diff --git a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/HttpConnection.cpp b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/HttpConnection.cpp
index ad77052ae293..67ca74a539f2 100644
--- a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/HttpConnection.cpp
+++ b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/HttpConnection.cpp
@@ -276,23 +276,23 @@ std::string HttpConnection<ST>::buildRequestBody(Request const& req) {
   // construct request path ("/_db/<name>/" prefix)
   if (!req.header.database.empty()) {
     header.append("/_db/");
-    header.append(http::urlEncode(req.header.database));
+    http::urlEncode(header, req.header.database);
   }
   // must start with /, also turns /_db/abc into /_db/abc/
   if (req.header.path.empty() || req.header.path[0] != '/') {
     header.push_back('/');
   }
 
-  if (req.header.parameters.empty()) {
-    header.append(req.header.path);
-  } else {
-    header.append(req.header.path);
+  header.append(req.header.path);
+  if (!req.header.parameters.empty()) {
     header.push_back('?');
     for (auto const& p : req.header.parameters) {
       if (header.back() != '?') {
         header.push_back('&');
       }
-      header.append(http::urlEncode(p.first) + "=" + http::urlEncode(p.second));
+      http::urlEncode(header, p.first);
+      header.push_back('=');
+      http::urlEncode(header, p.second);
     }
   }
   header.append(" HTTP/1.1\r\n")
diff --git a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.cpp b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.cpp
index 2f0c22ff58d1..bd68d2db8845 100644
--- a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.cpp
+++ b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.cpp
@@ -35,71 +35,49 @@ static inline int hex2int(char ch, int errorValue = 0) {
   return errorValue;
 }
 
-std::string urlEncode(char const* src, size_t const len) {
+void urlEncode(std::string& out, char const* src, size_t len) {
   static char hexChars[16] = {'0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7',
                               '8', '9', 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F'};
 
-  char const* end = src + len;
-
   if (len >= (SIZE_MAX - 1) / 3) {
     throw std::overflow_error("out of memory");
   }
 
-  std::string result;
-  result.reserve(3 * len);
+  out.reserve(out.size() + 3 * len);
 
+  char const* end = src + len;
   for (; src < end; ++src) {
     if ('0' <= *src && *src <= '9') {
-      result.push_back(*src);
-    }
-
-    else if ('a' <= *src && *src <= 'z') {
-      result.push_back(*src);
-    }
-
-    else if ('A' <= *src && *src <= 'Z') {
-      result.push_back(*src);
-    }
-
-    else if (*src == '-' || *src == '_' || *src == '~') {
-      result.push_back(*src);
-    }
-
-    else {
+      out.push_back(*src);
+    } else if ('a' <= *src && *src <= 'z') {
+      out.push_back(*src);
+    } else if ('A' <= *src && *src <= 'Z') {
+      out.push_back(*src);
+    } else if (*src == '-' || *src == '_' || *src == '~') {
+      out.push_back(*src);
+    } else {
       uint8_t n = (uint8_t)(*src);
       uint8_t n1 = n >> 4;
       uint8_t n2 = n & 0x0F;
 
-      result.push_back('%');
-      result.push_back(hexChars[n1]);
-      result.push_back(hexChars[n2]);
+      out.push_back('%');
+      out.push_back(hexChars[n1]);
+      out.push_back(hexChars[n2]);
     }
   }
-
-  return result;
 }
 
-std::string urlEncode(char const* src) {
-  if (src != nullptr) {
-    size_t len = strlen(src);
-    return urlEncode(src, len);
-  }
-  return "";
-}
-
-std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str) {
-  std::string result;
+void urlDecode(std::string& out, char const* src, size_t len) {
   // reserve enough room so we do not need to re-alloc
-  result.reserve(str.size() + 16);
+  out.reserve(out.size() + len + 16);
 
-  char const* src = str.c_str();
-  char const* end = src + str.size();
+  char const* end = src + len;
 
   for (; src < end && *src != '%'; ++src) {
     if (*src == '+') {
-      result.push_back(' ');
+      out.push_back(' ');
     } else {
-      result.push_back(*src);
+      out.push_back(*src);
     }
   }
 
@@ -112,10 +90,10 @@ std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str) {
         src += 1;
       } else {
         if (h2 == -1) {
-          result.push_back(h1);
+          out.push_back(h1);
           src += 2;
         } else {
-          result.push_back(h1 << 4 | h2);
+          out.push_back(h1 << 4 | h2);
           src += 3;
         }
       }
@@ -125,7 +103,7 @@ std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str) {
       if (h1 == -1) {
         src += 1;
       } else {
-        result.push_back(h1);
+        out.push_back(h1);
         src += 2;
       }
     } else {
@@ -134,13 +112,11 @@ std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str) {
 
     for (; src < end && *src != '%'; ++src) {
       if (*src == '+') {
-        result.push_back(' ');
+        out.push_back(' ');
       } else {
-        result.push_back(*src);
+        out.push_back(*src);
       }
     }
   }
-
-  return result;
 }
 }}}}  // namespace arangodb::fuerte::v1::http
diff --git a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.h b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.h
index d5c4a591ac0e..5138b968ecd2 100644
--- a/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.h
+++ b/3rdParty/fuerte/src/http.h
@@ -46,12 +46,34 @@ struct RequestItem {
   }
 };
 
-std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str);
-std::string urlEncode(char const* src, size_t const len);
-std::string urlEncode(char const* src);
+/// url-decodes [src, src+len) into out
+void urlDecode(std::string& out, char const* src, size_t len);
 
+/// url-decodes str into out - convenience function
+inline void urlDecode(std::string& out, std::string const& str) {
+  return urlDecode(out, str.data(), str.size());
+}
+
+/// url-decodes str and returns it - convenience function
+inline std::string urlDecode(std::string const& str) {
+  std::string result;
+  urlDecode(result, str.c_str(), str.size());
+  return result;
+}
+
+/// url-encodes [src, src+len) into out
+void urlEncode(std::string& out, char const* src, size_t len);
+
+/// url-encodes str into out - convenience function
+inline void urlEncode(std::string& out, std::string const& str) {
+  return urlEncode(out, str.data(), str.size());
+}
+
+/// url-encodes str and returns it - convenience function
 inline std::string urlEncode(std::string const& str) {
-  return urlEncode(str.c_str(), str.size());
+  std::string result;
+  urlEncode(result, str.c_str(), str.size());
+  return result;
 }
 }}}}  // namespace arangodb::fuerte::v1::http
 #endif