diff --git a/collects/net/url-structs.rkt b/collects/net/url-structs.rkt
index 6aece917c5..094d848b21 100644
--- a/collects/net/url-structs.rkt
+++ b/collects/net/url-structs.rkt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
               [port (or/c false/c number?)]
               [path-absolute? boolean?]
               [path (listof path/param?)]
-              [query (or/c false/c (listof (cons/c symbol? (or/c string? false/c))))]
+              [query (listof (cons/c symbol? (or/c string? false/c)))]
               [fragment (or/c false/c string?)]))
  (struct path/param ([path (or/c string? (symbols 'up 'same))]
                      [param (listof string?)])))
diff --git a/collects/net/url.rkt b/collects/net/url.rkt
index 9398966b85..0a9e41adb3 100644
--- a/collects/net/url.rkt
+++ b/collects/net/url.rkt
@@ -76,11 +76,7 @@
             ""))
         (combine-path-strings (url-path-absolute? url) path)
         ;; (if query (sa "?" (uri-encode query)) "")
-        (if query
-            (if (null? query)
-                "?"
-                (sa "?" (alist->form-urlencoded query)))
-            "")
+        (if (null? query) "" (sa "?" (alist->form-urlencoded query)))
         (if fragment (sa "#" (uri-encode fragment)) ""))))
 
 ;; url->default-port : url -> num
@@ -263,7 +259,7 @@
 ;; transliteration of code in rfc 3986, section 5.2.2
 (define (combine-url/relative Base string)
   (let ([R (string->url string)]
-        [T (make-url #f #f #f #f #f '() #f #f)])
+        [T (make-url #f #f #f #f #f '() '() #f)])
     (if (url-scheme R)
       (begin
         (set-url-scheme! T (url-scheme R))
@@ -287,7 +283,7 @@
               (begin
                 (set-url-path-absolute?! T (url-path-absolute? Base))
                 (set-url-path! T (url-path Base))
-                (if (url-query R)
+                (if (not (null? (url-query R)))
                   (set-url-query! T (url-query R))
                   (set-url-query! T (url-query Base))))
               (begin
@@ -489,7 +485,7 @@
               [path     (if win-file?
                           (separate-windows-path-strings path)
                           (separate-path-strings path))]
-              [query    (if query (form-urlencoded->alist query) #f)]
+              [query    (if query (form-urlencoded->alist query) '())]
               [fragment (uri-decode/maybe fragment)])
          (make-url scheme user host port abs? path query fragment))))
    (cdr (or (regexp-match url-rx str)
@@ -578,7 +574,7 @@
                   (if (eq? base 'relative)
                     accum
                     (loop base accum)))])))])
-    (make-url "file" #f "" #f (absolute-path? path) url-path #f #f)))
+    (make-url "file" #f "" #f (absolute-path? path) url-path '() #f)))
 
 (define (url->path url [kind (system-path-convention-type)])
   (file://->path url kind))
diff --git a/collects/tests/net/url.rkt b/collects/tests/net/url.rkt
index cca25f8d85..1817082d4b 100644
--- a/collects/tests/net/url.rkt
+++ b/collects/tests/net/url.rkt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #lang scheme
 (require net/url tests/eli-tester
-         (only-in net/uri-codec current-alist-separator-mode uri-encode))
+         (only-in net/uri-codec current-alist-separator-mode))
 
 (define (url->vec url)
   (vector
@@ -50,29 +50,29 @@
      (current-proxy-servers))
    => '(("http" "proxy.com" 3128)))
 
-  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "/")
-  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #f () #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #f () () #f)
              "")
 
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f #f #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f #f #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "http:/")
 
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "http:///")
 
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #f () #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #f () () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/")
 
