diff --git a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/Auth/BasicAuthenticate.php b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/Auth/BasicAuthenticate.php
index c0cfbbd54..fcb0ddec5 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/Auth/BasicAuthenticate.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Controller/Component/Auth/BasicAuthenticate.php
@@ -85,9 +85,8 @@ class BasicAuthenticate extends BaseAuthenticate {
 		if(!isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'])) {
 		    if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_AUTHORIZATION']) && (strlen($_SERVER['HTTP_AUTHORIZATION']) > 0)) {
 		        list($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'], $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']) = explode(':', base64_decode(substr($_SERVER['HTTP_AUTHORIZATION'], 6)));
-		        if( strlen($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']) == 0 || strlen($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']) == 0 ) {
-		            unset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']);
-		            unset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']);
+		        if(strlen($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']) === 0 || strlen($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']) === 0) {
+		            unset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'], $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']);
 		        }
 		    }
 		}