diff --git a/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/api/Authentication.java b/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/api/Authentication.java
index 082e1c14288..750c88f4cc3 100644
--- a/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/api/Authentication.java
+++ b/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/api/Authentication.java
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ import org.eclipse.jetty.util.Attributes;
  */
 public interface Authentication
 {
+    /**
+     * Constant used to indicate that any realm will match.
+     * @see #matches(String, URI, String)
+     */
+    public static final String ANY_REALM = "<<ANY_REALM>>";
+
     /**
      * Matches {@link Authentication}s based on the given parameters
      * @param type the {@link Authentication} type such as "Basic" or "Digest"
diff --git a/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/util/AbstractAuthentication.java b/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/util/AbstractAuthentication.java
index 534ed44fdfb..c98758961ba 100644
--- a/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/util/AbstractAuthentication.java
+++ b/jetty-client/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/util/AbstractAuthentication.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractAuthentication implements Authentication
         if (!getType().equalsIgnoreCase(type))
             return false;
 
-        if (!this.realm.equals(realm))
+        if (!this.realm.equals(ANY_REALM) && !this.realm.equals(realm))
             return false;
 
         return matchesURI(this.uri, uri);
diff --git a/jetty-client/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/HttpClientAuthenticationTest.java b/jetty-client/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/HttpClientAuthenticationTest.java
index 6e686fcc87e..a44a035f2bb 100644
--- a/jetty-client/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/HttpClientAuthenticationTest.java
+++ b/jetty-client/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/client/HttpClientAuthenticationTest.java
@@ -119,6 +119,14 @@ public class HttpClientAuthenticationTest extends AbstractHttpClientServerTest
         test_Authentication(new BasicAuthentication(uri, realm, "basic", "basic"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void test_BasicAnyRealm() throws Exception
+    {
+        startBasic(new EmptyServerHandler());
+        URI uri = URI.create(scheme + "://localhost:" + connector.getLocalPort());
+        test_Authentication(new BasicAuthentication(uri, Authentication.ANY_REALM, "basic", "basic"));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void test_DigestAuthentication() throws Exception
     {