diff --git a/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py b/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
index 5cf4dcd8592..9acf4252be6 100644
--- a/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
+++ b/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@
 import urllib.parse
 import warnings
 
-import chardet
+try:
+    import cchardet as chardet
+except ImportError:
+    import chardet
 
 import aiohttp
 from . import hdrs, helpers, streams
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 5535ab37179..773ccb071c9 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tox]
 
-envlist = check, {old_asyncio,py33,py34}-{debug,release}-{cython,pure}, reportcov
+envlist = check, {old_asyncio,py33,py34}-{debug,release}-{cchardet,cython,pure}, reportcov
 
 [testenv]
 
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ deps =
     nose
     coverage
     gunicorn
-    chardet
+    cchardet: cython
+    cchardet: cchardet
     cython: cython
     old_asyncio: asyncio==3.4.1