diff --git a/Lib/urllib2.py b/Lib/urllib2.py
index 5443d0b..a4046d3 100644
--- a/Lib/urllib2.py
+++ b/Lib/urllib2.py
@@ -859,7 +859,7 @@
             entdig = None
 
         A1 = "%s:%s:%s" % (user, realm, pw)
-        A2 = "%s:%s" % (req.has_data() and 'POST' or 'GET',
+        A2 = "%s:%s" % (req.get_method(),
                         # XXX selector: what about proxies and full urls
                         req.get_selector())
         if qop == 'auth':