diff --git a/src/lib-http/http-client-connection.c b/src/lib-http/http-client-connection.c
index 5f90be6fc7..48924b2d25 100644
--- a/src/lib-http/http-client-connection.c
+++ b/src/lib-http/http-client-connection.c
@@ -1638,7 +1638,6 @@ http_client_connection_tunnel_response(const struct http_response *response,
 	connection_switch_ioloop_to(&conn->conn, cctx->ioloop);
 	i_stream_unref(&tunnel.input);
 	o_stream_unref(&tunnel.output);
-	conn->connect_initialized = TRUE;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -1714,10 +1713,12 @@ http_client_connection_create(struct http_client_peer *peer)
 	conn->label = i_strdup_printf("%s [%d]",
 		http_client_peer_shared_label(pshared), conn->id);
 	conn->event = event_create(ppool->peer->cctx->event);
-	conn->conn.event_parent = conn->event;
 	event_set_append_log_prefix(conn->event,
 		t_strdup_printf("conn %s: ", conn->label));
 
+	conn->conn.event_parent = conn->event;
+	connection_init(cctx->conn_list, &conn->conn, NULL);
+
 	switch (pshared->addr.type) {
 	case HTTP_CLIENT_PEER_ADDR_HTTPS_TUNNEL:
 		http_client_connection_connect_tunnel
@@ -1727,14 +1728,12 @@ http_client_connection_create(struct http_client_peer *peer)
 		connection_init_client_unix(cctx->conn_list, &conn->conn,
 			addr->a.un.path);
 		connection_switch_ioloop_to(&conn->conn, cctx->ioloop);
-		conn->connect_initialized = TRUE;
 		http_client_connection_connect(conn, timeout_msecs);
 		break;
 	default:
 		connection_init_client_ip(cctx->conn_list, &conn->conn, NULL,
 					  &addr->a.tcp.ip, addr->a.tcp.port);
 		connection_switch_ioloop_to(&conn->conn, cctx->ioloop);
-		conn->connect_initialized = TRUE;
 		http_client_connection_connect(conn, timeout_msecs);
 	}
 
@@ -1788,8 +1787,7 @@ http_client_connection_disconnect(struct http_client_connection *conn)
 	if (conn->http_parser != NULL)
 		http_response_parser_deinit(&conn->http_parser);
 
-	if (conn->connect_initialized)
-		connection_disconnect(&conn->conn);
+	connection_disconnect(&conn->conn);
 
 	io_remove(&conn->io_req_payload);
 	timeout_remove(&conn->to_requests);
@@ -1845,8 +1843,7 @@ bool http_client_connection_unref(struct http_client_connection **_conn)
 		array_free(&conn->request_wait_list);
 
 	ssl_iostream_destroy(&conn->ssl_iostream);
-	if (conn->connect_initialized)
-		connection_deinit(&conn->conn);
+	connection_deinit(&conn->conn);
 	io_wait_timer_remove(&conn->io_wait_timer);
 	
 	event_unref(&conn->event);
@@ -1874,8 +1871,7 @@ void http_client_connection_switch_ioloop(struct http_client_connection *conn)
 	struct http_client_context *cctx = pshared->cctx;
 	struct ioloop *ioloop = cctx->ioloop;
 
-	if (conn->connect_initialized)
-		connection_switch_ioloop_to(&conn->conn, ioloop);
+	connection_switch_ioloop_to(&conn->conn, ioloop);
 	if (conn->io_req_payload != NULL) {
 		conn->io_req_payload =
 			io_loop_move_io_to(ioloop, &conn->io_req_payload);
diff --git a/src/lib-http/http-client-private.h b/src/lib-http/http-client-private.h
index 38bc2a6314..4aee291415 100644
--- a/src/lib-http/http-client-private.h
+++ b/src/lib-http/http-client-private.h
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ struct http_client_connection {
 	bool connected:1;           /* connection is connected */
 	bool tunneling:1;           /* last sent request turns this
 	                               connection into tunnel */
-	bool connect_initialized:1; /* connection was initialized */
 	bool connect_succeeded:1;   /* connection succeeded including SSL */
 	bool connect_failed:1;      /* connection failed */
 	bool lost_prematurely:1;    /* lost connection before receiving any data */