5a4 100644
--- a/librepo/handle.h.in
+++ b/librepo/handle.h.in
@@ -153,7 +153,10 @@ typedef enum {
         Use LRO_HTTPAUTHMETHODS */
 
     LRO_USERPWD,  /*!< (char *)
-        User and password for http authetification in format user:password */
+        User and password for http authetification in format user:password.
+        The user and password strings are not URL decoded, so there is no way to send in
+        a username containing a colon using this option. The option is DEPRECATED!
+        Use LRO_USERNAME and LRO_PASSWORD */
 
     LRO_PROXY,  /*!< (char *)
         Address of proxy server eg. "proxy-host.com:8080" */
@@ -170,7 +173,9 @@ typedef enum {
         Use LRO_PROXYAUTHMETHODS */
 
     LRO_PROXYUSERPWD,  /*!< (char *)
-        User and password for proxy in format user:password */
+        User and password for proxy in format user:password
+        Both the username and the password are URL decoded before use, so if the username
+        contains, for example, a colon, it should be encoded as %3A.*/
 
     LRO_PROGRESSCB,  /*!< (LrProgressCb)
         Progress callback */
@@ -429,6 +434,12 @@ typedef enum {
         Path to a file containing the list of PEM format trusted CA
         certificates. Used for proxy. */
 
+    LRO_USERNAME,  /*!< (char *)
+        User for http authetification */
+
+    LRO_PASSWORD,  /*!< (char *)
+        Password for http authetification */
+
     LRO_SENTINEL,    /*!< Sentinel */
 
 } LrHandleOption; /*!< Handle config options */
diff --git a/librepo/python/__init__.py b/librepo/python/__init__.py
index 118b9349..a005e703 100644
--- a/librepo/python/__init__.py
+++ b/librepo/python/__init__.py
@@ -90,6 +90,17 @@
 
     *String or None*. Set username and password for HTTP authentication.
     Param must be in format 'username:password'.
+    The user and password strings are not URL decoded, so there is no way to send in
+    a username containing a colon using this option. The option is DEPRECATED!
+    Use LRO_USERNAME and LRO_PASSWORD.
+
+.. data:: LRO_USERNAME
+
+    *String or None*. Set username for HTTP authentication.
+
+.. data:: LRO_PASSWORD
+
+    *String or None*. Set password for HTTP authentication.
 
 .. data:: LRO_PROXY
 
@@ -116,6 +127,8 @@
 
     *String or None*. Set username and password for proxy
     authentication in format 'username:password'.
+    Both the username and the password are URL decoded before use, so if the username
+    contains, for example, a colon, it should be encoded as %3A.
 
 .. data:: LRO_PROGRESSCB
 
@@ -1259,6 +1272,14 @@ class Handle(_librepo.Handle):
 
         See: :data:`.LRO_USERPWD`
 
+    .. attribute:: username:
+
+        See: :data:`.LRO_USERNAME`
+
+    .. attribute:: password:
+
+        See: :data:`.LRO_PASSWORD`
+
     .. attribute:: proxy:
 
         See: :data:`.LRO_PROXY`
diff --git a/librepo/python/handle-py.c b/librepo/python/handle-py.c
index 32bf4e19..ccc1ef42 100644
--- a/librepo/python/handle-py.c
+++ b/librepo/python/handle-py.c
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ py_setopt(_HandleObject *self, PyObject *args)
     case LRO_MIRRORLISTURL:
     case LRO_METALINKURL:
     case LRO_USERPWD:
+    case LRO_USERNAME:
+    case LRO_PASSWORD:
     case LRO_PROXY:
     case LRO_PROXYUSERPWD:
     case LRO_DESTDIR:
diff --git a/librepo/python/librepomodule.c b/librepo/python/librepomodule.c
index 3908bbc2..b7b1b593 100644
--- a/librepo/python/librepomodule.c
+++ b/librepo/python/librepomodule.c
@@ -238,6 +238,8 @@ PyInit__librepo(void)
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_LOCAL);
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_HTTPAUTH);
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_USERPWD);
+    PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_USERNAME);
+    PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_PASSWORD);
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_PROXY);
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_PROXYPORT);
     PYMODULE_ADDINTCONSTANT(LRO_PROXYTYPE);