diff --git a/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/auth/DefaultAuthenticationService.kt b/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/auth/DefaultAuthenticationService.kt
index 946f882f1a6..f1cfe3fee5e 100644
--- a/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/auth/DefaultAuthenticationService.kt
+++ b/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/auth/DefaultAuthenticationService.kt
@@ -382,11 +382,16 @@ internal class DefaultAuthenticationService @Inject constructor(
         return getWellknownTask.execute(
                 GetWellknownTask.Params(
                         domain = matrixId.getDomain(),
-                        homeServerConnectionConfig = homeServerConnectionConfig
+                        homeServerConnectionConfig = homeServerConnectionConfig.orWellKnownDefaults()
                 )
         )
     }
 
+    private fun HomeServerConnectionConfig?.orWellKnownDefaults() = this ?: HomeServerConnectionConfig.Builder()
+            // server uri is ignored when doing a wellknown lookup as we use the matrix id domain instead
+            .withHomeServerUri("https://dummy.org")
+            .build()
+
     override suspend fun directAuthentication(homeServerConnectionConfig: HomeServerConnectionConfig,
                                               matrixId: String,
                                               password: String,
diff --git a/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/wellknown/GetWellknownTask.kt b/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/wellknown/GetWellknownTask.kt
index 82ff9a321fc..a6b398f6f5a 100644
--- a/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/wellknown/GetWellknownTask.kt
+++ b/matrix-sdk-android/src/main/java/org/matrix/android/sdk/internal/wellknown/GetWellknownTask.kt
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ internal interface GetWellknownTask : Task<GetWellknownTask.Params, WellknownRes
              * the URL will be https://{domain}/.well-known/matrix/client
              */
             val domain: String,
-            val homeServerConnectionConfig: HomeServerConnectionConfig?
+            val homeServerConnectionConfig: HomeServerConnectionConfig
     )
 }
 
@@ -61,15 +61,11 @@ internal class DefaultGetWellknownTask @Inject constructor(
         return findClientConfig(params.domain, client)
     }
 
-    private fun buildClient(homeServerConnectionConfig: HomeServerConnectionConfig?): OkHttpClient {
-        return if (homeServerConnectionConfig != null) {
-            okHttpClient.get()
-                    .newBuilder()
-                    .addSocketFactory(homeServerConnectionConfig)
-                    .build()
-        } else {
-            okHttpClient.get()
-        }
+    private fun buildClient(homeServerConnectionConfig: HomeServerConnectionConfig): OkHttpClient {
+        return okHttpClient.get()
+                .newBuilder()
+                .addSocketFactory(homeServerConnectionConfig)
+                .build()
     }
 
     /**