diff --git a/wagon-provider-api/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/wagon/PathUtils.java b/wagon-provider-api/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/wagon/PathUtils.java
index e77e03a..4641473 100644
--- a/wagon-provider-api/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/wagon/PathUtils.java
+++ b/wagon-provider-api/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/wagon/PathUtils.java
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@
      */
     public static String host( final String url )
     {
+        if ( url == null || url.length() == 0 )
+        {
+            return "localhost";
+        }
         String authorization = authorization( url );
         int index = authorization.indexOf( '@' );
         String host = ( index >= 0 ) ? authorization.substring( index + 1 ) : authorization;