diff --git a/lib/rsslib.php b/lib/rsslib.php
index 2fb8176c724..e0d82d92180 100644
--- a/lib/rsslib.php
+++ b/lib/rsslib.php
@@ -347,11 +347,8 @@ if (!isset($CFG->block_rss_timeout) ) {
 }
 
 // Defines for moodle's use of magpierss classes
- // Defines for moodle's use of magpierss classes
-if(isset($CFG->proxyhost) && $CFG->proxyhost) {
-  define('MAGPIE_PROXY_HOST', $CFG->proxyhost);
-  define('MAGPIE_PROXY_PORT', $CFG->proxyport);
-}
+define('MAGPIE_PROXY_HOST', $CFG->proxyhost);   // Could be empty, that's OK
+define('MAGPIE_PROXY_PORT', $CFG->proxyport);   // Could be empty, that's OK
 define('MAGPIE_DIR', $CFG->dirroot.'/lib/magpie/');
 define('MAGPIE_CACHE_DIR', $CFG->dataroot .'/cache/rsscache');
 define('MAGPIE_CACHE_ON', true); //might want to expose as an admin config option, but perhaps this is something that should truly just be on unless the code is tweaked