diff --git a/http-fetch.c b/http-fetch.c
index ffd0ad7e29..762c750d7a 100644
--- a/http-fetch.c
+++ b/http-fetch.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "exec_cmd.h"
+#include "http.h"
 #include "walker.h"
 
 static const char http_fetch_usage[] = "git http-fetch "
@@ -69,7 +70,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		url = rewritten_url;
 	}
 
-	walker = get_http_walker(url, NULL);
+	http_init(NULL);
+	walker = get_http_walker(url);
 	walker->get_tree = get_tree;
 	walker->get_history = get_history;
 	walker->get_all = get_all;
@@ -89,6 +91,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	}
 
 	walker_free(walker);
+	http_cleanup();
 
 	free(rewritten_url);
 
diff --git a/http-push.c b/http-push.c
index 432b20f2d9..415b1ab0a7 100644
--- a/http-push.c
+++ b/http-push.c
@@ -1965,7 +1965,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 
 		if (!hashcmp(ref->old_sha1, ref->peer_ref->new_sha1)) {
-			if (push_verbosely || 1)
+			if (push_verbosely)
 				fprintf(stderr, "'%s': up-to-date\n", ref->name);
 			if (helper_status)
 				printf("ok %s up to date\n", ref->name);
diff --git a/http-walker.c b/http-walker.c
index 700bc13112..ef99ae647a 100644
--- a/http-walker.c
+++ b/http-walker.c
@@ -543,17 +543,30 @@ static int fetch_ref(struct walker *walker, struct ref *ref)
 
 static void cleanup(struct walker *walker)
 {
-	http_cleanup();
+	struct walker_data *data = walker->data;
+	struct alt_base *alt, *alt_next;
+
+	if (data) {
+		alt = data->alt;
+		while (alt) {
+			alt_next = alt->next;
+
+			free(alt->base);
+			free(alt);
+
+			alt = alt_next;
+		}
+		free(data);
+		walker->data = NULL;
+	}
 }
 
-struct walker *get_http_walker(const char *url, struct remote *remote)
+struct walker *get_http_walker(const char *url)
 {
 	char *s;
 	struct walker_data *data = xmalloc(sizeof(struct walker_data));
 	struct walker *walker = xmalloc(sizeof(struct walker));
 
-	http_init(remote);
-
 	data->alt = xmalloc(sizeof(*data->alt));
 	data->alt->base = xmalloc(strlen(url) + 1);
 	strcpy(data->alt->base, url);
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index d388120851..b76bfcb3d3 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 static struct remote *remote;
 static const char *url;
-static struct walker *walker;
 
 struct options {
 	int verbosity;
@@ -22,12 +21,6 @@ struct options {
 };
 static struct options options;
 
-static void init_walker(void)
-{
-	if (!walker)
-		walker = get_http_walker(url, remote);
-}
-
 static int set_option(const char *name, const char *value)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(name, "verbosity")) {
@@ -119,7 +112,6 @@ static struct discovery* discover_refs(const char *service)
 	}
 	refs_url = strbuf_detach(&buffer, NULL);
 
-	init_walker();
 	http_ret = http_get_strbuf(refs_url, &buffer, HTTP_NO_CACHE);
 
 	/* try again with "plain" url (no ? or & appended) */
@@ -250,9 +242,8 @@ static struct ref *parse_info_refs(struct discovery *heads)
 		i++;
 	}
 
-	init_walker();
 	ref = alloc_ref("HEAD");
-	if (!walker->fetch_ref(walker, ref) &&
+	if (!http_fetch_ref(url, ref) &&
 	    !resolve_remote_symref(ref, refs)) {
 		ref->next = refs;
 		refs = ref;
@@ -502,7 +493,6 @@ static int rpc_service(struct rpc_state *rpc, struct discovery *heads)
 	struct child_process client;
 	int err = 0;
 
-	init_walker();
 	memset(&client, 0, sizeof(client));
 	client.in = -1;
 	client.out = -1;
@@ -554,6 +544,7 @@ static int rpc_service(struct rpc_state *rpc, struct discovery *heads)
 
 static int fetch_dumb(int nr_heads, struct ref **to_fetch)
 {
+	struct walker *walker;
 	char **targets = xmalloc(nr_heads * sizeof(char*));
 	int ret, i;
 
