diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 932d653..8093e19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -170,6 +170,38 @@ $app->add(new \Slim\Middleware\HttpBasicAuthentication([
 ]));
 ```
 
+## Accessing Authenticated User
+
+By default, a successfully authenticated user will be available in your route via:
+
+```php
+$user = $request->getAttribute("authorized_user");
+```
+
+If you need to use a different attribute name, this is configurable via "authorized_user_attribute". For example: 
+
+``` php
+$app = new \Slim\App;
+
+$app->add(new \Slim\Middleware\HttpBasicAuthentication([
+    "path" => "/admin",
+    "secure" => true,
+    "authorized_user_attribute" => "something_else_you_want_to_use"
+    "relaxed" => ["localhost", "dev.example.com"],
+    "users" => [
+        "root" => "t00r",
+        "somebody" => "passw0rd"
+    ]
+]));
+```
+
+Now you would access the user with:
+
+```php
+$user = $request->getAttribute("something_else_you_want_to_use");
+```
+
+
 ## Custom authentication methods
 
 Sometimes passing users in an array is not enough. To authenticate against custom datasource you can pass a callable as `authenticator` parameter. This can be either a class which implements AuthenticatorInterface or anonymous function. Callable receives an array containing `user` and `password` as argument. In both cases authenticator must return either `true` or `false`.
diff --git a/src/HttpBasicAuthentication.php b/src/HttpBasicAuthentication.php
index a7cf12d..f715ad5 100644
--- a/src/HttpBasicAuthentication.php
+++ b/src/HttpBasicAuthentication.php
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ class HttpBasicAuthentication
         "passthrough" => null,
         "realm" => "Protected",
         "environment" => "HTTP_AUTHORIZATION",
+        "authorized_user_attribute" => "authorized_user",
         "authenticator" => null,
         "callback" => null,
         "error" => null
@@ -145,10 +146,9 @@ public function __invoke(RequestInterface $request, ResponseInterface $response,
                 ]);
             }
         }
-
-
-        /* Everything ok, call next middleware. */
-        return $next($request, $response);
+        
+        /* Everything ok, set argument and call next middleware. */
+        return $next($request->withAttribute($this->options["authorized_user_attribute"], $user), $response);
     }
 
     private function hydrate($data = [])