diff --git a/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs b/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
index f120917f2ac82..01f2a20c2d9ef 100644
--- a/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
@@ -420,33 +420,35 @@ impl<'a> BaseClientBuilder<'a> {
         // Checks for the presence of `SSL_CERT_FILE`.
         // Certificate loading support is delegated to `rustls-native-certs`.
         // See https://github.com/rustls/rustls-native-certs/blob/813790a297ad4399efe70a8e5264ca1b420acbec/src/lib.rs#L118-L125
-        let ssl_cert_file_exists = env::var_os(EnvVars::SSL_CERT_FILE).is_some_and(|path| {
-            let path = Path::new(&path);
-            match path.metadata() {
-                Ok(metadata) if metadata.is_file() => true,
-                Ok(_) => {
-                    warn_user_once!(
-                        "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path is not a file: {}.",
-                        path.simplified_display().cyan()
-                    );
-                    false
-                }
-                Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
-                    warn_user_once!(
-                        "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path does not exist: {}.",
-                        path.simplified_display().cyan()
-                    );
-                    false
-                }
-                Err(err) => {
-                    warn_user_once!(
-                        "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path is not accessible: {} ({err}).",
-                        path.simplified_display().cyan()
-                    );
-                    false
+        let ssl_cert_file_exists = env::var_os(EnvVars::SSL_CERT_FILE)
+            .filter(|v| !v.is_empty())
+            .is_some_and(|path| {
+                let path = Path::new(&path);
+                match path.metadata() {
+                    Ok(metadata) if metadata.is_file() => true,
+                    Ok(_) => {
+                        warn_user_once!(
+                            "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path is not a file: {}.",
+                            path.simplified_display().cyan()
+                        );
+                        false
+                    }
+                    Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+                        warn_user_once!(
+                            "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path does not exist: {}.",
+                            path.simplified_display().cyan()
+                        );
+                        false
+                    }
+                    Err(err) => {
+                        warn_user_once!(
+                            "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. Path is not accessible: {} ({err}).",
+                            path.simplified_display().cyan()
+                        );
+                        false
+                    }
                 }
-            }
-        });
+            });
 
         // Checks for the presence of `SSL_CERT_DIR`.
         // Certificate loading support is delegated to `rustls-native-certs`.