diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
index 9cdff5583dadef..50912949b58a65 100644
--- a/lib/_http_client.js
+++ b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -105,13 +105,20 @@ function ClientRequest(options, cb) {
   self.timeout = options.timeout;
 
   var method = options.method;
-  if (method != null && typeof method !== 'string') {
+  var methodIsString = (typeof method === 'string');
+  if (method != null && !methodIsString) {
     throw new TypeError('Method must be a string');
   }
-  method = self.method = (method || 'GET').toUpperCase();
-  if (!common._checkIsHttpToken(method)) {
-    throw new TypeError('Method must be a valid HTTP token');
+
+  if (methodIsString && method) {
+    if (!common._checkIsHttpToken(method)) {
+      throw new TypeError('Method must be a valid HTTP token');
+    }
+    method = self.method = method.toUpperCase();
+  } else {
+    method = self.method = 'GET';
   }
+
   self.path = options.path || '/';
   if (cb) {
     self.once('response', cb);
diff --git a/lib/_http_common.js b/lib/_http_common.js
index f585d97d7b6536..b8724f00ec6557 100644
--- a/lib/_http_common.js
+++ b/lib/_http_common.js
@@ -265,8 +265,6 @@ var validTokens = [
   0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0  // ... 255
 ];
 function checkIsHttpToken(val) {
-  if (typeof val !== 'string' || val.length === 0)
-    return false;
   if (!validTokens[val.charCodeAt(0)])
     return false;
   if (val.length < 2)
diff --git a/lib/_http_outgoing.js b/lib/_http_outgoing.js
index 8520328683ea47..30011e091525a3 100644
--- a/lib/_http_outgoing.js
+++ b/lib/_http_outgoing.js
@@ -314,21 +314,21 @@ function _storeHeader(firstLine, headers) {
   if (state.expect) this._send('');
 }
 
-function storeHeader(self, state, field, value, validate) {
+function storeHeader(self, state, key, value, validate) {
   if (validate) {
-    if (!checkIsHttpToken(field)) {
+    if (typeof key !== 'string' || !key || !checkIsHttpToken(key)) {
       throw new TypeError(
-        'Header name must be a valid HTTP Token ["' + field + '"]');
+        'Header name must be a valid HTTP Token ["' + key + '"]');
     }
     if (value === undefined) {
-      throw new Error('Header "%s" value must not be undefined', field);
+      throw new Error('Header "%s" value must not be undefined', key);
     } else if (checkInvalidHeaderChar(value)) {
-      debug('Header "%s" contains invalid characters', field);
+      debug('Header "%s" contains invalid characters', key);
       throw new TypeError('The header content contains invalid characters');
     }
   }
-  state.header += field + ': ' + escapeHeaderValue(value) + CRLF;
-  matchHeader(self, state, field, value);
+  state.header += key + ': ' + escapeHeaderValue(value) + CRLF;
+  matchHeader(self, state, key, value);
 }
 
 function matchConnValue(self, state, value) {
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ function matchHeader(self, state, field, value) {
 }
 
 function validateHeader(msg, name, value) {
-  if (!checkIsHttpToken(name))
+  if (typeof name !== 'string' || !name || !checkIsHttpToken(name))
     throw new TypeError(
       'Header name must be a valid HTTP Token ["' + name + '"]');
   if (value === undefined)
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ OutgoingMessage.prototype.addTrailers = function addTrailers(headers) {
       field = key;
       value = headers[key];
     }
-    if (!checkIsHttpToken(field)) {
+    if (typeof field !== 'string' || !field || !checkIsHttpToken(field)) {
       throw new TypeError(
         'Trailer name must be a valid HTTP Token ["' + field + '"]');
     }