@@ -562,13 +553,14 @@ 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));
 
-	init_walker();
+	walker = get_http_walker(url);
 	walker->get_all = 1;
 	walker->get_tree = 1;
 	walker->get_history = 1;
 	walker->get_verbosely = options.verbosity >= 3;
 	walker->get_recover = 0;
 	ret = walker_fetch(walker, nr_heads, targets, NULL, NULL);
+	walker_free(walker);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_heads; i++)
 		free(targets[i]);
@@ -811,6 +803,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		url = remote->url[0];
 	}
 
+	http_init(remote);
+
 	do {
 		if (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin, '\n') == EOF)
 			break;
@@ -856,5 +850,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		}
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 	} while (1);
+
+	http_cleanup();
+
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/t/lib-httpd.sh b/t/lib-httpd.sh
index 28aff887b5..da4b8d5a6f 100644
--- a/t/lib-httpd.sh
+++ b/t/lib-httpd.sh
@@ -131,3 +131,32 @@ stop_httpd() {
 	"$LIB_HTTPD_PATH" -d "$HTTPD_ROOT_PATH" \
 		-f "$TEST_PATH/apache.conf" $HTTPD_PARA -k stop
 }
+
+test_http_push_nonff() {
+	REMOTE_REPO=$1
+	LOCAL_REPO=$2
+	BRANCH=$3
+
+	test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push fails' '
+		cd "$REMOTE_REPO" &&
+		HEAD=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) &&
+
+		cd "$LOCAL_REPO" &&
+		git checkout $BRANCH &&
+		echo "changed" > path2 &&
+		git commit -a -m path2 --amend &&
+
+		!(git push -v origin >output 2>&1) &&
+		(cd "$REMOTE_REPO" &&
+		 test $HEAD = $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD))
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push show ref status' '
+		grep "^ ! \[rejected\][ ]*$BRANCH -> $BRANCH (non-fast-forward)$" output
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push shows help message' '
+		grep "To prevent you from losing history, non-fast-forward updates were rejected" \
+			output
+	'
+}
diff --git a/t/t5540-http-push.sh b/t/t5540-http-push.sh
index bb18f8bfc4..37fe875411 100755
--- a/t/t5540-http-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5540-http-push.sh
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ test_expect_success 'PUT and MOVE sends object to URLs with SHA-1 hash suffix' '
 
 '
 
+test_http_push_nonff "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH"/test_repo.git \
+	"$ROOT_PATH"/test_repo_clone master
+
 stop_httpd
 
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t5541-http-push.sh b/t/t5541-http-push.sh
index 53f54a2789..795dc2bcdf 100755
--- a/t/t5541-http-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5541-http-push.sh
@@ -88,26 +88,8 @@ test_expect_success 'used receive-pack service' '
 	test_cmp exp act
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push fails' '
-	cd "$ROOT_PATH"/test_repo_clone &&
-	git checkout master &&
-	echo "changed" > path2 &&
-	git commit -a -m path2 --amend &&
-
-	HEAD=$(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) &&
-	!(git push -v origin >output 2>&1) &&
-	(cd "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH"/test_repo.git &&
-	 test $HEAD != $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD))
-'
-
-test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push show ref status' '
-	grep "^ ! \[rejected\][ ]*master -> master (non-fast-forward)$" output
-'
-
-test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward push shows help message' '
-	grep "To prevent you from losing history, non-fast-forward updates were rejected" \
-		output
-'
+test_http_push_nonff "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH"/test_repo.git \
+	"$ROOT_PATH"/test_repo_clone master
 
 test_expect_success 'push fails for non-fast-forward refs unmatched by remote helper' '
 	# create a dissimilarly-named remote ref so that git is unable to match the
diff --git a/walker.h b/walker.h
index 8a149e1108..95e5765484 100644
--- a/walker.h
+++ b/walker.h
@@ -34,6 +34,6 @@ int walker_fetch(struct walker *impl, int targets, char **target,
 
 void walker_free(struct walker *walker);
 
-struct walker *get_http_walker(const char *url, struct remote *remote);
+struct walker *get_http_walker(const char *url);
 
 #endif /* WALKER_H */