diff --git a/lib/transports/index.js b/lib/transports/index.js
index c72a8edb..354f5754 100755
--- a/lib/transports/index.js
+++ b/lib/transports/index.js
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ exports.websocket = websocket;
 function polling(opts){
   var xhr;
   var xd = false;
+  var xs = false;
   var jsonp = false !== opts.jsonp;
 
   if (global.location) {
@@ -36,9 +37,11 @@ function polling(opts){
     }
 
     xd = opts.hostname != location.hostname || port != opts.port;
+    xs = opts.secure != isSSL;
   }
 
   opts.xdomain = xd;
+  opts.xscheme = xs;
   xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(opts);
 
   if ('open' in xhr && !opts.forceJSONP) {
diff --git a/lib/transports/polling-xhr.js b/lib/transports/polling-xhr.js
index f7ea4323..82b647ec 100755
--- a/lib/transports/polling-xhr.js
+++ b/lib/transports/polling-xhr.js
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ function XHR(opts){
 
     this.xd = opts.hostname != global.location.hostname ||
       port != opts.port;
+    this.xs = opts.secure != isSSL;
   }
 }
 
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ XHR.prototype.request = function(opts){
   opts = opts || {};
   opts.uri = this.uri();
   opts.xd = this.xd;
+  opts.xs = this.xs;
   opts.agent = this.agent || false;
   opts.supportsBinary = this.supportsBinary;
   return new Request(opts);
@@ -122,10 +124,13 @@ function Request(opts){
   this.method = opts.method || 'GET';
   this.uri = opts.uri;
   this.xd = !!opts.xd;
+  this.xs = !!opts.xs;
   this.async = false !== opts.async;
   this.data = undefined != opts.data ? opts.data : null;
   this.agent = opts.agent;
-  this.create(opts.isBinary, opts.supportsBinary);
+  this.isBinary = opts.isBinary;
+  this.supportsBinary = opts.supportsBinary;
+  this.create();
 }
 
 /**
@@ -140,14 +145,14 @@ Emitter(Request.prototype);
  * @api private
  */
 
-Request.prototype.create = function(isBinary, supportsBinary){
-  var xhr = this.xhr = new XMLHttpRequest({ agent: this.agent, xdomain: this.xd });
+Request.prototype.create = function(){
+  var xhr = this.xhr = new XMLHttpRequest({ agent: this.agent, xdomain: this.xd, xscheme: this.xs });
   var self = this;
 
   try {
     debug('xhr open %s: %s', this.method, this.uri);
     xhr.open(this.method, this.uri, this.async);
-    if (supportsBinary) {
+    if (this.supportsBinary) {
       // This has to be done after open because Firefox is stupid
       // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13216903/get-binary-data-with-xmlhttprequest-in-a-firefox-extension
       xhr.responseType = 'arraybuffer';
@@ -155,7 +160,7 @@ Request.prototype.create = function(isBinary, supportsBinary){
 
     if ('POST' == this.method) {
       try {
-        if (isBinary) {
+        if (this.isBinary) {
           xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'application/octet-stream');
         } else {
           xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'text/plain;charset=UTF-8');
@@ -168,22 +173,18 @@ Request.prototype.create = function(isBinary, supportsBinary){
       xhr.withCredentials = true;
     }
 
-    xhr.onreadystatechange = function(){
-      var data;
-
-      try {
+    if (this.hasXDR()) {
+      xhr.onload = function(){
+        self.onLoad();
+      };
+      xhr.onerror = function(){
+        self.onError(xhr.responseText);
+      };
+    } else {
+      xhr.onreadystatechange = function(){
         if (4 != xhr.readyState) return;
         if (200 == xhr.status || 1223 == xhr.status) {
-          var contentType = xhr.getResponseHeader('Content-Type');
-          if (contentType === 'application/octet-stream') {
-            data = xhr.response;
-          } else {
-            if (!supportsBinary) {
-              data = xhr.responseText;
-            } else {
-              data = 'ok';
-            }
-          }
+          self.onLoad();
         } else {
           // make sure the `error` event handler that's user-set
           // does not throw in the same tick and gets caught here
@@ -191,14 +192,8 @@ Request.prototype.create = function(isBinary, supportsBinary){
             self.onError(xhr.status);
           }, 0);
         }
-      } catch (e) {
-        self.onError(e);
-      }
-
-      if (null != data) {
-        self.onData(data);
-      }
-    };
+      };
+    }
 
