diff --git a/swift/common/bufferedhttp.py b/swift/common/bufferedhttp.py
index 58670a4860..00e58da756 100644
--- a/swift/common/bufferedhttp.py
+++ b/swift/common/bufferedhttp.py
@@ -126,27 +126,14 @@ def http_connect(ipaddr, port, device, partition, method, path,
     :param ssl: set True if SSL should be used (default: False)
     :returns: HTTPConnection object
     """
-    if not port:
-        port = 443 if ssl else 80
-    if ssl:
-        conn = HTTPSConnection('%s:%s' % (ipaddr, port))
-    else:
-        conn = BufferedHTTPConnection('%s:%s' % (ipaddr, port))
     if isinstance(path, unicode):
         try:
             path = path.encode("utf-8")
         except UnicodeError:
             pass   # what should I do?
     path = quote('/' + device + '/' + str(partition) + path)
-    if query_string:
-        path += '?' + query_string
-    conn.path = path
-    conn.putrequest(method, path, skip_host=(headers and 'Host' in headers))
-    if headers:
-        for header, value in headers.iteritems():
-            conn.putheader(header, str(value))
-    conn.endheaders()
-    return conn
+    return http_connect_raw(
+        ipaddr, port, method, path, headers, query_string, ssl)
 
 
 def http_connect_raw(ipaddr, port, method, path, headers=None,