diff --git a/container/client.go b/container/client.go
index 9f7d7b7..8e1605f 100644
--- a/container/client.go
+++ b/container/client.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package container
 import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"time"
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -13,11 +14,9 @@ const (
 	defaultStopSignal = "SIGTERM"
 )
 
-var auth = dockerclient.AuthConfig{
-	Username: "",
-	Password: "",
-	Email:    "",
-}
+var username = os.Getenv("REPO_USER")
+var password = os.Getenv("REPO_PASS")
+var email = os.Getenv("REPO_EMAIL")
 
 // A Filter is a prototype for a function that can be used to filter the
 // results from a call to the ListContainers() method on the Client.
@@ -117,7 +116,18 @@ func (client dockerClient) StartContainer(c Container) error {
 
 	log.Infof("Starting %s", name)
 
-	newContainerID, err := client.api.CreateContainer(config, name, &auth)
+	var err error
+	var newContainerID string
+	if username != "" && password != "" && email != "" {
+		auth := dockerclient.AuthConfig{
+			Username: username,
+			Password: password,
+			Email:    email,
+		}
+		newContainerID, err = client.api.CreateContainer(config, name, &auth)
+	} else {
+		newContainerID, err = client.api.CreateContainer(config, name, nil)
+	}
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -139,9 +149,22 @@ func (client dockerClient) IsContainerStale(c Container) (bool, error) {
 
 	if client.pullImages {
 		log.Debugf("Pulling %s for %s", imageName, c.Name())
-		if err := client.api.PullImage(imageName, &auth); err != nil {
-			return false, err
+
+		if username != "" && password != "" && email != "" {
+			auth := dockerclient.AuthConfig{
+				Username: username,
+				Password: password,
+				Email:    email,
+			}
+			if err := client.api.PullImage(imageName, &auth); err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+		} else {
+			if err := client.api.PullImage(imageName, nil); err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
 		}
+
 	}
 
 	newImageInfo, err := client.api.InspectImage(imageName)