diff --git a/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/net/HttpDownloader.java b/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/net/HttpDownloader.java
index 0bc01979e..e6bdfff74 100644
--- a/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/net/HttpDownloader.java
+++ b/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/net/HttpDownloader.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.fdroid.fdroid.net;
 
 import android.content.Context;
+import android.text.TextUtils;
 import android.util.Log;
 
 import org.fdroid.fdroid.FDroidApp;
@@ -98,32 +99,10 @@ public class HttpDownloader extends Downloader {
             connection = (HttpURLConnection) sourceUrl.openConnection(proxy);
         } else {
 
-            // send HEAD request first, then GET afterwards
             connection = (HttpURLConnection) sourceUrl.openConnection();
-            connection.setRequestMethod("HEAD");
-
-            // fetch HTTP status code and check for authentication
-            statusCode = connection.getResponseCode();
-            connection.disconnect();
-
-            // reset connection
-            connection = (HttpURLConnection) sourceUrl.openConnection();
-
-            // handle status codes
-            switch (statusCode) {
-                case 401:
-
-                    final String userInfo = sourceUrl.getUserInfo();
-                    if (userInfo != null) {
-                        // add authorization header from user info in URL if present
-                        connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + Base64.encodeBase64String(userInfo.getBytes()));
-                    } else {
-                        // add authorization header from username / password
-                        connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + Base64.encodeBase64String((username + ":" + password).getBytes()));
-                    }
-                    break;
-                default:
-                    break;
+            if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(username) && !TextUtils.isEmpty(password)) {
+                // add authorization header from username / password if set
+                connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + Base64.encodeBase64String((username + ":" + password).getBytes()));
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/ManageReposActivity.java b/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/ManageReposActivity.java
index ee308107a..80bd14f3b 100644
--- a/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/ManageReposActivity.java
+++ b/F-Droid/src/org/fdroid/fdroid/views/ManageReposActivity.java
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Locale;
-import org.apache.commons.net.util.Base64;
 
 public class ManageReposActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
     private static final String TAG = "ManageReposActivity";
@@ -491,16 +490,9 @@ public class ManageReposActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
                     final HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
                     connection.setRequestMethod("HEAD");
 
-                    // support discovery of Basic Auth repository URLs without login prompt
-                    final String userInfo = url.getUserInfo();
-                    if (userInfo != null) {
-                        // authorize request
-                        connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + Base64.encodeBase64String(userInfo.getBytes()));
-                    }
-
                     statusCode = connection.getResponseCode();
 
-		    return statusCode == 401 || statusCode == 200;
+                    return statusCode == 401 || statusCode == 200;
                 }
 
                 @Override