diff --git a/src/ChangeLog b/src/ChangeLog
index 12931071..a4bc3972 100644
--- a/src/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2003-11-29  Hrvoje Niksic  <hniksic@xemacs.org>
+
+	* http.c (gethttp): Initialize SSL only the first time when SSL
+	URL is downloaded.
+
 2003-11-29  Hrvoje Niksic  <hniksic@xemacs.org>
 
 	* cookies.c (cookie_header): Only generate the contents of the
diff --git a/src/http.c b/src/http.c
index 7087d71f..f514452b 100644
--- a/src/http.c
+++ b/src/http.c
@@ -1033,31 +1033,34 @@ gethttp (struct url *u, struct http_stat *hs, int *dt, struct url *proxy)
   int host_lookup_failed = 0;
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SSL
-  /* Initialize the SSL context.  After the first run, this is a
-     no-op.  */
-  switch (ssl_init ())
+  if (u->scheme == SCHEME_HTTPS)
     {
-    case SSLERRCTXCREATE:
-      /* this is fatal */
-      logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET, _("Failed to set up an SSL context\n"));
-      return SSLERRCTXCREATE;
-    case SSLERRCERTFILE:
-      /* try without certfile */
-      logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
-		 _("Failed to load certificates from %s\n"),
-		 opt.sslcertfile);
-      logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
-		 _("Trying without the specified certificate\n"));
-      break;
-    case SSLERRCERTKEY:
-      logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
-		 _("Failed to get certificate key from %s\n"),
-		 opt.sslcertkey);
-      logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
-		 _("Trying without the specified certificate\n"));
-      break;
-    default:
-      break;
+      /* Initialize the SSL context.  After this has once been done,
+	 it becomes a no-op.  */
+      switch (ssl_init ())
+	{
+	case SSLERRCTXCREATE:
+	  /* this is fatal */
+	  logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET, _("Failed to set up an SSL context\n"));
+	  return SSLERRCTXCREATE;
+	case SSLERRCERTFILE:
+	  /* try without certfile */
+	  logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
+		     _("Failed to load certificates from %s\n"),
+		     opt.sslcertfile);
+	  logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
+		     _("Trying without the specified certificate\n"));
+	  break;
+	case SSLERRCERTKEY:
+	  logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
+		     _("Failed to get certificate key from %s\n"),
+		     opt.sslcertkey);
+	  logprintf (LOG_NOTQUIET,
+		     _("Trying without the specified certificate\n"));
+	  break;
+	default:
+	  break;
+	}
     }
 #endif /* HAVE_SSL */