diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index af087267d6e..345fea88988 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 #include "credential.h"
 
 static struct remote *remote;
-static const char *url; /* always ends with a trailing slash */
+/* always ends with a trailing slash */
+static struct strbuf url = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 struct options {
 	int verbosity;
@@ -112,7 +113,8 @@ static struct ref *parse_info_refs(struct discovery *heads)
 			mid = &data[i];
 		if (data[i] == '\n') {
 			if (mid - start != 40)
-				die("%sinfo/refs not valid: is this a git repository?", url);
+				die("%sinfo/refs not valid: is this a git repository?",
+				    url.buf);
 			data[i] = 0;
 			ref_name = mid + 1;
 			ref = xmalloc(sizeof(struct ref) +
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ static struct ref *parse_info_refs(struct discovery *heads)
 	}
 
 	ref = alloc_ref("HEAD");
-	if (!http_fetch_ref(url, ref) &&
+	if (!http_fetch_ref(url.buf, ref) &&
 	    !resolve_remote_symref(ref, refs)) {
 		ref->next = refs;
 		refs = ref;
@@ -194,11 +196,11 @@ static struct discovery* discover_refs(const char *service, int for_push)
 		return last;
 	free_discovery(last);
 
-	strbuf_addf(&refs_url, "%sinfo/refs", url);
-	if ((!prefixcmp(url, "http://") || !prefixcmp(url, "https://")) &&
+	strbuf_addf(&refs_url, "%sinfo/refs", url.buf);
+	if ((!prefixcmp(url.buf, "http://") || !prefixcmp(url.buf, "https://")) &&
 	     git_env_bool("GIT_SMART_HTTP", 1)) {
 		maybe_smart = 1;
-		if (!strchr(url, '?'))
+		if (!strchr(url.buf, '?'))
 			strbuf_addch(&refs_url, '?');
 		else
 			strbuf_addch(&refs_url, '&');
@@ -216,13 +218,13 @@ static struct discovery* discover_refs(const char *service, int for_push)
 		break;
 	case HTTP_MISSING_TARGET:
 		show_http_message(&type, &buffer);
-		die("repository '%s' not found", url);
+		die("repository '%s' not found", url.buf);
 	case HTTP_NOAUTH:
 		show_http_message(&type, &buffer);
-		die("Authentication failed for '%s'", url);
+		die("Authentication failed for '%s'", url.buf);
 	default:
 		show_http_message(&type, &buffer);
-		die("unable to access '%s': %s", url, curl_errorstr);
+		die("unable to access '%s': %s", url.buf, curl_errorstr);
 	}
 
 	last= xcalloc(1, sizeof(*last_discovery));
@@ -588,7 +590,7 @@ static int rpc_service(struct rpc_state *rpc, struct discovery *heads)
 	rpc->out = client.out;
 	strbuf_init(&rpc->result, 0);
 
-	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s%s", url, svc);
+	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s%s", url.buf, svc);
 	rpc->service_url = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 
 	strbuf_addf(&buf, "Content-Type: application/x-%s-request", svc);
@@ -640,7 +642,7 @@ static int fetch_dumb(int nr_heads, struct ref **to_fetch)
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_heads; i++)
 		targets[i] = xstrdup(sha1_to_hex(to_fetch[i]->old_sha1));
 
-	walker = get_http_walker(url);
+	walker = get_http_walker(url.buf);
 	walker->get_all = 1;
 	walker->get_tree = 1;
 	walker->get_history = 1;
@@ -685,7 +687,7 @@ static int fetch_git(struct discovery *heads,
 		depth_arg = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 		argv[argc++] = depth_arg;
 	}
-	argv[argc++] = url;
+	argv[argc++] = url.buf;
 	argv[argc++] = NULL;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_heads; i++) {
@@ -783,7 +785,7 @@ static int push_dav(int nr_spec, char **specs)
 		argv[argc++] = "--dry-run";
 	if (options.verbosity > 1)
 		argv[argc++] = "--verbose";
-	argv[argc++] = url;
+	argv[argc++] = url.buf;
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_spec; i++)
 		argv[argc++] = specs[i];
 	argv[argc++] = NULL;
@@ -813,7 +815,7 @@ static int push_git(struct discovery *heads, int nr_spec, char **specs)
 	else if (options.verbosity > 1)
 		argv_array_push(&args, "--verbose");
 	argv_array_push(&args, options.progress ? "--progress" : "--no-progress");
-	argv_array_push(&args, url);
+	argv_array_push(&args, url.buf);
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_spec; i++)
 		argv_array_push(&args, specs[i]);
 
@@ -894,14 +896,12 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	remote = remote_get(argv[1]);
 
 	if (argc > 2) {
-		end_url_with_slash(&buf, argv[2]);
+		end_url_with_slash(&url, argv[2]);
 	} else {
-		end_url_with_slash(&buf, remote->url[0]);
+		end_url_with_slash(&url, remote->url[0]);
 	}
 
-	url = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
-
-	http_init(remote, url, 0);
+	http_init(remote, url.buf, 0);
 
 	do {
 		if (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin, '\n') == EOF) {