diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 41768084c..4e3d8072a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 *.db
 *~
 .*
+.tox/
+.venv/
 
 /site/
 /htmlcov/
diff --git a/rest_framework/permissions.py b/rest_framework/permissions.py
index dfe89ed2a..e56838dce 100644
--- a/rest_framework/permissions.py
+++ b/rest_framework/permissions.py
@@ -108,8 +108,21 @@ class IsAuthenticated(BasePermission):
     """
     Allows access only to authenticated users.
     """
+    # DRF should authorize all OPTIONS requests by default #5616
+    def has_permission(self, request, view):
+        if request.method == 'OPTIONS':
+            return True
+        return request.user and request.user.is_authenticated
+
+
+class IsAuthenticatedOrOptionsOnly(BasePermission):
+    """
+    Allows access only to authenticated users or for OPTIONS method.
+    """
 
     def has_permission(self, request, view):
+        if request.method == 'OPTIONS':
+            return True
         return request.user and request.user.is_authenticated
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_permissions.py b/tests/test_permissions.py
index 15fd9303c..91430cc7a 100644
--- a/tests/test_permissions.py
+++ b/tests/test_permissions.py
@@ -542,6 +542,39 @@ class CustomPermissionsTests(TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(detail, self.custom_message)
 
 
+class IsAuthenticatedOrOptionsOnlyAllowedView(generics.RetrieveUpdateDestroyAPIView):
+    queryset = BasicModel.objects.all()
+    serializer_class = BasicSerializer
+    authentication_classes = [authentication.BasicAuthentication]
+    permissions_classes = (permissions.IsAuthenticatedOrOptionsOnly,)
+
+
+options_view = IsAuthenticatedOrOptionsOnlyAllowedView.as_view()
+
+
+class IsAuthenticatedOrOptionsOnlyAllowedTests(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        BasicModel(text='foo').save()
+        User.objects.create_user('username', 'username@example.com', 'password')
+
+    def test_options_allowed_if_not_authentificated(self):
+        self.request = factory.options('/1', format='json')
+        response = options_view(self.request, pk=1)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+
+    def test_options_get_not_allowed_if_not_authentificated(self):
+        credentials = basic_auth_header('username', 'wrongpassword')
+        self.request = factory.get('/1', format='json', HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=credentials)
+        response = options_view(self.request, pk=1)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED)
+
+    def test_options_get_allowed_if_authentificated(self):
+        credentials = basic_auth_header('username', 'password')
+        self.request = factory.get('/1', format='json', HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=credentials)
+        response = options_view(self.request, pk=1)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+
+
 class FakeUser:
     def __init__(self, auth=False):
         self.is_authenticated = auth