diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py b/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
index 5d26118e2d6..c85a27c3eb0 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ class UnixDomainHttpProtocol(eventlet.wsgi.HttpProtocol):
     disable_nagle_algorithm = False
 
     def __init__(self, request, client_address, server):
-        if client_address == '':
+        if not client_address:
             client_address = ('<local>', 0)
         # base class is old-style, so super does not work properly
         eventlet.wsgi.HttpProtocol.__init__(self, request, client_address,
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
index a0e7a1fbd96..61c8a2b6a7a 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
@@ -468,8 +468,9 @@ class TestUnixDomainHttpConnection(base.BaseTestCase):
 
 class TestUnixDomainHttpProtocol(base.BaseTestCase):
     def test_init_empty_client(self):
-        u = utils.UnixDomainHttpProtocol(mock.Mock(), '', mock.Mock())
-        self.assertEqual(u.client_address, ('<local>', 0))
+        for addr in ('', b''):
+            u = utils.UnixDomainHttpProtocol(mock.Mock(), addr, mock.Mock())
+            self.assertEqual(u.client_address, ('<local>', 0))
 
     def test_init_with_client(self):
         u = utils.UnixDomainHttpProtocol(mock.Mock(), 'foo', mock.Mock())