diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e59b6c4f..64768e7e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,6 +48,30 @@ Rails.application.config.middleware.use OmniAuth::Builder do
 end
 ```
 
+### For development with self-signed certificates
+
+**WARNING**: Only use this in development/testing environments, never in production!
+
+```ruby
+Rails.application.config.middleware.use OmniAuth::Builder do
+  provider :openid_connect, {
+    name: :my_provider,
+    scope: [:openid, :email, :profile, :address],
+    response_type: :code,
+    uid_field: "preferred_username",
+    client_options: {
+      port: 8443,
+      scheme: "https",
+      host: "myprovider.local",
+      identifier: ENV["OP_CLIENT_ID"],
+      secret: ENV["OP_SECRET_KEY"],
+      redirect_uri: "http://myapp.com/users/auth/openid_connect/callback",
+      ssl_verify: false  # Disable SSL certificate verification for self-signed certs
+    },
+  }
+end
+```
+
 ### with Devise
 ```ruby
 Devise.setup do |config|
@@ -115,6 +139,7 @@ These are the configuration options for the client_options hash of the configura
 | userinfo_endpoint      | The user info endpoint on the authorization server              | /userinfo  | yes                    |
 | jwks_uri               | The jwks_uri on the authorization server                        | /jwk       | yes                    |
 | end_session_endpoint   | The url to call to log the user out at the authorization server | nil        | yes                    |
+| ssl_verify             | Control SSL certificate verification (set to false for self-signed certificates) | true       |                        |
 
 ### Additional Configuration Notes
   * `name` is arbitrary, I recommend using the name of your provider. The name
@@ -147,6 +172,10 @@ These are the configuration options for the client_options hash of the configura
   this is not in the protocol specifications. In those cases, the `send_scope_to_token_endpoint`
   property can be used to add the attribute to the token request. Initial value is `true`, which means that the
   scope attribute is included by default.
+  * The `ssl_verify` option can be set to `false` to disable SSL certificate verification when using self-signed 
+  certificates in development or testing environments. **WARNING**: This should **NEVER** be used in production 
+  as it disables certificate verification and makes your application vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. 
+  Always use properly signed certificates in production environments.
 
 ## Additional notes
   * In some cases, you may want to go straight to the callback phase - e.g. when requested by a stateless client, like a mobile app.
diff --git a/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect.rb b/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect.rb
index 73dd0fe0..da919d4f 100644
--- a/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect.rb
+++ b/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ class OpenIDConnect # rubocop:disable Metrics/ClassLength
                               token_endpoint: '/token',
                               userinfo_endpoint: '/userinfo',
                               jwks_uri: '/jwk',
-                              end_session_endpoint: nil)
+                              end_session_endpoint: nil,
+                              ssl_verify: true)
 
       option :issuer
       option :discovery, false
@@ -106,10 +107,12 @@ def uid
       end
 
       def client
+        configure_ssl_verification
         @client ||= ::OpenIDConnect::Client.new(client_options)
       end
 
       def config
+        configure_ssl_verification
         @config ||= ::OpenIDConnect::Discovery::Provider::Config.discover!(options.issuer)
       end
 
@@ -234,6 +237,20 @@ def pkce_authorize_params(verifier)
 
       private
 
+      def configure_ssl_verification
+        return if @ssl_configured
+
+        # Configure SSL verification for the Faraday connection used by openid_connect gem
+        # This affects discovery, jwks_uri fetching, and token endpoint requests
+        unless client_options.ssl_verify
+          ::OpenIDConnect.http_config do |config|
+            config.ssl.verify = false
+          end
+        end
+
+        @ssl_configured = true
+      end
+
       def fetch_key
         @fetch_key ||= parse_jwk_key(::OpenIDConnect.http_client.get(client_options.jwks_uri).body)
       end
diff --git a/test/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect_test.rb b/test/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect_test.rb
index dfc519ee..9136dff8 100644
--- a/test/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect_test.rb
+++ b/test/lib/omniauth/strategies/openid_connect_test.rb
@@ -971,6 +971,23 @@ def test_option_pkce
         assert(strategy.authorize_uri =~ /#{Regexp.quote(strategy.options.pkce_verifier.call)}/,
                'URI must contain code challenge value')
       end
+
+      def test_ssl_verify_defaults_to_true
+        assert_equal true, strategy.options.client_options.ssl_verify
+      end
+
+      def test_ssl_verify_can_be_disabled
+        strategy.options.client_options.ssl_verify = false
+
+        # Mock the OpenIDConnect http_config to verify it's called with Faraday API
+        ::OpenIDConnect.stubs(:http_config).yields(mock_http_config = mock('http_config'))
+        mock_ssl = mock('ssl')
+        mock_http_config.stubs(:ssl).returns(mock_ssl)
+        mock_ssl.expects(:verify=).with(false)
+
+        # Trigger SSL configuration by accessing client
+        strategy.client
+      end
     end
   end
 end