diff --git a/http_handler.go b/http_handler.go
index 07385f342..3328485b0 100644
--- a/http_handler.go
+++ b/http_handler.go
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ func (h *Handler) chkInternal(handler http.HandlerFunc) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		if h.auth != nil {
 			secret, ok := r.Header["X-Feature-Key"]
-			secretString := ""
+			var secretString string
 			if ok {
 				secretString = secret[0]
 			}
diff --git a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
index 7d16e1c32..6f47f799c 100644
--- a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
+++ b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func TestClusterStuff(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("getting client: %v", err)
 	}
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	token := ""
+	var token string
 	// generate auth token and add to context
 	if auth {
 		token = GetAuthToken(t)