diff --git a/settings.py b/settings.py
index 5ed5c4c..15704c1 100644
--- a/settings.py
+++ b/settings.py
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
     'blogs.middleware.BlogMiddleware',
 )
 
+AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
+    'utils.backends.EmailOrUsernameModelBackend',
+)
+
 ROOT_URLCONF = 'snipt.urls'
 
 PROJECT_PATH = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
diff --git a/templates/registration/login.html b/templates/registration/login.html
index 16c8389..af3139b 100644
--- a/templates/registration/login.html
+++ b/templates/registration/login.html
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
         <fieldset>
             <legend>Log in</legend>
             <div class="control-group {% if form.username.errors %}error{% endif %}">
-                <label class="control-label" for="id_username">Username</label>
+                <label class="control-label" for="id_username">Username or email:</label>
                 <div class="controls">
                     {{ form.username }}
                     {% if form.errors.username %}
diff --git a/urls.py b/urls.py
index a7b2a7e..2b5e90c 100644
--- a/urls.py
+++ b/urls.py
@@ -60,8 +60,7 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     url(r'^search/$', search),
 
     url(r'^register/$', lambda x: HttpResponseRedirect('/signup/')),
-    url(r'^signup/$',
-        SniptRegistrationView.as_view(),
+    url(r'^signup/$', SniptRegistrationView.as_view(),
         name='registration_register'),
     url(r'', include('registration.backends.default.urls')),
 
@@ -69,4 +68,5 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
 )
 
 if settings.DEBUG:
-    urlpatterns = urlpatterns + static('/media/', document_root=os.path.join(settings.BASE_PATH, 'media'))
+    urlpatterns = urlpatterns + static('/media/',
+        document_root=os.path.join(settings.BASE_PATH, 'media'))
diff --git a/utils/backends.py b/utils/backends.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4939337
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/backends.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+
+class EmailOrUsernameModelBackend(object):
+    def authenticate(self, username=None, password=None):
+        if '@' in username:
+            kwargs = {'email': username}
+        else:
+            kwargs = {'username': username}
+        try:
+            user = User.objects.get(**kwargs)
+            if user.check_password(password):
+                return user
+        except User.DoesNotExist:
+            return None
+
+    def get_user(self, user_id):
+        try:
+            return User.objects.get(pk=user_id)
+        except User.DoesNotExist:
+            return None
diff --git a/utils/forms.py b/utils/forms.py
index 92bfd1f..f178b8f 100644
--- a/utils/forms.py
+++ b/utils/forms.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ from registration.forms import RegistrationForm
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django import forms
 
-
 class SniptRegistrationForm(RegistrationForm):
     """
     Subclass of ``RegistrationForm`` which enforces uniqueness of