diff --git a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
index 6a6a742a2..8eb7667e3 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/main/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/URIUtils.java
@@ -217,14 +217,17 @@ public class URIUtils {
             uribuilder.setFragment(null);
         }
         if (flags.contains(UriFlag.NORMALIZE)) {
-            final List<String> pathSegments = new ArrayList<String>(uribuilder.getPathSegments());
+            final List<String> originalPathSegments = uribuilder.getPathSegments();
+            final List<String> pathSegments = new ArrayList<String>(originalPathSegments);
             for (final Iterator<String> it = pathSegments.iterator(); it.hasNext(); ) {
                 final String pathSegment = it.next();
                 if (pathSegment.isEmpty() && it.hasNext()) {
                     it.remove();
                 }
             }
-            uribuilder.setPathSegments(pathSegments);
+            if (pathSegments.size() != originalPathSegments.size()) {
+                uribuilder.setPathSegments(pathSegments);
+            }
         }
         if (uribuilder.isPathEmpty()) {
             uribuilder.setPathSegments("");
diff --git a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
index 4c81ef23e..189966635 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/apache/http/client/utils/TestURIUtils.java
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ public class TestURIUtils {
         Assert.assertEquals("http://thishost/Fragment_identifier%23Examples",
                 URIUtils.rewriteURI(
                         URI.create("http://thishost/Fragment_identifier%23Examples")).toString());
+        Assert.assertEquals("http://thathost/foo%3Abar", URIUtils.rewriteURI(
+                URI.create("http://thishost/foo%3Abar"), target).toString());
     }
 
     @Test