diff --git a/etc/check-links.lua b/etc/check-links.lua
index a4e9ef8..4487593 100644
--- a/etc/check-links.lua
+++ b/etc/check-links.lua
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ local http = require("http")
 local url = require("url")
 http.TIMEOUT = 10
 
-cache = {}
-
 function readfile(path)
 	path = url.unescape(path)
 	local file, error = io.open(path, "r")
@@ -22,22 +20,14 @@ end
 
 function getstatus(u)
 	local parsed = url.parse(u, {scheme = "file"})
-	if cache[u] then return cache[u] end
-	local res
     if parsed.scheme == "http" then
-        local request = {url = u, method = "HEAD"}
-        local response = http.request(request)
-        if response.code == 200 then res = nil
-        else res = response.status or response.error end
+        local r, c, h, s = http.request{url = u, method = "HEAD"}
+        if c ~= 200 then return s or c end
     elseif parsed.scheme == "file" then
         local file, error = io.open(url.unescape(parsed.path), "r")
-        if file then
-             file:close()
-             res = nil
-        else res = error end
-    else res = string.format("unhandled scheme '%s'", parsed.scheme) end
-    cache[u] = res
-	return res
+        if file then file:close()
+        else return error end 
+    else return string.format("unhandled scheme '%s'", parsed.scheme) end
 end
 
 function retrieve(u)
@@ -45,10 +35,13 @@ function retrieve(u)
     local body, headers, code, error
     local base = u
 	if parsed.scheme == "http" then 
-        body, headers, code, error = http.get(u)
+        body, code, headers = http.request(u)
         if code == 200 then 
             base = base or headers.location
         end
+        if not body then 
+            error = code
+        end
     elseif parsed.scheme == "file" then 
         body, error = readfile(parsed.path) 
     else error = string.format("unhandled scheme '%s'", parsed.scheme) end
diff --git a/etc/get.lua b/etc/get.lua
index 0603ce5..c7e2a43 100644
--- a/etc/get.lua
+++ b/etc/get.lua
@@ -87,9 +87,9 @@ end
 
 -- determines the size of a http file
 function gethttpsize(u)
-	local respt = http.request {method = "HEAD", url = u}
-	if respt.code == 200 then
-		return tonumber(respt.headers["content-length"])
+	local r, c, h = http.request {method = "HEAD", url = u}
+	if c == 200 then
+		return tonumber(h["content-length"])
 	end
 end
 
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ function getbyhttp(u, file)
     local save = ltn12.sink.file(file or io.stdout)
     -- only print feedback if output is not stdout
     if file then save = ltn12.sink.chain(stats(gethttpsize(u)), save) end
-    local respt = http.request {url = u, sink = save }
-	if respt.code ~= 200 then print(respt.status or respt.error) end
+    local r, c, h, s = http.request {url = u, sink = save }
+	if c ~= 200 then io.stderr:write(s or c, "\n") end
 end
 
 -- downloads a file using the ftp protocol
diff --git a/src/http.lua b/src/http.lua
index e0c4c27..b341ebb 100644
--- a/src/http.lua
+++ b/src/http.lua
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ local function uri(reqt)
     local u = reqt
     if not reqt.proxy and not PROXY then
         u = {
-           path = reqt.path,
+           path = socket.try(reqt.path, "invalid path 'nil'"),
            params = reqt.params,
            query = reqt.query,
            fragment = reqt.fragment
@@ -152,18 +152,15 @@ local default = {
 
 local function adjustrequest(reqt)
     -- parse url if provided
-    if reqt.url then
-        local parsed = url.parse(reqt.url, default)
-        -- explicit components override url
-        for i,v in parsed do reqt[i] = reqt[i] or v end
-    end
-    socket.try(reqt.host, "invalid host '" .. tostring(reqt.host) .. "'")
-    socket.try(reqt.path, "invalid path '" .. tostring(reqt.path) .. "'")
+    local nreqt = reqt.url and url.parse(reqt.url, default) or {}
+    -- explicit components override url
+    for i,v in reqt do nreqt[i] = reqt[i] end
+    socket.try(nreqt.host, "invalid host '" .. tostring(nreqt.host) .. "'")
     -- compute uri if user hasn't overriden
-    reqt.uri = reqt.uri or uri(reqt)
+    nreqt.uri = nreqt.uri or uri(nreqt)
     -- adjust headers in request
-    reqt.headers = adjustheaders(reqt.headers, reqt.host)
-    return reqt
+    nreqt.headers = adjustheaders(nreqt.headers, nreqt.host)
+    return nreqt
 end
 
 local function shouldredirect(reqt, code)
diff --git a/src/url.lua b/src/url.lua
index ec26e62..c708e19 100644
--- a/src/url.lua
+++ b/src/url.lua
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ end
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 function parse(url, default)
     -- initialize default parameters
-    local parsed = default or {}
+    local parsed = {}
+    for i,v in (default or parsed) do parsed[i] = v end
     -- empty url is parsed to nil
     if not url or url == "" then return nil, "invalid url" end
     -- remove whitespace