diff --git a/include/git2/remote.h b/include/git2/remote.h
index 6649b3a46..f3b0a9443 100644
--- a/include/git2/remote.h
+++ b/include/git2/remote.h
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@
  */
 GIT_BEGIN_DECL
 
+/**
+ * Use this when creating a remote with git_remote_new to get the default fetch
+ * behavior produced by git_remote_add.  It corresponds to this fetchspec (note
+ * the spaces between '/' and '*' to avoid C compiler errors):
+ * "+refs/heads/ *:refs/remotes/<remote_name>/ *"
+ */
+#define GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH ""
+
 typedef int (*git_remote_rename_problem_cb)(const char *problematic_refspec, void *payload);
 /*
  * TODO: This functions still need to be implemented:
diff --git a/src/remote.c b/src/remote.c
index 24a821e44..28ce88a93 100644
--- a/src/remote.c
+++ b/src/remote.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ int git_remote_new(git_remote **out, git_repository *repo, const char *name, con
 		GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(remote->name);
 
 		/* An empty name indicates to use a sensible default for the fetchspec. */
-		if (fetch && strlen(fetch) == 0) {
+		if (fetch && !(*fetch)) {
 			if (git_buf_printf(&fetchbuf, "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/%s/*", remote->name) < 0)
 				goto on_error;
 			fetch = git_buf_cstr(&fetchbuf);
diff --git a/tests-clar/clone/network.c b/tests-clar/clone/network.c
index 5d564f99d..018f464ad 100644
--- a/tests-clar/clone/network.c
+++ b/tests-clar/clone/network.c
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ static git_remote *g_origin;
 void test_clone_network__initialize(void)
 {
 	g_repo = NULL;
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_REPO_URL, ""));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_REPO_URL, GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 }
 
 static void cleanup_repository(void *path)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ void test_clone_network__empty_repository(void)
 	cl_set_cleanup(&cleanup_repository, "./empty");
 
 	git_remote_free(g_origin);
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_EMPTYREPO_URL, ""));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_EMPTYREPO_URL, GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_clone(&g_repo, g_origin, "./empty", NULL, NULL, NULL));
 
diff --git a/tests-clar/clone/nonetwork.c b/tests-clar/clone/nonetwork.c
index 9a1eed772..af1298191 100644
--- a/tests-clar/clone/nonetwork.c
+++ b/tests-clar/clone/nonetwork.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ static git_remote *g_origin = NULL;
 void test_clone_nonetwork__initialize(void)
 {
 	g_repo = NULL;
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", cl_git_fixture_url("testrepo.git"), ""));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", cl_git_fixture_url("testrepo.git"), GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 }
 
 static void cleanup_repository(void *path)
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ void test_clone_nonetwork__bad_url(void)
 {
 	/* Clone should clean up the mess if the URL isn't a git repository */
 	git_remote_free(g_origin);
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", "not_a_repo", NULL));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", "not_a_repo", GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 
 	cl_git_fail(git_clone(&g_repo, g_origin, "./foo", NULL, NULL, NULL));
 	cl_assert(!git_path_exists("./foo"));
diff --git a/tests-clar/fetchhead/network.c b/tests-clar/fetchhead/network.c
index 0eeac9ed2..aed5b5ad8 100644
--- a/tests-clar/fetchhead/network.c
+++ b/tests-clar/fetchhead/network.c
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ static git_remote *g_origin;
 void test_fetchhead_network__initialize(void)
 {
 	g_repo = NULL;
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_REPO_URL, ""));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&g_origin, NULL, "origin", LIVE_REPO_URL, GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 }
 
 void test_fetchhead_network__cleanup(void)
diff --git a/tests-clar/network/fetch.c b/tests-clar/network/fetch.c
index fa3199fe7..246435b1b 100644
--- a/tests-clar/network/fetch.c
+++ b/tests-clar/network/fetch.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ void test_network_fetch__doesnt_retrieve_a_pack_when_the_repository_is_up_to_dat
 	git_remote *remote;
 	bool invoked = false;
 
-	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&remote, NULL, "origin", "https://github.com/libgit2/TestGitRepository.git", ""));
+	cl_git_pass(git_remote_new(&remote, NULL, "origin", "https://github.com/libgit2/TestGitRepository.git", GIT_REMOTE_DEFAULT_FETCH));
 	cl_git_pass(git_clone_bare(&_repository, remote, "./fetch/lg2", NULL, NULL));
 	git_repository_free(_repository);