diff --git a/includes/http/MWHttpRequest.php b/includes/http/MWHttpRequest.php
index f13461c7972..70691b4cff5 100644
--- a/includes/http/MWHttpRequest.php
+++ b/includes/http/MWHttpRequest.php
@@ -175,13 +175,16 @@ abstract class MWHttpRequest implements LoggerAwareInterface {
 	 * Generate a new request object
 	 * Deprecated: @see HttpRequestFactory::create
 	 * @param string $url Url to use
-	 * @param array $options (optional) extra params to pass (see Http::request())
+	 * @param array|null $options (optional) extra params to pass (see Http::request())
 	 * @param string $caller The method making this request, for profiling
 	 * @throws DomainException
 	 * @return MWHttpRequest
 	 * @see MWHttpRequest::__construct
 	 */
-	public static function factory( $url, array $options = [], $caller = __METHOD__ ) {
+	public static function factory( $url, array $options = null, $caller = __METHOD__ ) {
+		if ( $options === null ) {
+			$options = [];
+		}
 		return \MediaWiki\MediaWikiServices::getInstance()
 			->getHttpRequestFactory()
 			->create( $url, $options, $caller );
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/includes/http/HttpTest.php b/tests/phpunit/includes/http/HttpTest.php
index 8ca9f6a268b..1e685bd500a 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/includes/http/HttpTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/includes/http/HttpTest.php
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ class HttpTest extends MediaWikiTestCase {
 class MWHttpRequestTester extends MWHttpRequest {
 	// function derived from the MWHttpRequest factory function but
 	// returns appropriate tester class here
-	public static function factory( $url, $options = null, $caller = __METHOD__ ) {
+	public static function factory( $url, array $options = null, $caller = __METHOD__ ) {
 		if ( !Http::$httpEngine ) {
 			Http::$httpEngine = function_exists( 'curl_init' ) ? 'curl' : 'php';
 		} elseif ( Http::$httpEngine == 'curl' && !function_exists( 'curl_init' ) ) {