diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/http/base_request_options.ts b/modules/angular2/src/http/base_request_options.ts
index 57d5f4bc73..d5c44fa040 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/http/base_request_options.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/http/base_request_options.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-import {CONST_EXPR, CONST, isPresent, isString} from 'angular2/src/core/facade/lang';
+import {isPresent, isString} from 'angular2/src/core/facade/lang';
 import {Headers} from './headers';
 import {RequestMethods} from './enums';
 import {RequestOptionsArgs} from './interfaces';
 import {Injectable} from 'angular2/src/core/di';
 import {URLSearchParams} from './url_search_params';
+import {normalizeMethodName} from './http_utils';
 
 /**
  * Creates a request options object to be optionally provided when instantiating a
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ export class RequestOptions {
    * Http method with which to execute a {@link Request}.
    * Acceptable methods are defined in the {@link RequestMethods} enum.
    */
-  method: RequestMethods;
+  method: RequestMethods | string;
   /**
    * {@link Headers} to be attached to a {@link Request}.
    */
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ export class RequestOptions {
    */
   search: URLSearchParams;
   constructor({method, headers, body, url, search}: RequestOptionsArgs = {}) {
-    this.method = isPresent(method) ? method : null;
+    this.method = isPresent(method) ? normalizeMethodName(method) : null;
     this.headers = isPresent(headers) ? headers : null;
     this.body = isPresent(body) ? body : null;
     this.url = isPresent(url) ? url : null;
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/http/http_utils.ts b/modules/angular2/src/http/http_utils.ts
index 9338985a50..1fcc3d222d 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/http/http_utils.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/http/http_utils.ts
@@ -1 +1,17 @@
+import {isString} from 'angular2/src/core/facade/lang';
+import {RequestMethods} from './enums';
+import {makeTypeError} from 'angular2/src/core/facade/exceptions';
+
+export function normalizeMethodName(method): RequestMethods {
+  if (isString(method)) {
+    var originalMethod = method;
+    method = method.replace(/(\w)(\w*)/g, (g0, g1, g2) => g1.toUpperCase() + g2.toLowerCase());
+    method = RequestMethods[method];
+    if (typeof method !== 'number')
+      throw makeTypeError(
+          `Invalid request method. The method "${originalMethod}" is not supported.`);
+  }
+  return method;
+}
+
 export {isJsObject} from 'angular2/src/core/facade/lang';
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/http/interfaces.ts b/modules/angular2/src/http/interfaces.ts
index 86550504cc..a141623254 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/http/interfaces.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/http/interfaces.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export abstract class Connection {
  */
 export type RequestOptionsArgs = {
   url?: string;
-  method?: RequestMethods;
+  method?: string | RequestMethods;
   search?: string | URLSearchParams;
   headers?: Headers;
   // TODO: Support Blob, ArrayBuffer, JSON, URLSearchParams, FormData
diff --git a/modules/angular2/src/http/static_request.ts b/modules/angular2/src/http/static_request.ts
index 0e27d902ef..db36fde1b6 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/src/http/static_request.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/src/http/static_request.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import {RequestMethods} from './enums';
 import {RequestOptions} from './base_request_options';
 import {Headers} from './headers';
+import {normalizeMethodName} from './http_utils';
 import {
   RegExpWrapper,
   CONST_EXPR,
@@ -9,7 +10,6 @@ import {
   StringWrapper
 } from 'angular2/src/core/facade/lang';
 
-
 // TODO(jeffbcross): properly implement body accessors
 /**
  * Creates `Request` instances from provided values.
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export class Request {
       }
     }
     this._body = requestOptions.body;
-    this.method = requestOptions.method;
+    this.method = normalizeMethodName(requestOptions.method);
     // TODO(jeffbcross): implement behavior
     // Defaults to 'omit', consistent with browser
     // TODO(jeffbcross): implement behavior
diff --git a/modules/angular2/test/http/http_spec.ts b/modules/angular2/test/http/http_spec.ts
index 4e61760340..24e273177e 100644
--- a/modules/angular2/test/http/http_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/angular2/test/http/http_spec.ts
@@ -319,6 +319,29 @@ export function main() {
                                          res => {});
            }));
       });
+
+      describe('string method names', () => {
+        it('should allow case insensitive strings for method names', () => {
+          inject([AsyncTestCompleter], (async) => {
+            ObservableWrapper.subscribe<MockConnection>(backend.connections, c => {
+              expect(c.request.method)
+                  .toBe(RequestMethods.Post)
+                      c.mockRespond(new Response(new ResponseOptions({body: 'Thank you'})));
+              async.done();
+            });
+            ObservableWrapper.subscribe(http.request(new Request(new RequestOptions(
+                                            {url: 'https://google.com', method: 'PosT'}))),
+                                        (res) => {});
+          });
+        });
+
+        it('should throw when invalid string parameter is passed for method name', () => {
+          expect(() => {
+            http.request(
+                new Request(new RequestOptions({url: 'https://google.com', method: 'Invalid'})));
+          }).toThrowError('Invalid request method. The method "Invalid" is not supported.');
+        });
+      });
     });
 
     describe('Jsonp', () => {