diff --git a/clients/python/fdclient/client.py b/clients/python/fdclient/client.py
index c6abfdc..497de75 100644
--- a/clients/python/fdclient/client.py
+++ b/clients/python/fdclient/client.py
@@ -17,14 +17,14 @@
 
 
 class FDClient:
-    def __init__(self, server_url, request_timeout, compression=True):
+    def __init__(self, server_url, request_timeout, compression=True, use_requests_session=False):
         assert server_url.startswith("http://") or server_url.startswith(
             "https://"
         ), "Server URL must start with http:// or https://"
 
         self.server_url = server_url
         self.local_storage = threading.local()
-        self.requests_session = requests.Session()
+        self.requests_session = requests.Session() if use_requests_session else requests
         self.compression = compression if zstandard is not None else False
         self.input_type = None
         self._set_input_type()
diff --git a/clients/python/setup.py b/clients/python/setup.py
index e9cdf44..541714d 100644
--- a/clients/python/setup.py
+++ b/clients/python/setup.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 EMAIL = "praneeth@bpraneeth.com"
 AUTHOR = "BEDAPUDI PRANEETH"
 REQUIRES_PYTHON = ">=3.6.0"
-VERSION = "3.1.0"
+VERSION = "3.1.1"
 
 # What packages are required for this module to be executed?
 REQUIRED = ["zstandard", "requests", "msgpack"]