diff --git a/lib/client.c b/lib/client.c
index 6422fb7b..576c7ff1 100644
--- a/lib/client.c
+++ b/lib/client.c
@@ -596,8 +596,7 @@ check_accept:
 	}
 
 	/* allocate the per-connection user memory (if any) */
-	if (wsi->protocol->per_session_data_size &&
-					 !libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi)) {
+	if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi)) {
 		lwsl_err("Problem allocating wsi user mem\n");
 		goto bail2;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/handshake.c b/lib/handshake.c
index b21d73db..50138dd8 100644
--- a/lib/handshake.c
+++ b/lib/handshake.c
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ libwebsocket_read(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 			lwsl_info("HTTP request for '%s'\n",
 				lws_hdr_simple_ptr(wsi, WSI_TOKEN_GET_URI));
 
-			if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi) == NULL) {
+			if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi)) {
 				/* drop the header info */
 				if (wsi->u.hdr.ah)
 					free(wsi->u.hdr.ah);
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.c b/lib/libwebsockets.c
index 849ffb44..65adcf5a 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.c
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.c
@@ -2154,16 +2154,11 @@ libwebsocket_get_reserved_bits(struct libwebsocket *wsi)
 	return wsi->u.ws.rsv;
 }
 
-/**
- * libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(): return the user context for the connection if possible
- * @wsi:	websocket connection instance
- */
-
-void *
+int
 libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(struct libwebsocket *wsi)
 {
 	if (!wsi->protocol)
-		return NULL;
+		return 1;
 
 	/* allocate the per-connection user memory (if any) */
 
@@ -2172,12 +2167,12 @@ libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(struct libwebsocket *wsi)
 				  wsi->protocol->per_session_data_size);
 		if (wsi->user_space  == NULL) {
 			lwsl_err("Out of memory for conn user space\n");
-			return NULL;
+			return 1;
 		}
 		memset(wsi->user_space, 0,
 					 wsi->protocol->per_session_data_size);
 	}
-	return wsi->user_space;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void lwsl_emit_stderr(int level, const char *line)
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.h b/lib/libwebsockets.h
index e1c04cc4..779af2ed 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.h
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.h
@@ -880,9 +880,6 @@ libwebsocket_is_final_fragment(struct libwebsocket *wsi);
 LWS_EXTERN unsigned char
 libwebsocket_get_reserved_bits(struct libwebsocket *wsi);
 
-LWS_EXTERN void *
-libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(struct libwebsocket *wsi);
-
 LWS_EXTERN int
 libwebsocket_rx_flow_control(struct libwebsocket *wsi, int enable);
 
diff --git a/lib/private-libwebsockets.h b/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
index 6c2ae74f..3bde4918 100644
--- a/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
+++ b/lib/private-libwebsockets.h
@@ -508,6 +508,9 @@ LWS_EXTERN int
 lws_hdr_simple_create(struct libwebsocket *wsi,
 				enum lws_token_indexes h, const char *s);
 
+LWS_EXTERN int
+libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(struct libwebsocket *wsi);
+
 #ifndef LWS_NO_SERVER
 LWS_EXTERN int handshake_0405(struct libwebsocket_context *context,
 						      struct libwebsocket *wsi);
diff --git a/lib/server-handshake.c b/lib/server-handshake.c
index 627fb31b..75938fe9 100644
--- a/lib/server-handshake.c
+++ b/lib/server-handshake.c
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ handshake_0405(struct libwebsocket_context *context, struct libwebsocket *wsi)
 	}
 
 	/* allocate the per-connection user memory (if any) */
-	if (wsi->protocol->per_session_data_size &&
-					  !libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi))
+	if (libwebsocket_ensure_user_space(wsi))
 		goto bail;
 
 	/* create the response packet */
diff --git a/libwebsockets-api-doc.html b/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
index 306f18e6..c0ea6cd3 100644
--- a/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
+++ b/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
@@ -382,16 +382,6 @@ Some apis can act on all live connections of a given protocol,
 this is how you can get a pointer to the active protocol if needed.
 </blockquote>
 <hr>
-<h2>libwebsocket_ensure_user_space - </h2>
-<i>void *</i>
-<b>libwebsocket_ensure_user_space</b>
-(<i>struct libwebsocket *</i> <b>wsi</b>)
-<h3>Arguments</h3>
-<dl>
-<dt><b>wsi</b>
-<dd>websocket connection instance
-</dl>
-<hr>
 <h2>lws_set_log_level - Set the logging bitfield</h2>
 <i>void</i>
 <b>lws_set_log_level</b>