diff --git a/src/net/http/readrequest_test.go b/src/net/http/readrequest_test.go
index 492d6d2aed..bda22c88ee 100644
--- a/src/net/http/readrequest_test.go
+++ b/src/net/http/readrequest_test.go
@@ -45,10 +45,9 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "GET",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Scheme:  "http",
-				Host:    "www.techcrunch.com",
-				Path:    "/",
-				RawPath: "/",
+				Scheme: "http",
+				Host:   "www.techcrunch.com",
+				Path:   "/",
 			},
 			Proto:      "HTTP/1.1",
 			ProtoMajor: 1,
@@ -83,8 +82,7 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "GET",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Path:    "/",
-				RawPath: "/",
+				Path: "/",
 			},
 			Proto:         "HTTP/1.1",
 			ProtoMajor:    1,
@@ -110,8 +108,7 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "GET",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Path:    "//user@host/is/actually/a/path/",
-				RawPath: "//user@host/is/actually/a/path/",
+				Path: "//user@host/is/actually/a/path/",
 			},
 			Proto:         "HTTP/1.1",
 			ProtoMajor:    1,
@@ -161,8 +158,7 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "POST",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Path:    "/",
-				RawPath: "/",
+				Path: "/",
 			},
 			TransferEncoding: []string{"chunked"},
 			Proto:            "HTTP/1.1",
@@ -236,8 +232,7 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "CONNECT",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Path:    "/_goRPC_",
-				RawPath: "/_goRPC_",
+				Path: "/_goRPC_",
 			},
 			Proto:         "HTTP/1.1",
 			ProtoMajor:    1,
@@ -308,8 +303,7 @@ var reqTests = []reqTest{
 		&Request{
 			Method: "GET",
 			URL: &url.URL{
-				Path:    "/",
-				RawPath: "/",
+				Path: "/",
 			},
 			Header: Header{
 				// This wasn't removed from Go 1.0 to
diff --git a/src/net/url/url.go b/src/net/url/url.go
index 2dc5e30365..abcd23bb76 100644
--- a/src/net/url/url.go
+++ b/src/net/url/url.go
@@ -426,10 +426,16 @@ func parse(rawurl string, viaRequest bool) (url *URL, err error) {
 			goto Error
 		}
 	}
-	url.RawPath = rest
 	if url.Path, err = unescape(rest, encodePath); err != nil {
 		goto Error
 	}
+	// RawPath is a hint as to the encoding of Path to use
+	// in url.EncodedPath. If that method already gets the
+	// right answer without RawPath, leave it empty.
+	// This will help make sure that people don't rely on it in general.
+	if url.EscapedPath() != rest && validEncodedPath(rest) {
+		url.RawPath = rest
+	}
 	return url, nil
 
 Error:
@@ -544,7 +550,7 @@ func (u *URL) EscapedPath() string {
 }
 
 // validEncodedPath reports whether s is a valid encoded path.
-// It must contain any bytes that require escaping during path encoding.
+// It must not contain any bytes that require escaping during path encoding.
 func validEncodedPath(s string) bool {
 	for i := 0; i < len(s); i++ {
 		if s[i] != '%' && shouldEscape(s[i], encodePath) {
diff --git a/src/net/url/url_test.go b/src/net/url/url_test.go
index a85014690d..dbdba67834 100644
--- a/src/net/url/url_test.go
+++ b/src/net/url/url_test.go
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ var urltests = []URLTest{
 			Scheme:   "http",
 			Host:     "www.google.com",
 			Path:     "/a b",
-			RawPath:  "/a%20b",
 			RawQuery: "q=c+d",
 		},
 		"",
@@ -394,8 +393,8 @@ func ufmt(u *URL) string {
 			pass = p
 		}
 	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("opaque=%q, scheme=%q, user=%#v, pass=%#v, host=%q, path=%q, rawq=%q, frag=%q",
-		u.Opaque, u.Scheme, user, pass, u.Host, u.Path, u.RawQuery, u.Fragment)
+	return fmt.Sprintf("opaque=%q, scheme=%q, user=%#v, pass=%#v, host=%q, path=%q, rawpath=%q, rawq=%q, frag=%q",
+		u.Opaque, u.Scheme, user, pass, u.Host, u.Path, u.RawPath, u.RawQuery, u.Fragment)
 }
 
 func DoTest(t *testing.T, parse func(string) (*URL, error), name string, tests []URLTest) {
@@ -405,9 +404,6 @@ func DoTest(t *testing.T, parse func(string) (*URL, error), name string, tests [
 			t.Errorf("%s(%q) returned error %s", name, tt.in, err)
 			continue
 		}
-		if tt.out.RawPath == "" {
-			tt.out.RawPath = tt.out.Path
-		}
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(u, tt.out) {
 			t.Errorf("%s(%q):\n\thave %v\n\twant %v\n",
 				name, tt.in, ufmt(u), ufmt(tt.out))