diff --git a/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py b/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
index a151ba5c..2969922e 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/gevent_net/net_gevent.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 from rethinkdb import net, ql2_pb2
 from rethinkdb.errors import ReqlAuthError, ReqlCursorEmpty, ReqlDriverError, ReqlTimeoutError, RqlDriverError, \
     RqlTimeoutError
+from rethinkdb.helpers import get_hostname_for_ssl_match
 from rethinkdb.logger import default_logger
 
 __all__ = ['Connection']
@@ -103,7 +104,10 @@ def __init__(self, parent):
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise ReqlDriverError("SSL handshake failed (see server log for more information): %s" % str(exc))
                 try:
-                    ssl.match_hostname(self._socket.getpeercert(), hostname=self.host)
+                    ssl.match_hostname(
+                        self._socket.getpeercert(),
+                        hostname=get_hostname_for_ssl_match(self.host)
+                    )
                 except ssl.CertificateError:
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise
diff --git a/rethinkdb/helpers.py b/rethinkdb/helpers.py
index 4a161286..46152e49 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/helpers.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/helpers.py
@@ -1,10 +1,22 @@
 import six
 
+
 def decode_utf8(string, encoding='utf-8'):
     if hasattr(string, 'decode'):
         return string.decode(encoding)
 
     return string
 
+
 def chain_to_bytes(*strings):
     return b''.join([six.b(string) if isinstance(string, six.string_types) else string for string in strings])
+
+
+def get_hostname_for_ssl_match(hostname):
+    parts = hostname.split('.')
+
+    if len(parts) < 3:
+        return hostname
+
+    parts[0] = '*'
+    return '.'.join(parts)
diff --git a/rethinkdb/net.py b/rethinkdb/net.py
index 5a4c8ddc..155e038d 100644
--- a/rethinkdb/net.py
+++ b/rethinkdb/net.py
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     ReqlTimeoutError,
     ReqlUserError)
 from rethinkdb.handshake import HandshakeV1_0
+from rethinkdb.helpers import get_hostname_for_ssl_match
 from rethinkdb.logger import default_logger
 
 __all__ = ['Connection', 'Cursor', 'DEFAULT_PORT', 'DefaultConnection', 'make_connection']
@@ -352,7 +353,10 @@ def __init__(self, parent, timeout):
                             "SSL handshake failed (see server log for more information): %s" %
                             str(err))
                 try:
-                    match_hostname(self._socket.getpeercert(), hostname=self.host)
+                    ssl.match_hostname(
+                        self._socket.getpeercert(),
+                        hostname=get_hostname_for_ssl_match(self.host)
+                    )
                 except CertificateError:
                     self._socket.close()
                     raise
diff --git a/tests/test_helpers.py b/tests/test_helpers.py
index ca868de6..68e5fefb 100644
--- a/tests/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/test_helpers.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 from mock import Mock
-from rethinkdb.helpers import decode_utf8, chain_to_bytes
+from rethinkdb.helpers import decode_utf8, chain_to_bytes, get_hostname_for_ssl_match
 
 @pytest.mark.unit
 class TestDecodeUTF8Helper(object):
@@ -42,3 +42,34 @@ def test_mixed_chaining(self):
         result = chain_to_bytes('iron', ' ', b'man')
 
         assert result == expected_string
+
+
+@pytest.mark.unit
+class TestSSLMatchHostHostnameHelper(object):
+    def test_subdomain_replaced_to_star(self):
+        expected_string = '*.example.com'
+
+        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match('test.example.com')
+
+        assert result == expected_string
+
+    def test_subdomain_replaced_to_star_special_tld(self):
+        expected_string = '*.example.co.uk'
+
+        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match('test.example.co.uk')
+
+        assert result == expected_string
+
+    def test_no_subdomain_to_replace(self):
+        expected_string = 'example.com'
+
+        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match(expected_string)
+
+        assert result == expected_string
+
+    def test_no_tld(self):
+        expected_string = 'localhost'
+
+        result = get_hostname_for_ssl_match(expected_string)
+
+        assert result == expected_string