diff --git a/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py b/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
index c1c206a8a..94e4451ed 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/InfoExtractors.py
@@ -134,6 +134,14 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
         else:
             encoding = 'utf-8'
         webpage_bytes = urlh.read()
+        if self._downloader.params.get('dump_intermediate_pages', False):
+            try:
+                url = url_or_request.get_full_url()
+            except AttributeError:
+                url = url_or_request
+            self._downloader.to_screen(u'Dumping request to ' + url)
+            dump = base64.b64encode(webpage_bytes).decode('ascii')
+            self._downloader.to_screen(dump)
         return webpage_bytes.decode(encoding, 'replace')
 
 
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 489f8948a..f46143e01 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -224,6 +224,9 @@ def parseOpts():
             help='display progress in console titlebar', default=False)
     verbosity.add_option('-v', '--verbose',
             action='store_true', dest='verbose', help='print various debugging information', default=False)
+    verbosity.add_option('--dump-intermediate-pages',
+            action='store_true', dest='dump_intermediate_pages', default=False,
+            help='print downloaded pages to debug problems(very verbose)')
 
     filesystem.add_option('-t', '--title',
             action='store_true', dest='usetitle', help='use title in file name', default=False)
@@ -485,6 +488,7 @@ def _real_main():
         'max_downloads': opts.max_downloads,
         'prefer_free_formats': opts.prefer_free_formats,
         'verbose': opts.verbose,
+        'dump_intermediate_pages': opts.dump_intermediate_pages,
         'test': opts.test,
         'keepvideo': opts.keepvideo,
         'min_filesize': opts.min_filesize,