diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java b/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
index 13aac3280..87af338eb 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
@@ -154,6 +154,16 @@ public class Preferences {
       System.setProperty("http.proxyHost", proxyHost);
       System.setProperty("http.proxyPort", proxyPort);
     }
+
+    // Set socks proxy for folks that require it.
+    // http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/net/proxies.html
+    String socksProxyHost = get("socksProxy.host");
+    String socksProxyPort = get("socksProxy.port");
+    if (socksProxyHost != null && socksProxyHost.length() != 0 &&
+      socksProxyPort != null && socksProxyPort.length() != 0) {
+      System.setProperty("socksProxyHost", socksProxyHost);
+      System.setProperty("socksProxyPort", socksProxyPort);
+    }
   }
 
 
diff --git a/build/shared/lib/defaults.txt b/build/shared/lib/defaults.txt
index f52b4261d..5c58c69c7 100644
--- a/build/shared/lib/defaults.txt
+++ b/build/shared/lib/defaults.txt
@@ -327,6 +327,14 @@ run.present.stop.color = #cccccc
 proxy.host=
 proxy.port=
 
+# SOCKS PROXY
+# Set a proxy server for folks that require it. This will allow the update
+# checker and the contrib manager to run properly in those environments.
+#socksProxy.host=proxy.example.com
+#socksProxy.port=9150
+socksProxy.host=
+socksProxy.port=
+
 # PDE X
 pdex.autoSave.autoSaveByDefault=true
 pdex.autoSave.autoSaveEnabled=false