diff --git a/lib/cfilters.c b/lib/cfilters.c
index 5ed22213c9..7205093201 100644
--- a/lib/cfilters.c
+++ b/lib/cfilters.c
@@ -555,6 +555,14 @@ CURLcode Curl_conn_connect(struct Curl_easy *data,
     CURL_TRC_CF(data, cf, "Curl_conn_connect(block=%d) -> %d, done=%d",
                 blocking, (int)result, *done);
     if(!result && *done) {
+      /* A final sanity check on connection security */
+      if((data->state.origin->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL) &&
+         (sockindex == FIRSTSOCKET) &&
+         !Curl_conn_is_ssl(data->conn, FIRSTSOCKET)) {
+        DEBUGASSERT(0);
+        failf(data, "transfer requires SSL, but not connected via SSL");
+        return CURLE_FAILED_INIT;
+      }
       /* Now that the complete filter chain is connected, let all filters
        * persist information at the connection. E.g. cf-socket sets the
        * socket and ip related information. */
diff --git a/lib/connect.c b/lib/connect.c
index 1292972306..8466c81092 100644
--- a/lib/connect.c
+++ b/lib/connect.c
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ static CURLcode cf_setup_add_origin_filters(struct Curl_cfilter *cf,
 #ifdef USE_SSL
     if((ctx->ssl_mode == CURL_CF_SSL_ENABLE ||
         (ctx->ssl_mode != CURL_CF_SSL_DISABLE &&
-         cf->conn->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL)) && /* we want SSL */
+         data->state.origin->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL)) && /* we want SSL */
        !Curl_conn_is_ssl(cf->conn, cf->sockindex)) { /* it is missing */
 
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_PROXY
diff --git a/lib/http.c b/lib/http.c
index 2e94b32640..698ec9627b 100644
--- a/lib/http.c
+++ b/lib/http.c
@@ -4938,7 +4938,7 @@ CURLcode Curl_http_req_to_h2(struct dynhds *h2_headers,
       infof(data, "set pseudo header %s to %s", HTTP_PSEUDO_SCHEME, scheme);
     }
     else {
-      scheme = Curl_xfer_is_secure(data) ? "https" : "http";
+      scheme = data->state.origin->scheme->name;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/imap.c b/lib/imap.c
index fc3077985d..976c9f573e 100644
--- a/lib/imap.c
+++ b/lib/imap.c
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ static CURLcode imap_state_capability_resp(struct Curl_easy *data,
       line += wordlen;
     }
   }
-  else if(data->set.use_ssl && !Curl_xfer_is_secure(data)) {
+  else if(data->set.use_ssl && !Curl_conn_is_ssl(data->conn, FIRSTSOCKET)) {
     /* PREAUTH is not compatible with STARTTLS. */
     if(imapcode == IMAP_RESP_OK && imapc->tls_supported && !imapc->preauth) {
       /* Switch to TLS connection now */
diff --git a/lib/transfer.c b/lib/transfer.c
index d3b5eb4eca..1a4138f6c1 100644
--- a/lib/transfer.c
+++ b/lib/transfer.c
@@ -903,22 +903,14 @@ CURLcode Curl_xfer_pause_recv(struct Curl_easy *data, bool enable)
 
 bool Curl_xfer_is_secure(struct Curl_easy *data)
 {
-  const struct Curl_scheme *scheme = NULL;
-
-  if(data->conn) {
-    scheme = data->conn->scheme;
-    /* if we are connected, but not use SSL, the transfer is not secure.
-     * This covers an insecure http:// proxy that is not tunneling.
-     * We enforce tunneling for such cases, but better be sure here. */
-    if(Curl_conn_is_connected(data->conn, FIRSTSOCKET) &&
-       !Curl_conn_is_ssl(data->conn, FIRSTSOCKET))
-      return FALSE;
+#ifndef CURL_DISABLE_PROXY
+  if(data->conn && data->conn->bits.origin_is_proxy) {
+    /* talking to a forward proxy, not secure. we do not use
+     * a forward proxy for https: and other 's' URLs. Let's just check that
+     * this did not fail somewhere. */
+    DEBUGASSERT(!(data->state.origin->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL));
+    return FALSE;
   }
-  else if(data->info.conn_scheme) { /* was connected once */
-    scheme = Curl_get_scheme(data->info.conn_scheme);
-  }
-  else { /* never connected (yet?) */
-    DEBUGASSERT(0); /* not implemented, would need to parse URL */
-  }
-  return scheme ? (scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL) : FALSE;
+#endif
+  return (data->state.origin->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL);
 }
diff --git a/lib/transfer.h b/lib/transfer.h
index 41ec0357f6..7507ce27bd 100644
--- a/lib/transfer.h
+++ b/lib/transfer.h
@@ -143,8 +143,8 @@ bool Curl_xfer_recv_is_paused(struct Curl_easy *data);
 CURLcode Curl_xfer_pause_send(struct Curl_easy *data, bool enable);
 CURLcode Curl_xfer_pause_recv(struct Curl_easy *data, bool enable);
 
-/* TRUE if the transfer is secure (e.g. TLS) from libcurl to the
- * URL's host. */
+/* TRUE if the transfer is secure, e.g. uses TLS and does not
+ * use a forward proxy. */
 bool Curl_xfer_is_secure(struct Curl_easy *data);
 
 #endif /* HEADER_CURL_TRANSFER_H */
diff --git a/lib/vquic/vquic.c b/lib/vquic/vquic.c
index 581c2e4c1e..9463d1db55 100644
--- a/lib/vquic/vquic.c
+++ b/lib/vquic/vquic.c
@@ -867,7 +867,7 @@ CURLcode Curl_conn_may_http3(struct Curl_easy *data,
     failf(data, "HTTP/3 cannot be used over UNIX domain sockets");
     return CURLE_QUIC_CONNECT_ERROR;
   }
-  if(!(conn->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL)) {
+  if(!(data->state.origin->scheme->flags & PROTOPT_SSL)) {
     failf(data, "HTTP/3 requested for non-HTTPS URL");
     return CURLE_URL_MALFORMAT;
   }