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c")
-  (test-s->u #("http" "robby" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" "robby" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) () #f)
              "http://robby@www.drscheme.org/a/b/c")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" 8080 #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" 8080 #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org:8080/a/b/c")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) #f "joe")
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) () "joe")
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c#joe")
   (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) ((tim . "")) #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c?tim=")
@@ -90,53 +90,53 @@
   (parameterize ([current-alist-separator-mode 'amp])
     (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) ((tam . "tom") (pam . "pom")) "joe")
                "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c?tam=tom&pam=pom#joe"))
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c" "b")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c" "b")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c;b")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a" "x") #("b") #("c" "b")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a" "x") #("b") #("c" "b")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a;x/b/c;b")
 
   ;; test unquoting for %
   (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a") #("b") #("c")) ((ti#m . "")) "jo e")
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a/b/c?ti%23m=#jo%20e")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a " " a") #(" b ") #(" c ")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a " " a") #(" b ") #(" c ")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a%20;%20a/%20b%20/%20c%20")
-  (test-s->u #("http" "robb y" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" "robb y" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "http://robb%20y@www.drscheme.org/")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("%a") #("b/") #("c")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("%a") #("b/") #("c")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/%25a/b%2F/c")
-  (test-s->u #("http" "robby:password" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" "robby:password" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "http://robby:password@www.drscheme.org/")
   (test "robby:password" (lambda (x) (url-user (string->url x))) "http://robby%3apassword@www.drscheme.org/")
 
   ;; test the characters that need to be encoded in paths vs those that do not need to
   ;; be encoded in paths
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a:@!$&'()*+,=z") #("/?#[];") #("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a:@!$&'()*+,=z") #("/?#[];") #("")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/a:@!$&'()*+,=z/%2F%3F%23%5B%5D%3B/")
 
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#(".") #("..") #(same) #(up) #("...") #("abc.def")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#(".") #("..") #(same) #(up) #("...") #("abc.def")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/%2e/%2e%2e/./../.../abc.def")
-  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("." "") #(".." "") #(same "") #(up "") #("..." "") #("abc.def" "")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("." "") #(".." "") #(same "") #(up "") #("..." "") #("abc.def" "")) () #f)
              "http://www.drscheme.org/%2e;/%2e%2e;/.;/..;/...;/abc.def;")
 
   ;; test other scheme identifiers
-  (test-s->u #("blah" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("blah" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "blah://www.foo.com/")
-  (test-s->u #("blah99" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("blah99" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "blah99://www.foo.com/")
-  (test-s->u #("blah+" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("blah+" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "blah+://www.foo.com/")
-  (test-s->u #("a+b-c456.d" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("a+b-c456.d" #f "www.foo.com" #f #t (#("")) () #f)
              "a+b-c456.d://www.foo.com/")
 
   ;; a colon and other junk (`sub-delims') can appear in usernames
-  (test #("http" "x:!$&'()*+,;=y" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a")) #f #f)
+  (test #("http" "x:!$&'()*+,;=y" "www.drscheme.org" #f #t (#("a")) () #f)
         string->url/vec
         "http://x:!$&'()*+,;=y@www.drscheme.org/a")
   ;; a colon and atsign can appear in absolute paths
-  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #t (#("x:@y") #("z")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #t (#("x:@y") #("z")) () #f)
              "/x:@y/z")
   ;; and in relative paths as long as it's not in the first element
-  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #f (#("x") #("y:@z")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #(#f #f #f #f #f (#("x") #("y:@z")) () #f)
              "x/y:@z")
 
   ;; test bad schemes
@@ -148,38 +148,38 @@
    (string->url "a b://www.foo.com/") =error> url-exception?)
 
   ;; test file: urls
-  (test-s->u #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)
              "file:///abc/def.html")
   (test (url->string (string->url "file:///abc/def.html"))
         => "file:///abc/def.html")
   (parameterize ([file-url-path-convention-type 'unix])
     (test (url->string (string->url "file://a/b"))
           => "file://a/b")
-    (test-s->u #("file" #f "localhost" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)
+    (test-s->u #("file" #f "localhost" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)
                "file://localhost/abc/def.html"))
 
