diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 4165d2a3b..54b973775 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -1051,24 +1051,34 @@ static void cleanarg(char *str)
 #endif
 }
 
-static void checkpasswd(const char *prompt, char **userpwd)
+static void checkpasswd(const char *kind, /* for what purpose */
+                        char **userpwd) /* pointer to allocated string */
 {
   char *ptr = strchr(*userpwd, ':');
   if(!ptr) {
     /* no password present, prompt for one */
     char passwd[256]="";
+    char prompt[256];
     int passwdlen;
     int userlen = strlen(*userpwd);
     char *ptr;
 
+    /* build a nice-looking prompt */
+    curl_msnprintf(prompt, sizeof(prompt),
+                   "Enter %s password for user '%s':",
+                   kind, *userpwd);
+
+    /* get password */
     getpass_r(prompt, passwd, sizeof(passwd));
     passwdlen = strlen(passwd);
 
+    /* extend the allocated memory are to fit the password too */
     ptr = realloc(*userpwd,
                   passwdlen + 1 + /* an extra for the colon */
                   userlen + 1);   /* an extra for the zero */
 
     if(ptr) {
+      /* append the password separated with a colon */
       ptr[userlen]=':';
       memcpy(&ptr[userlen+1], passwd, passwdlen+1);
       *userpwd = ptr;
@@ -1834,13 +1844,13 @@ static ParameterError getparameter(char *flag, /* f or -long-flag */
       /* user:password  */
       GetStr(&config->userpwd, nextarg);
       cleanarg(nextarg);
-      checkpasswd("Enter host password:", &config->userpwd);
+      checkpasswd("host", &config->userpwd);
       break;
     case 'U':
       /* Proxy user:password  */
       GetStr(&config->proxyuserpwd, nextarg);
       cleanarg(nextarg);
-      checkpasswd("Enter proxy password:", &config->proxyuserpwd);
+      checkpasswd("proxy", &config->proxyuserpwd);
       break;
     case 'v':
       config->conf ^= CONF_VERBOSE; /* talk a lot */