diff --git a/http-fetch.c b/http-fetch.c
index 3af4c71bd0fb8370c6f08b0e3d43adc722cac2f4..e341872a6bcfc5730cbbfd19b97f8cf58865e403 100644
--- a/http-fetch.c
+++ b/http-fetch.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
 
-	http_init(NULL);
+	http_init(NULL, url);
 	walker = get_http_walker(url);
 	walker->get_tree = get_tree;
 	walker->get_history = get_history;
diff --git a/http-push.c b/http-push.c
index 6e8f6d09abb6397f1782fa32d9d273fc4fc740fe..ecbfae56da8d0a8fe304bf9d1a00073a3d6a5363 100644
--- a/http-push.c
+++ b/http-push.c
@@ -1747,7 +1747,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int i;
 	int new_refs;
 	struct ref *ref, *local_refs;
-	struct remote *remote;
 
 	git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
 
@@ -1821,14 +1820,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	memset(remote_dir_exists, -1, 256);
 
-	/*
-	 * Create a minimum remote by hand to give to http_init(),
-	 * primarily to allow it to look at the URL.
-	 */
-	remote = xcalloc(sizeof(*remote), 1);
-	ALLOC_GROW(remote->url, remote->url_nr + 1, remote->url_alloc);
-	remote->url[remote->url_nr++] = repo->url;
-	http_init(remote);
+	http_init(NULL, repo->url);
 
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 	is_running_queue = 0;
diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 7ae0c2a3208966bfda15e73299388595b510a776..00a8553fcc10af2c37520d4a0eaae9e50f8e504c 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ static void set_from_env(const char **var, const char *envname)
 		*var = val;
 }
 
-void http_init(struct remote *remote)
+void http_init(struct remote *remote, const char *url)
 {
 	char *low_speed_limit;
 	char *low_speed_time;
@@ -433,11 +433,11 @@ void http_init(struct remote *remote)
 	if (getenv("GIT_CURL_FTP_NO_EPSV"))
 		curl_ftp_no_epsv = 1;
 
-	if (remote && remote->url && remote->url[0]) {
-		http_auth_init(remote->url[0]);
+	if (url) {
+		http_auth_init(url);
 		if (!ssl_cert_password_required &&
 		    getenv("GIT_SSL_CERT_PASSWORD_PROTECTED") &&
-		    !prefixcmp(remote->url[0], "https://"))
+		    !prefixcmp(url, "https://"))
 			ssl_cert_password_required = 1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/http.h b/http.h
index 0bf8592dc45209c9be5b8ddac3a53f6fc11e29be..3c332a98e9358a296b937453351018ac1042120e 100644
--- a/http.h
+++ b/http.h
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ extern void add_fill_function(void *data, int (*fill)(void *));
 extern void step_active_slots(void);
 #endif
 
-extern void http_init(struct remote *remote);
+extern void http_init(struct remote *remote, const char *url);
 extern void http_cleanup(void);
 
 extern int data_received;
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 6c24ab157c76d2571cc13cd8817c1625dbb5659d..d4d0910e60200f0592c46aa2075acbe8394f7f85 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	url = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 
-	http_init(remote);
+	http_init(remote, url);
 
 	do {
 		if (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin, '\n') == EOF)