diff --git a/lib/netrc.c b/lib/netrc.c
index 33ced71c5d815fb9dd75e31558ab74114a0a0fba..29f77da2584c9cc60d0eee4206d9022dfec243de 100644
--- a/lib/netrc.c
+++ b/lib/netrc.c
@@ -255,11 +255,16 @@ static int parsenetrc(const char *host,
     } /* while Curl_get_line() */
 
 out:
-    if(!retcode && !password && state_our_login) {
-      /* success without a password, set a blank one */
-      password = strdup("");
-      if(!password)
-        retcode = 1; /* out of memory */
+    if(!retcode) {
+      if(!password && state_our_login) {
+        /* success without a password, set a blank one */
+        password = strdup("");
+        if(!password)
+          retcode = 1; /* out of memory */
+      }
+      else if(!login && !password)
+        /* a default with no credentials */
+        retcode = NETRC_FILE_MISSING;
     }
     if(!retcode) {
       /* success */