diff --git a/lib/http.c b/lib/http.c
index bb09be10d892785d5d3b159c643d05822f0df018..2f7db943b17ac9d2511f48fd0dab516ab640fb8a 100644
--- a/lib/http.c
+++ b/lib/http.c
@@ -125,9 +125,7 @@ static CURLcode Curl_output_basic(struct connectdata *conn)
   char *authorization;
   struct SessionHandle *data=conn->data;
 
-  sprintf(data->state.buffer, "%s:%s",
-          conn->user?conn->user:"",
-          conn->passwd?conn->passwd:"");
+  sprintf(data->state.buffer, "%s:%s", conn->user, conn->passwd);
   if(Curl_base64_encode(data->state.buffer, strlen(data->state.buffer),
                         &authorization) >= 0) {
     if(conn->allocptr.userpwd)
@@ -147,8 +145,7 @@ static CURLcode Curl_output_basic_proxy(struct connectdata *conn)
   struct SessionHandle *data=conn->data;
 
   sprintf(data->state.buffer, "%s:%s",
-          conn->proxyuser?conn->proxyuser:"",
-          conn->proxypasswd?conn->proxypasswd:"");
+          conn->proxyuser, conn->proxypasswd);
   if(Curl_base64_encode(data->state.buffer, strlen(data->state.buffer),
                         &authorization) >= 0) {
     Curl_safefree(conn->allocptr.proxyuserpwd);
@@ -291,7 +288,7 @@ CURLcode http_auth_headers(struct connectdata *conn,
       }
       if(auth)
         infof(data, "Server auth using %s with user '%s'\n",
-              auth, conn->user?conn->user:"");
+              auth, conn->user);
     }
   }
   else
diff --git a/lib/url.c b/lib/url.c
index e6451f24208f20febfda3ebeabae82a43387b73e..62a4148c7bb3f32016674bddcc0728ba4ab78b49 100644
--- a/lib/url.c
+++ b/lib/url.c
@@ -2765,9 +2765,9 @@ static CURLcode CreateConnection(struct SessionHandle *data,
     /* This is the default password, so DON'T set conn->bits.user_passwd */
   }
   else {
-    /* store user + password */
-    conn->user = user[0]?strdup(user):NULL;
-    conn->passwd = passwd[0]?strdup(passwd):NULL;
+    /* store user + password, zero-length if not set */
+    conn->user = strdup(user);
+    conn->passwd = strdup(passwd);
   }
 
   /*************************************************************