diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index ad94561f..8a0afd67 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ get_http_var() ->
     end.
 
 get_http(Scheme) ->
-    proplists:get_value(Scheme, get_http_var(), "").
+    proplists:get_value(Scheme, get_http_var(), []).
 
 set_httpc_options() ->
     set_httpc_options(https_proxy, get_http(https_proxy)),
diff --git a/src/rebar_utils.erl b/src/rebar_utils.erl
index 77d5e71e..70741e4a 100644
--- a/src/rebar_utils.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_utils.erl
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ get_http_var() ->
     end.
 
 get_http(Scheme) ->
-    proplists:get_value(Scheme, get_http_var(), "").
+    proplists:get_value(Scheme, get_http_var(), []).
 
 set_httpc_options() ->
     set_httpc_options(https_proxy, get_http(https_proxy)),