diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-secure.c b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-secure.c
index ca2d33e..6957542 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-secure.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-secure.c
@@ -964,11 +964,30 @@ initialize_SSL(PGconn *conn)
 	 * If sslverify is set to anything other than "none", perform certificate
 	 * verification. If set to "cn" we will also do further verifications after
 	 * the connection has been completed.
+	 *
+	 * If we are going to look for either root certificate or CRL in the home directory,
+	 * we need pqGetHomeDirectory() to succeed. In other cases, we don't need to
+	 * get the home directory explicitly.
 	 */
-
-	/* Set up to verify server cert, if root.crt is present */
-	if (pqGetHomeDirectory(homedir, sizeof(homedir)))
+	if (!conn->sslrootcert || !conn->sslcrl)
+	{
+		if (!pqGetHomeDirectory(homedir, sizeof(homedir)))
 	{
+			if (strcmp(conn->sslverify, "none") != 0)
+			{
+				printfPQExpBuffer(&conn->errorMessage,
+								  libpq_gettext("cannot find home directory to locate root certificate file"));
+				return -1;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		homedir[0] = '\0';
+	}
+
+
+
 		if (conn->sslrootcert)
 			strncpy(fnbuf, conn->sslrootcert, sizeof(fnbuf));
 		else
@@ -1017,7 +1036,7 @@ initialize_SSL(PGconn *conn)
 			}
 
 			SSL_CTX_set_verify(SSL_context, SSL_VERIFY_PEER, verify_cb);
-		}
+	} /* root certificate exists */
 		else
 		{
 			if (strcmp(conn->sslverify, "none") != 0)
@@ -1027,16 +1046,6 @@ initialize_SSL(PGconn *conn)
 				return -1;
 			}
 		}
-	}
-	else
-	{
-		if (strcmp(conn->sslverify, "none") != 0)
-		{
-			printfPQExpBuffer(&conn->errorMessage,
-							  libpq_gettext("cannot find home directory to locate root certificate file"));
-			return -1;
-		}
-	}
 
 	/* set up mechanism to provide client certificate, if available */
 	SSL_CTX_set_client_cert_cb(SSL_context, client_cert_cb);