diff --git a/http-push.c b/http-push.c
index bd66f6ab6..439a555a7 100644
--- a/http-push.c
+++ b/http-push.c
@@ -1551,7 +1551,7 @@ static int remote_exists(const char *path)
 		ret = 0;
 		break;
 	case HTTP_ERROR:
-		http_error(url, HTTP_ERROR);
+		http_error(url);
 	default:
 		ret = -1;
 	}
diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 45cc7c701..5e6f67d00 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -857,7 +857,8 @@ static int http_request(const char *url, struct strbuf *type,
 		run_active_slot(slot);
 		ret = handle_curl_result(&results);
 	} else {
-		error("Unable to start HTTP request for %s", url);
+		snprintf(curl_errorstr, sizeof(curl_errorstr),
+			 "failed to start HTTP request");
 		ret = HTTP_START_FAILED;
 	}
 
@@ -940,13 +941,9 @@ static int http_get_file(const char *url, const char *filename, int options)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-int http_error(const char *url, int ret)
+void http_error(const char *url)
 {
-	/* http_request has already handled HTTP_START_FAILED. */
-	if (ret != HTTP_START_FAILED)
-		error("%s while accessing %s", curl_errorstr, url);
-
-	return ret;
+	error("%s while accessing %s", curl_errorstr, url);
 }
 
 int http_fetch_ref(const char *base, struct ref *ref)
diff --git a/http.h b/http.h
index 0fe54f413..fa65128f9 100644
--- a/http.h
+++ b/http.h
@@ -136,10 +136,9 @@ extern char *get_remote_object_url(const char *url, const char *hex,
 int http_get_strbuf(const char *url, struct strbuf *content_type, struct strbuf *result, int options);
 
 /*
- * Prints an error message using error() containing url and curl_errorstr,
- * and returns ret.
+ * Prints an error message using error() containing url and curl_errorstr.
  */
-int http_error(const char *url, int ret);
+void http_error(const char *url);
 
 extern int http_fetch_ref(const char *base, struct ref *ref);
 
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 6c6714b00..9abe4b711 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ static struct discovery* discover_refs(const char *service, int for_push)
 		die("Authentication failed for '%s'", url);
 	default:
 		show_http_message(&type, &buffer);
-		http_error(url, http_ret);
+		http_error(url);
 		die("HTTP request failed");
 	}