diff --git a/client/src/lib.rs b/client/src/lib.rs
index 008f77d..e764f55 100644
--- a/client/src/lib.rs
+++ b/client/src/lib.rs
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ impl MTPClient {
      */
     pub async fn connect(config: ClientConfig) -> Result<MTPConnection, CommunicationError> {
         let (sender, receiver) =
-            mtp_transport::connect(&config.url, config.server_cert(), Policy::default()).await?;
+            mtp_transport::connect(&config.url, config.server_cert(), config.policy).await?;
 
         let version_str = format!("{}", PROTOCOL_VERSION);
         let mut ident = CommunicationValue::new(mtp_codec::CommunicationType::Identification)
diff --git a/transport/Cargo.toml b/transport/Cargo.toml
index 0af879a..5ff48ac 100644
--- a/transport/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transport/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ rustls = { version = "0.23.41" }
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }
 rustls-native-certs = "0.8.4"
 log = "0.4"
+rcgen = "0.14"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-rcgen = "0.14"
 
 [[test]]
 name = "integration"
diff --git a/transport/src/client.rs b/transport/src/client.rs
index 115b37e..f356ea5 100644
--- a/transport/src/client.rs
+++ b/transport/src/client.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,65 @@
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use mtp_common::CommunicationError;
-use rustls::{ClientConfig as RustlsClientConfig, RootCertStore, pki_types::pem::PemObject};
+use rustls::{
+    ClientConfig as RustlsClientConfig, RootCertStore,
+    client::danger::{HandshakeSignatureValid, ServerCertVerified, ServerCertVerifier},
+    pki_types::{ServerName, UnixTime, pem::PemObject},
+    DigitallySignedStruct, SignatureScheme,
+};
 use wtransport::{ClientConfig, Endpoint};
 
 use crate::{ConnectionHandle, Policy, Receiver, Sender};
 
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct NoopCertVerifier;
+
+impl ServerCertVerifier for NoopCertVerifier {
+    fn verify_server_cert(
+        &self,
+        _end_entity: &rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>,
+        _intermediates: &[rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>],
+        _server_name: &ServerName<'_>,
+        _ocsp_response: &[u8],
+        _now: UnixTime,
+    ) -> Result<ServerCertVerified, rustls::Error> {
+        Ok(ServerCertVerified::assertion())
+    }
+
+    fn verify_tls12_signature(
+        &self,
+        _message: &[u8],
+        _cert: &rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>,
+        _dss: &DigitallySignedStruct,
+    ) -> Result<HandshakeSignatureValid, rustls::Error> {
+        Ok(HandshakeSignatureValid::assertion())
+    }
+
+    fn verify_tls13_signature(
+        &self,
+        _message: &[u8],
+        _cert: &rustls::pki_types::CertificateDer<'_>,
+        _dss: &DigitallySignedStruct,
+    ) -> Result<HandshakeSignatureValid, rustls::Error> {
+        Ok(HandshakeSignatureValid::assertion())
+    }
+
+    fn supported_verify_schemes(&self) -> Vec<SignatureScheme> {
+        vec![
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PKCS1_SHA1,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PKCS1_SHA256,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PKCS1_SHA384,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PKCS1_SHA512,
+            SignatureScheme::ECDSA_NISTP256_SHA256,
+            SignatureScheme::ECDSA_NISTP384_SHA384,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PSS_SHA256,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PSS_SHA384,
+            SignatureScheme::RSA_PSS_SHA512,
+            SignatureScheme::ED25519,
+        ]
+    }
+}
+
 pub async fn connect(
     url: &str,
     server_cert: Option<Vec<u8>>,
@@ -55,7 +109,30 @@ fn configure_client_with_cert(
     client_config_from_roots(root_store, policy)
 }
 
+fn client_config_insecure(policy: &Policy) -> Result<ClientConfig, CommunicationError> {
+    let mut tls_config = RustlsClientConfig::builder()
+        .dangerous()
+        .with_custom_certificate_verifier(Arc::new(NoopCertVerifier))
+        .with_no_client_auth();
+
+    tls_config.alpn_protocols = vec![b"h3".to_vec()];
+
+    Ok(ClientConfig::builder()
+        .with_bind_default()
+        .with_custom_tls(tls_config)
+        .keep_alive_interval(policy.keep_alive_interval)
+        .max_idle_timeout(policy.max_idle_timeout)
+        .map_err(|e| CommunicationError::Other(e.to_string()))?
+        .build())
+}
+
 fn configure_client_system_roots(policy: &Policy) -> Result<ClientConfig, CommunicationError> {
+    // Check if insecure mode is enabled via env variable MTP_INSECURE
+    let insecure = std::env::var("MTP_INSECURE").is_ok();
+    if insecure {
+        // Insecure mode: skip certificate verification entirely
+        return client_config_insecure(policy);
+    }
     let mut root_store = RootCertStore::empty();
 
     // Load native certs
diff --git a/transport/src/host.rs b/transport/src/host.rs
index 0927aa0..2198770 100644
--- a/transport/src/host.rs
+++ b/transport/src/host.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,16 @@ use std::net::{IpAddr, SocketAddr};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use wtransport::{Connection as WTConnection, Endpoint, ServerConfig};
 
+fn generate_self_signed_cert() -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>) {
+    let key_pair = rcgen::KeyPair::generate().unwrap();
+    let params =
+        rcgen::CertificateParams::new(vec!["localhost".into(), "127.0.0.1".into()]).unwrap();
+    let cert = params.self_signed(&key_pair).unwrap();
+    let cert_pem = cert.pem();
+    let key_pem = key_pair.serialize_pem();
+    (cert_pem.into_bytes(), key_pem.into_bytes())
+}
+
 pub struct Host {
     incoming: tokio::sync::mpsc::Receiver<(Sender, Receiver)>,
     local_addr: std::net::SocketAddr,
@@ -46,7 +56,16 @@ pub async fn host(
 ) -> Result<Host, CommunicationError> {
     let _ = rustls::crypto::aws_lc_rs::default_provider().install_default();
 
-    let server_config = configure_server(ip, port, cert_pem, key_pem, &policy).await?;
+    // When MTP_INSECURE is set, generate a self-signed cert so the host can
+    // run without externally-provided TLS credentials.
+    let is_insecure = std::env::var("MTP_INSECURE").is_ok();
+    let (use_cert_pem, use_key_pem) = if is_insecure {
+        generate_self_signed_cert()
+    } else {
+        (cert_pem, key_pem)
+    };
+
+    let server_config = configure_server(ip, port, use_cert_pem, use_key_pem, &policy).await?;
     let endpoint = Endpoint::server(server_config)
         .map_err(|e| CommunicationError::Other(format!("Endpoint creation failed: {}", e)))?;