diff --git a/libavformat/hls.c b/libavformat/hls.c
index 5ed7a245de..af890bd4ad 100644
--- a/libavformat/hls.c
+++ b/libavformat/hls.c
@@ -903,6 +903,14 @@ static void intercept_id3(struct playlist *pls, uint8_t *buf,
         pls->is_id3_timestamped = (pls->id3_mpegts_timestamp != AV_NOPTS_VALUE);
 }
 
+static void update_options(char **dest, const char *name, void *src)
+{
+    av_freep(dest);
+    av_opt_get(src, name, 0, (uint8_t**)dest);
+    if (*dest && !strlen(*dest))
+        av_freep(dest);
+}
+
 static int open_input(HLSContext *c, struct playlist *pls)
 {
     AVDictionary *opts = NULL;
@@ -944,10 +952,7 @@ static int open_input(HLSContext *c, struct playlist *pls)
                     av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unable to read key file %s\n",
                            seg->key);
                 }
-                av_freep(&c->cookies);
-                av_opt_get(uc->priv_data, "cookies", 0, (uint8_t**)&(c->cookies));
-                if (c->cookies && !strlen(c->cookies))
-                    av_freep(&c->cookies);
+                update_options(&c->cookies, "cookies", uc->priv_data);
                 av_dict_set(&opts, "cookies", c->cookies, 0);
                 ffurl_close(uc);
             } else {
@@ -1257,22 +1262,13 @@ static int hls_read_header(AVFormatContext *s)
     // if the URL context is good, read important options we must broker later
     if (u && u->prot->priv_data_class) {
         // get the previous user agent & set back to null if string size is zero
-        av_freep(&c->user_agent);
-        av_opt_get(u->priv_data, "user-agent", 0, (uint8_t**)&(c->user_agent));
-        if (c->user_agent && !strlen(c->user_agent))
-            av_freep(&c->user_agent);
+        update_options(&c->user_agent, "user-agent", u->priv_data);
 
         // get the previous cookies & set back to null if string size is zero
-        av_freep(&c->cookies);
-        av_opt_get(u->priv_data, "cookies", 0, (uint8_t**)&(c->cookies));
-        if (c->cookies && !strlen(c->cookies))
-            av_freep(&c->cookies);
+        update_options(&c->cookies, "cookies", u->priv_data);
 
         // get the previous headers & set back to null if string size is zero
-        av_freep(&c->headers);
-        av_opt_get(u->priv_data, "headers", 0, (uint8_t**)&(c->headers));
-        if (c->headers && !strlen(c->headers))
-            av_freep(&c->headers);
+        update_options(&c->headers, "headers", u->priv_data);
     }
 
     if ((ret = parse_playlist(c, s->filename, NULL, s->pb)) < 0)