diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
index 88fb6d63c7..c70cbce062 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/download_strategy.rb
@@ -645,9 +645,7 @@ class CurlDownloadStrategy < AbstractFileDownloadStrategy
 
   sig { returns(T::Hash[Symbol, T.any(String, Symbol)]) }
   def _curl_opts
-    return { user_agent: meta.fetch(:user_agent) } if meta.key?(:user_agent)
-
-    {}
+    meta.slice(:user_agent)
   end
 
   sig { override.params(args: String, options: T.untyped).returns(SystemCommand::Result) }