diff --git a/src/XrdCl/XrdClURL.cc b/src/XrdCl/XrdClURL.cc
index 0acebff6191..4e48ec62256 100644
--- a/src/XrdCl/XrdClURL.cc
+++ b/src/XrdCl/XrdClURL.cc
@@ -90,6 +90,16 @@ namespace XrdCl
       current   = url;
     }
 
+    //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // If the protocol is HTTP or HTTPS, change the default port number
+    //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    if (pProtocol == "http") {
+      pPort = 80;
+    }
+    if (pProtocol == "https") {
+      pPort = 443;
+    }
+
     //--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     // Extract host info and path
     //--------------------------------------------------------------------------