diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ed2cfe0..7fa641b 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ ubuntu-dev-tools (0.134) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
   [ Benjamin Drung ]
   * syncpackage: Catch user abort.
 
- -- Benjamin Drung <bdrung@debian.org>  Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:09:56 +0200
+  [ Scott Moser ]
+  * mk-sbuild: better support apt http proxy (LP: #881654)
+
+ -- Scott Moser <smoser@brickies.net>  Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:10:00 -0400
 
 ubuntu-dev-tools (0.133) unstable; urgency=low
 
diff --git a/mk-sbuild b/mk-sbuild
index 9f5d506..46f37d5 100755
--- a/mk-sbuild
+++ b/mk-sbuild
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ function usage()
     echo "  --debootstrap-mirror=URL   Use URL as the debootstrap source"
     echo "  --debootstrap-include=list Comma separated list of packages to include"
     echo "  --debootstrap-exclude=list Comma separated list of packages to exclude"
+    echo "  --debootstrap-proxy=URL    Use PROXY as apt proxy"
     echo "  --distro=DISTRO            Install specific distro:"
     echo "                                 'ubuntu' or 'debian' "
     echo "                                 (defaults to determining from release name)"
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ function usage()
     echo "  DEBOOTSTRAP_MIRROR         Mirror location (same as --debootstrap-mirror)"
     echo "  DEBOOTSTRAP_INCLUDE        Included packages (same as --debootstrap-include)"
     echo "  DEBOOTSTRAP_EXCLUDE        Excluded packages (same as --debootstrap-exclude)"
+    echo "  DEBOOTSTRAP_PROXY          Apt proxy (same as --debootstrap-proxy)"
     echo "  TEMPLATE_SOURCES           A template for sources.list"
     echo "  TEMPLATE_SCHROOTCONF       A template for schroot.conf stanza"
     if [ -z "$1" ]; then
@@ -82,12 +84,14 @@ function usage()
 if [ -z "$1" ]; then
     usage
 fi
-OPTS=`getopt -o 'h' --long "help,debug,skip-updates,arch:,name:,source-template:,debootstrap-mirror:,debootstrap-include:,debootstrap-exclude:,personality:,distro:,vg:,type:" -- "$@"`
+OPTS=`getopt -o 'h' --long "help,debug,skip-updates,arch:,name:,source-template:,debootstrap-mirror:,debootstrap-include:,debootstrap-exclude:,debootstrap-proxy:,personality:,distro:,vg:,type:" -- "$@"`
 eval set -- "$OPTS"
 
 VG=""
 DISTRO=""
 name=""
+proxy="_unset_"
+
 while :; do
     case "$1" in
         --debug)
@@ -134,6 +138,10 @@ while :; do
             DEBOOTSTRAP_EXCLUDE="$2"
             shift 2
             ;;
+        --debootstrap-proxy)
+            proxy="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
         --distro)
             DISTRO="$2"
             shift 2
@@ -450,6 +458,17 @@ if [ -n "$DEBOOTSTRAP_EXCLUDE" ] ; then
     debootstrap_opts="$debootstrap_opts --exclude=$DEBOOTSTRAP_EXCLUDE"
 fi
 
+# if http_proxy is set in the environment (even empty) set 'proxy' to it
+[ "$proxy" = "_unset_" -a "${DEBOOTSTRAP_PROXY-xx}" = "xx" ] &&
+    proxy=${DEBOOTSTRAP_PROXY}
+[ "$proxy" = "_unset_" -a "${http_proxy-xx}" = "xx" ] && proxy=${http_proxy}
+if [ "$proxy" = "_unset_" ]; then
+    _out=$(apt-config shell x Acquire::HTTP::Proxy) &&
+        _out=$(sh -c 'eval $1 && echo $x' -- "$_out") && [ -n "$_out" ] &&
+        proxy="$_out"
+fi
+[ "$proxy" = "_unset_" ] && proxy=""
+
 DEBOOTSTRAP_COMMAND=debootstrap
 # Use qemu-kvm-extras-static for foreign chroots
 if [ "$CHROOT_ARCH" != "$HOST_ARCH" ] ; then
@@ -501,7 +520,7 @@ esac
 sudo mkdir -p -m 0700 "$MNT"/root/.gnupg
 
 # debootstrap the chroot
-sudo "$DEBOOTSTRAP_COMMAND" --arch="$CHROOT_ARCH" $variant_opt $debootstrap_opts "$RELEASE" "$MNT" "${DEBOOTSTRAP_MIRROR:-http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu}"
+sudo ${proxy:+"http_proxy=${proxy}"} "$DEBOOTSTRAP_COMMAND" --arch="$CHROOT_ARCH" $variant_opt $debootstrap_opts "$RELEASE" "$MNT" "${DEBOOTSTRAP_MIRROR:-http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu}"
 
 # Update the package sources
 TEMP_SOURCES=`mktemp -t sources-XXXXXX`
@@ -629,7 +648,13 @@ sudo bash -c "cat >> $MNT/finish.sh" <<EOM
 #!/bin/bash
 #set -x
 set -e
-export http_proxy=${http_proxy}
+if [ -n "$proxy" ]; then
+   mkdir -p /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/
+   cat > /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99mk-sbuild-proxy <<EOF
+## proxy settings copied from mk-sbuild
+Acquire { HTTP { Proxy "$proxy"; }; };
+EOF
+fi
 # Reload package lists
 apt-get update || true
 # Pull down signature requirements
@@ -646,8 +671,8 @@ if [ ! -r /dev/stdin ];  then ln -s /proc/self/fd/0 /dev/stdin;  fi
 if [ ! -r /dev/stdout ]; then ln -s /proc/self/fd/1 /dev/stdout; fi
 if [ ! -r /dev/stderr ]; then ln -s /proc/self/fd/2 /dev/stderr; fi
 # Clean up
-apt-get clean
 rm /finish.sh
+apt-get clean
 EOM
 sudo chmod a+x "$MNT"/finish.sh