diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b1cbb3b..d2ab82c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ request(url;
     [ debug = <none>, ]
     [ throw = true, ]
     [ downloader = <default>, ]
+    [ interrupt = <none>, ]
 ) -> Union{Response, RequestError}
 ```
 - `url        :: AbstractString`
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ request(url;
 - `debug      :: (type, message) --> Any`
 - `throw      :: Bool`
 - `downloader :: Downloader`
+- `interrupt  :: Base.Event`
 
 Make a request to the given url, returning a `Response` object capturing the
 status, headers and other information about the response. The body of the
@@ -129,6 +131,11 @@ be downloaded (indicated by non-2xx status code), `request` returns a `Response`
 object no matter what the status code of the response is. If there is an error
 with getting a response at all, then a `RequestError` is thrown or returned.
 
+If the `interrupt` keyword argument is provided, it must be a `Base.Event` object.
+If the event is triggered while the request is in progress, the request will be
+cancelled and an error will be thrown. This can be used to interrupt a long
+running request, for example if the user wants to cancel a download.
+
 ### default_downloader!
 
 ```jl
diff --git a/src/Curl/Multi.jl b/src/Curl/Multi.jl
index 33a606b..d2be032 100644
--- a/src/Curl/Multi.jl
+++ b/src/Curl/Multi.jl
@@ -192,6 +192,10 @@ function socket_callback(
                 end
             end
             @isdefined(errormonitor) && errormonitor(task)
+        else
+            lock(multi.lock) do
+                check_multi_info(multi)
+            end
         end
         @isdefined(old_watcher) && close(old_watcher)
         return 0
diff --git a/src/Downloads.jl b/src/Downloads.jl
index ca1710c..7ad35ab 100644
--- a/src/Downloads.jl
+++ b/src/Downloads.jl
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ end
         [ debug = <none>, ]
         [ throw = true, ]
         [ downloader = <default>, ]
+        [ interrupt = <none>, ]
     ) -> Union{Response, RequestError}
 
         url        :: AbstractString
@@ -299,6 +300,7 @@ end
         debug      :: (type, message) --> Any
         throw      :: Bool
         downloader :: Downloader
+        interrupt  :: Base.Event
 
 Make a request to the given url, returning a `Response` object capturing the
 status, headers and other information about the response. The body of the
@@ -317,6 +319,11 @@ Note that unlike `download` which throws an error if the requested URL could not
 be downloaded (indicated by non-2xx status code), `request` returns a `Response`
 object no matter what the status code of the response is. If there is an error
 with getting a response at all, then a `RequestError` is thrown or returned.
+
+If the `interrupt` keyword argument is provided, it must be a `Base.Event` object.
+If the event is triggered while the request is in progress, the request will be
+cancelled and an error will be thrown. This can be used to interrupt a long
+running request, for example if the user wants to cancel a download.
 """
 function request(
     url        :: AbstractString;
@@ -330,6 +337,7 @@ function request(
     debug      :: Union{Function, Nothing} = nothing,
     throw      :: Bool = true,
     downloader :: Union{Downloader, Nothing} = nothing,
+    interrupt  :: Union{Nothing, Base.Event} = nothing,
 ) :: Union{Response, RequestError}
     if downloader === nothing
         lock(DOWNLOAD_LOCK) do
@@ -388,6 +396,20 @@ function request(
 
                 # do the request
                 add_handle(downloader.multi, easy)
+                interrupted = false
+                if interrupt !== nothing
+                    interrupt_task = @async begin
+                        # wait for the interrupt event
+                        wait(interrupt)
+                        # cancel the request
+                        remove_handle(downloader.multi, easy)
+                        close(easy.output)
+                        close(easy.progress)
+                        interrupted = true
+                    end
+                else
+                    interrupt_task = nothing
+                end
                 try # ensure handle is removed
                     @sync begin
                         @async for buf in easy.output
@@ -403,14 +425,28 @@ function request(
                         end
                     end
                 finally
-                    remove_handle(downloader.multi, easy)
+                    if !interrupted
+                        if interrupt_task !== nothing
+                            # trigger interrupt
+                            notify(interrupt)
+                            wait(interrupt_task)
+                        else
+                            remove_handle(downloader.multi, easy)
+                        end
+                    end
                 end
 
                 # return the response or throw an error
                 response = Response(get_response_info(easy)...)
                 easy.code == Curl.CURLE_OK && return response
                 message = get_curl_errstr(easy)
-                response = RequestError(url, easy.code, message, response)
+                if easy.code == typemax(Curl.CURLcode)
+                    # uninitialized code, likely a protocol error
+                    code = Int(0)
+                else
+                    code = Int(easy.code)
+                end
+                response = RequestError(url, code, message, response)
                 throw && Base.throw(response)
             end
         end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 76db9e8..f4b3ffb 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -468,6 +468,18 @@ include("setup.jl")
             end
         end
 
+        @testset "interrupt" begin
+            url = "$server/delay/10"
+            interrupt = Base.Event()
+            download_task = @async request(url; interrupt=interrupt)
+            sleep(0.1)
+            @test !istaskdone(download_task)
+            notify(interrupt)
+            timedwait(()->istaskdone(download_task), 5.0)
+            @test istaskdone(download_task)
+            @test download_task.result isa RequestError
+        end
+
         @testset "progress" begin
             url = "$server/drip"
             progress = []