diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
index edb09e668..6877f14ba 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.cpp
@@ -305,6 +305,16 @@ int HTTPClient::POST(String payload) {
     return POST((uint8_t *) payload.c_str(), payload.length());
 }
 
+/**
+ * sendRequest
+ * @param type const char *     "GET", "POST", ....
+ * @param payload String        data for the message body
+ * @return
+ */
+int HTTPClient::sendRequest(const char * type, String payload) {
+    return sendRequest(type, (uint8_t *) payload.c_str(), payload.length());
+}
+
 /**
  * sendRequest
  * @param type const char *     "GET", "POST", ....
diff --git a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
index 704841a8c..0b865c2a6 100644
--- a/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
+++ b/libraries/ESP8266HTTPClient/src/ESP8266HTTPClient.h
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ class HTTPClient {
         int GET();
         int POST(uint8_t * payload, size_t size);
         int POST(String payload);
+        int sendRequest(const char * type, String payload);
         int sendRequest(const char * type, uint8_t * payload = NULL, size_t size = 0);
         int sendRequest(const char * type, Stream * stream, size_t size = 0);