diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 03ab039..a3ddc2c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ Usage
   //same attribute than the session middleware http://www.senchalabs.org/connect/middleware-session.html
 
   sio.set("authorization", passportSocketIo.authorize({
-    key:    'express.sid',       //the cookie where express (or connect) stores its session id.
-    secret: 'my session secret', //the session secret to parse the cookie
-    store:   mySessionStore,     //the session store that express uses
-    fail: function(data, accept) {     // *optional* callbacks on success or fail
-      accept(null, false);             // second param takes boolean on whether or not to allow handshake
+    cookieParser: express.cookieParser, //or connect.cookieParser
+    key:          'express.sid',        //the cookie where express (or connect) stores its session id.
+    secret:       'my session secret',  //the session secret to parse the cookie
+    store:         mySessionStore,      //the session store that express uses
+    fail: function(data, accept) {      // *optional* callbacks on success or fail
+      accept(null, false);              // second param takes boolean on whether or not to allow handshake
     },
     success: function(data, accept) {
       accept(null, true);
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index f6b33bf..21954ec 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -1,29 +1,44 @@
-var connectUtils = require('connect').utils,
-    cookie = require('cookie'),
-    xtend = require('xtend');
+var xtend = require('xtend');
+
+function parseCookie(auth, cookieHeader) {
+  var cookieParser = auth.cookieParser(auth.secret);
+  var req = {
+    headers:{
+      cookie: cookieHeader
+    }
+  };
+  var result;
+  cookieParser(req, {}, function (err) {
+    if (err) throw err;
+    result = req.signedCookies;
+  });
+  return result;
+}
 
 function authorize(options) {
   var defaults = {
-    passport: require('passport'),
-    key: 'connect.sid',
-    secret: null,
-    store: null,
-    success: null,
-    fail: null
+    passport:     require('passport'),
+    key:          'connect.sid',
+    secret:       null,
+    store:        null,
+    success:      null,
+    fail:         null
   };
 
   var auth = xtend({}, defaults, options );
   
   auth.userProperty = auth.passport._userProperty || 'user';
 
+  if (typeof auth.cookieParser === 'undefined' || !auth.cookieParser) {
+    throw new Error('cookieParser is required use connect.cookieParser or express.cookieParser');
+  }
+
   return function(data, accept){
     if (!data.headers.cookie) {
       return accept(null, false);
     }
 
-    var parsedCookie = cookie.parse(data.headers.cookie);
-
-    data.cookie = connectUtils.parseSignedCookies(parsedCookie, auth.secret);
+    data.cookie =  parseCookie(auth, data.headers.cookie);
 
     data.sessionID = data.cookie[ auth.key ];
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b39671b..519bcee 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
   "license": "MIT",
   "dependencies": {
     "passport": "~0.1.16",
-    "connect": "2.7.5",
-    "cookie": "0.0.5",
     "request": "~2.19.0",
     "xtend": "~2.0.3"
   },
@@ -34,6 +32,7 @@
     "socket.io": "~0.9.14",
     "passport-local": "~0.1.6",
     "xmlhttprequest": "~1.5.0",
-    "socket.io-client": "git+https://github.com/jfromaniello/socket.io-client.git"
+    "socket.io-client": "git+https://github.com/jfromaniello/socket.io-client.git",
+    "connect": "~2.7.11"
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/fixture/index.js b/test/fixture/index.js
index aa5b9e8..50b92cf 100644
--- a/test/fixture/index.js
+++ b/test/fixture/index.js
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ exports.start = function (options, callback) {
   
   if(typeof options == 'function'){
     callback = options;
-    options = {};
-  }
+    options = {
+    };
+  } 
+  options.cookieParser = express.cookieParser;
 
   var app = express();
   app.configure(function(){