diff --git a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/networkdb/reseed/Reseeder.java b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/networkdb/reseed/Reseeder.java
index 79a1d942a96b61d95f8dbab9499f559986ee3816..83cddbffc48afe8c9a9d507172e0f714df1cc2f2 100644
--- a/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/networkdb/reseed/Reseeder.java
+++ b/router/java/src/net/i2p/router/networkdb/reseed/Reseeder.java
@@ -293,10 +293,11 @@ public class Reseeder {
                 _checker.setError(ngettext("Reseed fetched only 1 router.",
                                                         "Reseed fetched only {0} routers.", total));
             } else {
-                System.out.println("Reseed failed, check network connection");
-                System.out.println(
-                     "Ensure that nothing blocks outbound HTTP, check the logs, " +
-                     "and if nothing helps, read the FAQ about reseeding manually.");
+                if (total == 0) {
+                    System.out.println("Reseed failed, check network connection");
+                    System.out.println("Ensure that nothing blocks outbound HTTP or HTTPS, check the logs, " +
+                                       "and if nothing helps, read the FAQ about reseeding manually.");
+                } // else < 0, no valid URLs
                 String old = _checker.getError();
                 _checker.setError(_("Reseed failed.") + ' '  +
                                   _("See {0} for help.",
@@ -396,7 +397,7 @@ public class Reseeder {
         * - Otherwise just the http randomly.
         *
         * @param echoStatus apparently always false
-        * @return count of routerinfos successfully fetched
+        * @return count of routerinfos successfully fetched, or -1 if no valid URLs
         */
         private int reseed(boolean echoStatus) {
             List<URL> URLList = new ArrayList<URL>();
@@ -467,6 +468,11 @@ public class Reseeder {
                     URLList.addAll(nonSSLList);
                 }
             }
+            if (URLList.isEmpty()) {
+                System.out.println("No valid reseed URLs");
+                _checker.setError("No valid reseed URLs");
+                return -1;
+            }
             return reseed(URLList, echoStatus);
         }