diff --git a/lib/vision/index.js b/lib/vision/index.js
index 1132828de32..dbc6f310386 100644
--- a/lib/vision/index.js
+++ b/lib/vision/index.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ var fs = require('fs');
 var is = require('is');
 var nodeutil = require('util');
 var prop = require('propprop');
+var request = require('request');
 
 /**
  * @type {module:storage/file}
@@ -183,7 +184,7 @@ Vision.prototype.annotate = function(requests, callback) {
  *
  * @param {string|string[]|module:storage/file|module:storage/file[]} images -
  *     The source image(s) to run the detection on. It can be either a local
- *     image path or a gcloud File object.
+ *     image path, a remote image URL, or a gcloud File object.
  * @param {string[]|object=} options - An array of types or a configuration
  *     object.
  * @param {number} options.maxResults - The maximum number of results, per type,
@@ -218,6 +219,16 @@ Vision.prototype.annotate = function(requests, callback) {
  * });
  *
  * //-
+ * // Run feature detection over a remote image.
+ * //
+ * // *Note: This is not an officially supported feature of the Vision API. Our
+ * // library will make a request to the URL given, convert it to base64, and
+ * // send that upstream.*
+ * //-
+ * var img = 'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Google.png';
+ * vision.detect(img, types, function(err, detection, apiResponse) {});
+ *
+ * //-
  * // Supply multiple images for feature detection.
  * //-
  * var images = [
@@ -1155,8 +1166,9 @@ Vision.convertToBoolean_ = function(baseLikelihood, object) {
 
 /**
  * Determine the type of image the user is asking to be annotated. If a
- * {module:storage/file}, convert to its "gs://{bucket}/{file}" URL. If a file
- * path, convert to a base64 string.
+ * {module:storage/file}, convert to its "gs://{bucket}/{file}" URL. If a remote
+ * URL, read the contents and convert to a base64 string. If a file path to a
+ * local file, convert to a base64 string.
  *
  * @private
  */
@@ -1178,6 +1190,24 @@ Vision.findImages_ = function(images, callback) {
       return;
     }
 
+    // File is a URL.
+    if (/^http/.test(image)) {
+      request({
+        method: 'GET',
+        uri: image,
+        encoding: 'base64'
+      }, function(err, resp, body) {
+        if (err) {
+          callback(err);
+          return;
+        }
+
+        callback(null, { content: body });
+      });
+
+      return;
+    }
+
     // File exists on disk.
     fs.readFile(image, { encoding: 'base64' }, function(err, contents) {
       if (err) {
diff --git a/system-test/vision.js b/system-test/vision.js
index 93179f7fc57..e9f4e5d20cf 100644
--- a/system-test/vision.js
+++ b/system-test/vision.js
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var assert = require('assert');
+var fs = require('fs');
+var http = require('http');
 var is = require('is');
 var multiline = require('multiline');
 var normalizeNewline = require('normalize-newline');
@@ -37,6 +39,29 @@ describe('Vision', function() {
     vision = new Vision(env);
   });
 
+  it('should detect from a URL', function(done) {
+    var server = http.createServer(function(req, res) {
+      fs.readFile(IMAGES.logo, function(err, resp) {
+        assert.ifError(err);
+        res.end(resp);
+      });
+    });
+
+    server.listen(8800, function(err) {
+      assert.ifError(err);
+
+      var url = 'http://localhost:8800/logo.png';
+
+      vision.detect(url, ['logos'], function(err, logos) {
+        assert.ifError(err);
+
+        assert.deepEqual(logos, ['Google']);
+
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
   it('should perform multiple detections', function(done) {
     var detectionTypes = ['faces', 'labels', 'safeSearch'];
 
diff --git a/test/vision/index.js b/test/vision/index.js
index 7bb2b13400f..db93183cf33 100644
--- a/test/vision/index.js
+++ b/test/vision/index.js
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ function FakeFile() {
   this.calledWith_ = arguments;
 }
 
+var requestOverride = null;
+var fakeRequest = function() {
+  return (requestOverride || util.noop).apply(this, arguments);
+};
+
 describe('Vision', function() {
   var IMAGE = './image.jpg';
   var PROJECT_ID = 'project-id';
@@ -50,6 +55,7 @@ describe('Vision', function() {
   var vision;
 
   before(function() {
+    mockery.registerMock('request', fakeRequest);
     mockery.registerMock('../../lib/storage/file.js', FakeFile);
     mockery.registerMock('../../lib/common/service.js', FakeService);
     mockery.registerMock('../../lib/common/util.js', fakeUtil);
@@ -68,6 +74,8 @@ describe('Vision', function() {
   });
 
   beforeEach(function() {
+    requestOverride = null;
+
     vision = new Vision({
       projectId: PROJECT_ID
     });
@@ -766,6 +774,44 @@ describe('Vision', function() {
       });
     });
 
+    it('should get a file from a URL', function(done) {
+      var imageUri = 'http://www.google.com/logo.png';
+      var body = 'body';
+
+      requestOverride = function(reqOpts, callback) {
+        assert.strictEqual(reqOpts.method, 'GET');
+        assert.strictEqual(reqOpts.uri, imageUri);
+        assert.strictEqual(reqOpts.encoding, 'base64');
+
+        callback(null, {}, body);
+      };
+
+      Vision.findImages_(imageUri, function(err, images) {
+        assert.ifError(err);
+        assert.deepEqual(images, [
+          {
+            content: body
+          }
+        ]);
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('should return an error from reading a URL', function(done) {
+      var imageUri = 'http://www.google.com/logo.png';
+
+      var error = new Error('Error.');
+
+      requestOverride = function(reqOpts, callback) {
+        callback(error);
+      };
+
+      Vision.findImages_(imageUri, function(err) {
+        assert.strictEqual(err, error);
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+
     it('should read from a file path', function(done) {
       tmp.setGracefulCleanup();