diff --git a/lib/http_proxy.c b/lib/http_proxy.c
index e0213f34d..ac1b3bf93 100644
--- a/lib/http_proxy.c
+++ b/lib/http_proxy.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ CURLcode Curl_proxyCONNECT(struct connectdata *conn,
                            useragent,
                            proxyconn);
 
-        if(host && *host)
+        if(host)
           free(host);
         free(hostheader);