diff --git a/fineract-client/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/client/util/FineractClient.java b/fineract-client/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/client/util/FineractClient.java
index 4ad6e7ea9..6252b01d9 100644
--- a/fineract-client/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/client/util/FineractClient.java
+++ b/fineract-client/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/client/util/FineractClient.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.apache.fineract.client.util;
 
 import org.apache.fineract.client.ApiClient;
 import org.apache.fineract.client.auth.ApiKeyAuth;
+import org.apache.fineract.client.auth.HttpBasicAuth;
 import org.apache.fineract.client.services.*;
 
 /**
@@ -243,48 +244,67 @@ public class FineractClient {
         workingDays = apiClient.createService(WorkingDaysApi.class);
     }
 
-    public static FineractClientBuilder builder() {
-        return new FineractClientBuilder();
+    public static Builder builder() {
+        return new Builder();
     }
 
     protected <S> S createService(Class<S> serviceClass) {
         return api.createService(serviceClass);
     }
 
-    public static class FineractClientBuilder {
+    public static class Builder {
 
+        private final ApiClient apiClient = new ApiClient();
         private String baseURL;
         private String tenant;
         private String username;
         private String password;
 
-        private FineractClientBuilder() {}
+        private Builder() {}
 
-        public FineractClientBuilder baseURL(String baseURL) {
+        public Builder baseURL(String baseURL) {
             this.baseURL = baseURL;
             return this;
         }
 
-        public FineractClientBuilder tenant(String tenant) {
+        public Builder tenant(String tenant) {
             this.tenant = tenant;
             return this;
         }
 
-        public FineractClientBuilder basicAuth(String username, String password) {
+        public Builder basicAuth(String username, String password) {
             this.username = username;
             this.password = password;
             return this;
         }
 
         public FineractClient build() {
-            ApiClient apiClient = new ApiClient("basicAuth", has("username", username), has("password", password));
+            // URL
             apiClient.getAdapterBuilder().baseUrl(has("baseURL", baseURL));
-            ApiKeyAuth authorization = new ApiKeyAuth("header", "fineract-platform-tenantid");
-            authorization.setApiKey(has("tenant", tenant));
-            apiClient.addAuthorization("tenantid", authorization);
+
+            // Tenant
+            ApiKeyAuth tenantAuth = new ApiKeyAuth("header", "fineract-platform-tenantid");
+            tenantAuth.setApiKey(has("tenant", tenant));
+            apiClient.addAuthorization("tenantid", tenantAuth);
+
+            // BASIC Auth
+            HttpBasicAuth basicAuth = new HttpBasicAuth();
+            basicAuth.setCredentials(has("username", username), has("password", password));
+            apiClient.addAuthorization("basicAuth", basicAuth);
+
             return new FineractClient(apiClient);
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Obtain the internal Retrofit ApiClient. This method is typically not required to be invoked for simple API
+         * usages, but can be a handy back door for non-trivial advanced customizations of the API client.
+         *
+         * @return the {@link ApiClient} which {@link #build()} will use.
+         */
+        public ApiClient getApiClient() {
+            return apiClient;
+        }
+
         private <T> T has(String propertyName, T value) throws IllegalStateException {
             if (value == null) {
                 throw new IllegalStateException("Must call " + propertyName + "(...) to create valid Builder");
diff --git a/fineract-client/src/test/java/org/apache/fineract/client/test/FineractClientTest.java b/fineract-client/src/test/java/org/apache/fineract/client/test/FineractClientTest.java
index 74eeeef41..a6c9f78f0 100644
--- a/fineract-client/src/test/java/org/apache/fineract/client/test/FineractClientTest.java
+++ b/fineract-client/src/test/java/org/apache/fineract/client/test/FineractClientTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import org.apache.fineract.client.util.FineractClient;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 /**
@@ -41,6 +42,14 @@ public class FineractClientTest {
                 .getTotalFilteredRecords()).isAtLeast(3);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @Disabled // TODO remove Ignore once https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FINERACT-1221 is fixed
+    void testInvalidOperations() throws IOException {
+        FineractClient.Builder builder = FineractClient.builder().baseURL("http://test/").tenant("default").basicAuth("mifos", "password");
+        builder.getApiClient().getAdapterBuilder().validateEagerly(true); // see FINERACT-1221
+        builder.build();
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testFineractClientBuilder() throws IOException {
         assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, () -> {