diff --git a/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go b/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
index 41ac7dea148..bd2106593b4 100644
--- a/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
+++ b/src/pkg/net/http/transport.go
@@ -109,9 +109,11 @@ func ProxyFromEnvironment(req *Request) (*url.URL, error) {
 	}
 	proxyURL, err := url.Parse(proxy)
 	if err != nil || !strings.HasPrefix(proxyURL.Scheme, "http") {
-		if u, err := url.Parse("http://" + proxy); err == nil {
-			proxyURL = u
-			err = nil
+		// proxy was bogus. Try prepending "http://" to it and
+		// see if that parses correctly. If not, we fall
+		// through and complain about the original one.
+		if proxyURL, err := url.Parse("http://" + proxy); err == nil {
+			return proxyURL, nil
 		}
 	}
 	if err != nil {