diff --git a/src/client.c b/src/client.c
index 751406b..b45d89c 100644
--- a/src/client.c
+++ b/src/client.c
@@ -3558,9 +3558,9 @@ connect_to_pserver (cvsroot_t *root, struct buffer **to_server_p,
          * code.
          */
 	read_line_via (from_server, to_server, &read_buf);
-	sscanf (read_buf, "%s %d", write_buf, &codenum);
+	count = sscanf (read_buf, "%*s %d", &codenum);

-	if ((codenum / 100) != 2)
+	if (count != 1 || (codenum / 100) != 2)
 	    error (1, 0, "proxy server %s:%d does not support http tunnelling",
 		   root->proxy_hostname, proxy_port_number);
 	free (read_buf);