diff --git a/src/ng/http.js b/src/ng/http.js
index 75991b20c57c..84dbd453ab0f 100644
--- a/src/ng/http.js
+++ b/src/ng/http.js
@@ -694,6 +694,8 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
      *    - **headers** – `{Object}` – Map of strings or functions which return strings representing
      *      HTTP headers to send to the server. If the return value of a function is null, the
      *      header will not be sent. Functions accept a config object as an argument.
+     *    - **events** - `{Object}` - Event listeners to be bound to the XMLHttpRequest object.
+     *      To bind events to the XMLHttpRequest upload object, nest it under the upload key.
      *    - **xsrfHeaderName** – `{string}` – Name of HTTP header to populate with the XSRF token.
      *    - **xsrfCookieName** – `{string}` – Name of cookie containing the XSRF token.
      *    - **transformRequest** –
@@ -1155,7 +1157,7 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
         }
 
         $httpBackend(config.method, url, reqData, done, reqHeaders, config.timeout,
-            config.withCredentials, config.responseType);
+            config.withCredentials, config.responseType, config.events);
       }
 
       return promise;
diff --git a/src/ng/httpBackend.js b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
index 4eb872cd5f11..7d26ac6efa93 100644
--- a/src/ng/httpBackend.js
+++ b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function $HttpBackendProvider() {
 
 function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDocument) {
   // TODO(vojta): fix the signature
-  return function(method, url, post, callback, headers, timeout, withCredentials, responseType) {
+  return function(method, url, post, callback, headers, timeout, withCredentials, responseType, eventHandlers) {
     $browser.$$incOutstandingRequestCount();
     url = url || $browser.url();
 
@@ -88,6 +88,20 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDoc
       xhr.onerror = requestError;
       xhr.onabort = requestError;
 
+      if (eventHandlers) {
+        forEach(eventHandlers, function(value, key) {
+          if (key !== 'upload') {
+            xhr.addEventListener(key, value);
+          }
+        });
+
+        if (eventHandlers.upload) {
+          forEach(eventHandlers.upload, function(value, key) {
+            xhr.upload.addEventListener(key, value);
+          });
+        }
+      }
+
       if (withCredentials) {
         xhr.withCredentials = true;
       }
diff --git a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
index dd11e45701ab..0d1973783875 100644
--- a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
+++ b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
@@ -1683,6 +1683,17 @@ function MockXhr() {
   };
 
   this.abort = angular.noop;
+
+  this.$$events = {};
+  this.addEventListener = function(name, listener) {
+    if (angular.isUndefined(this.$$events[name])) this.$$events[name] = [];
+    this.$$events[name].push(listener);
+  };
+
+  this.upload = {
+    $$events: {},
+    addEventListener: this.addEventListener
+  };
 }
 
 
diff --git a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
index 12ceed5beb01..c57e4118c9d2 100644
--- a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
@@ -214,6 +214,19 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
     expect(MockXhr.$$lastInstance.withCredentials).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it('should set up event listeners', function() {
+    var progressFn = function() {};
+    var uploadProgressFn = function() {};
+    $backend('GET', '/url', null, callback, {}, null, null, null, {
+      progress: progressFn,
+      upload: {
+        progress: uploadProgressFn
+      }
+    });
+    xhr = MockXhr.$$lastInstance;
+    expect(xhr.$$events.progress[0]).toBe(progressFn);
+    expect(xhr.upload.$$events.progress[0]).toBe(uploadProgressFn);
+  });
 
   describe('responseType', function() {