diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index f8ea28bb2e..60d01c6e83 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -1637,7 +1637,17 @@ static int handle_curl_result(struct slot_results *results)
 		credential_approve(&http_auth);
 		if (proxy_auth.password)
 			credential_approve(&proxy_auth);
+		credential_approve(&cert_auth);
 		return HTTP_OK;
+	} else if (results->curl_result == CURLE_SSL_CERTPROBLEM) {
+		/*
+		 * We can't tell from here whether it's a bad path, bad
+		 * certificate, bad password, or something else wrong
+		 * with the certificate.  So we reject the credential to
+		 * avoid caching or saving a bad password.
+		 */
+		credential_reject(&cert_auth);
+		return HTTP_NOAUTH;
 	} else if (missing_target(results))
 		return HTTP_MISSING_TARGET;
 	else if (results->http_code == 401) {