     debug('xhr data %s', this.data);
     xhr.send(this.data);
@@ -262,7 +257,11 @@ Request.prototype.cleanup = function(){
     return;
   }
   // xmlhttprequest
-  this.xhr.onreadystatechange = empty;
+  if (this.hasXDR()) {
+    this.xhr.onload = this.xhr.onerror = empty;
+  } else {
+    this.xhr.onreadystatechange = empty;
+  }
 
   try {
     this.xhr.abort();
@@ -275,6 +274,46 @@ Request.prototype.cleanup = function(){
   this.xhr = null;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Called upon load.
+ *
+ * @api private
+ */
+
+Request.prototype.onLoad = function(){
+  var data;
+  try {
+    var contentType;
+    try {
+      contentType = this.xhr.getResponseHeader('Content-Type');
+    } catch (e) {}
+    if (contentType === 'application/octet-stream') {
+      data = this.xhr.response;
+    } else {
+      if (!this.supportsBinary) {
+        data = this.xhr.responseText;
+      } else {
+        data = 'ok';
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    this.onError(e);
+  }
+  if (null != data) {
+    this.onData(data);
+  }
+};
+
+/**
+ * Check if it has XDomainRequest.
+ *
+ * @api private
+ */
+
+Request.prototype.hasXDR = function(){
+  return 'undefined' !== typeof global.XDomainRequest && !this.xs;
+};
+
 /**
  * Aborts the request.
  *
diff --git a/lib/xmlhttprequest.js b/lib/xmlhttprequest.js
index ce3474ae..e2ddf2a4 100644
--- a/lib/xmlhttprequest.js
+++ b/lib/xmlhttprequest.js
@@ -3,6 +3,17 @@ var hasCORS = require('has-cors');
 
 module.exports = function(opts) {
   var xdomain = opts.xdomain;
+  // scheme must be same when usign XDomainRequest
+  // http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ieinternals/archive/2010/05/13/xdomainrequest-restrictions-limitations-and-workarounds.aspx
+  var xscheme = opts.xscheme;
+
+  // Use XDomainRequest for IE8 because loading bar keeps flashing when using jsonp-polling
+  // https://github.com/yujiosaka/socke.io-ie8-loading-example
+  try {
+    if ('undefined' != typeof XDomainRequest && !xscheme) {
+      return new XDomainRequest();
+    }
+  } catch (e) { }
 
   // XMLHttpRequest can be disabled on IE
   try {
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 2cb00be1..0b18a2d5 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ require('./transport');
 // browser only tests
 if (env.browser) {
   require('./connection');
+  require('./xmlhttprequest');
   if (global.ArrayBuffer) {
     require('./arraybuffer');
   } else {
diff --git a/test/xmlhttprequest.js b/test/xmlhttprequest.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8425f64b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/xmlhttprequest.js
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+var expect = require('expect.js');
+var XMLHttpRequest = require('../lib/xmlhttprequest');
+var isIE8 = /MSIE 8/.test(navigator.userAgent);
+
+describe('XMLHttpRequest', function () {
+
+  if (isIE8) {
+    describe('IE8', function() {
+      it('should have same properties as XDomainRequest does when xscheme is false', function() {
+        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest({xdomain: false, xscheme: false});
+        expect(xhr).to.be.an('object');
+        expect(xhr).to.have.property('onload');
+        expect(xhr).to.have.property('onerror');
+      });
+
+      it('should have same properties as XMLHttpRequest does when xscheme is true', function() {
+        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest({xdomain: false, xscheme: true});
+        expect(xhr).to.be.an('object');
+        expect(xhr).to.have.property('onreadystatechange');
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
+});