diff --git a/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs b/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
index 3c1488f31..ddaf5d2b9 100644
--- a/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-client/src/base_client.rs
@@ -395,16 +395,18 @@ impl<'a> BaseClientBuilder<'a> {
         // Checks for the presence of `SSL_CERT_FILE`.
         // Certificate loading support is delegated to `rustls-native-certs`.
         // See https://github.com/rustls/rustls-native-certs/blob/813790a297ad4399efe70a8e5264ca1b420acbec/src/lib.rs#L118-L125
-        let ssl_cert_file_exists = env::var_os(EnvVars::SSL_CERT_FILE).is_some_and(|path| {
-            let path_exists = Path::new(&path).exists();
-            if !path_exists {
-                warn_user_once!(
-                    "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. File does not exist: {}.",
-                    path.simplified_display().cyan()
-                );
-            }
-            path_exists
-        });
+        let ssl_cert_file_exists = env::var_os(EnvVars::SSL_CERT_FILE)
+            .filter(|v| !v.is_empty())
+            .is_some_and(|path| {
+                let path_exists = Path::new(&path).exists();
+                if !path_exists {
+                    warn_user_once!(
+                        "Ignoring invalid `SSL_CERT_FILE`. File does not exist: {}.",
+                        path.simplified_display().cyan()
+                    );
+                }
+                path_exists
+            });
 
         // Checks for the presence of `SSL_CERT_DIR`.
         // Certificate loading support is delegated to `rustls-native-certs`.