diff --git a/lib/jira.js b/lib/jira.js
index 190e2661..2bb3caf3 100644
--- a/lib/jira.js
+++ b/lib/jira.js
@@ -200,6 +200,9 @@ var JiraApi = exports.JiraApi = function(protocol, host, port, username, passwor
     // ### Takes ###
     //
     // *  issueNumber: the issueNumber to find
+    // *  optional: object containing any optional query string arguments as specified in the API.
+    //              For backwards compatibility, this input is optional. Therefore, this proc can be
+    //              called with findIssue(issuenumber, callback).
     // *  callback: for when it's done
     //
     // ### Returns ###
@@ -208,7 +211,7 @@ var JiraApi = exports.JiraApi = function(protocol, host, port, username, passwor
     // *  issue: an object of the issue
     //
     // [Jira Doc](http://docs.atlassian.com/jira/REST/latest/#id290709)
-    this.findIssue = function(issueNumber, callback) {
+    this.findIssue = function(issueNumber, optional, callback) {
 
         var options = {
             rejectUnauthorized: this.strictSSL,
@@ -216,6 +219,17 @@ var JiraApi = exports.JiraApi = function(protocol, host, port, username, passwor
             method: 'GET'
         };
 
+        // For backwards compatibility, allow "optional" to have not been passed in
+        // i.e. there are only two arguments to the function - issueNumber and callback
+        if (arguments.length == 2) {
+          callback = optional
+          optional = null
+        }
+
+        if (optional != null) {
+            options.qs = optional
+	}
+
         this.doRequest(options, function(error, response, body) {
 
             if (error) {