   ;; test files: urls with colons, and the different parsing on Windows
-  (test-s->u #("file" #f "localhost" 123 #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("file" #f "localhost" 123 #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)
              "file://localhost:123/abc/def.html")
   (parameterize ([file-url-path-convention-type 'unix])
     ;; different parse for file://foo:/...
     (test (string->url/vec "file://foo:/abc/def.html")
-          => #("file" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)))
+          => #("file" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)))
   (parameterize ([file-url-path-convention-type 'windows])
     (test (string->url/vec "file://foo:/abc/def.html")
-          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("foo:") #("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)
+          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("foo:") #("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)
           (string->url/vec "file://c:/abc/def.html")
-          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("c:") #("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)
+          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("c:") #("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)
           (string->url/vec "file:\\\\d\\c\\abc\\def.html")
-          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("") #("d") #("c") #("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)))
+          => #("file" #f "" #f #t (#("") #("d") #("c") #("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)))
 
   (parameterize ([file-url-path-convention-type 'unix])
     ;; but no effect on http://foo:/...
     (test (string->url/vec "http://foo:/abc/def.html")
-          => #("http" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)))
+          => #("http" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)))
   (parameterize ([file-url-path-convention-type 'windows])
     (test (string->url/vec "http://foo:/abc/def.html")
-          => #("http" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) #f #f)))
+          => #("http" #f "foo" #f #t (#("abc") #("def.html")) () #f)))
 
   (test (url->string (path->url (bytes->path #"c:\\a\\b" 'windows)))
         => "file:///c:/a/b"
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@
          "HTTP://ROBBY@WWW.DRSCHEME.ORG:80/INDEX.HTML;XXX?T=P#YYY")
         => #("http" "ROBBY" "www.drscheme.org" 80 #t (#("INDEX.HTML" "XXX")) ((T . "P")) "YYY"))
 
-  (test-s->u #("mailto" #f #f #f #f (#("robby@racket-lang.org")) #f #f)
+  (test-s->u #("mailto" #f #f #f #f (#("robby@racket-lang.org")) () #f)
              "mailto:robby@racket-lang.org")
 
   (test (string->url/vec "http://www.drscheme.org?bar=馨慧")
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@
         => #("http" #f "www.drscheme.org" #f #f () ((bár . "é")) #f))
 
   (test-c-u/r "http://www.drscheme.org"
-              (make-url #f #f #f #f #f '() #f #f)
+              (make-url #f #f #f #f #f '() '() #f)
               "http://www.drscheme.org")
 
   (test-c-u/r "http://www.drscheme.org"
@@ -351,11 +351,6 @@
 
      ))
 
-  ;; PR 10497
-  (test
-   (url->string (url #f #f #f #f #f empty empty #f)) => "?"
-   (url->string (url #f #f #f #f #f empty #f #f)) => "")
-
   )
 
 (provide tests)
diff --git a/collects/unstable/net/url.rkt b/collects/unstable/net/url.rkt
index 868dfaabb7..03344fc689 100644
--- a/collects/unstable/net/url.rkt
+++ b/collects/unstable/net/url.rkt
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
      (url-port in-url)
      (url-path-absolute? in-url)
      new-path
-     #f
+     empty
      (url-fragment in-url))))
 ;; Eli: if it also removes the query, this it's a bad name, and it's
 ;;   questionable whether it is general enough.  Why not make it into a
diff --git a/collects/web-server/default-web-root/htdocs/lang-servlets/add01.rkt b/collects/web-server/default-web-root/htdocs/lang-servlets/add01.rkt
index 5dedf88a00..d706449cbd 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/default-web-root/htdocs/lang-servlets/add01.rkt
+++ b/collects/web-server/default-web-root/htdocs/lang-servlets/add01.rkt
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   (let* ([uri (request-uri req)]
          [qry (url-query uri)])
     (cond
-      [(and qry (assoc 'second qry))
+      [(assoc 'second qry)
        => (lambda (a-pair)
             (response/xexpr
              `(html (head (title "Answer Page"))
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
                      (p ,(format "The answer is: ~a"
                                  (+ (string->number (cdr a-pair))
                                     (string->number (cdr (assoc 'first qry))))))))))]
-      [(and qry (assoc 'first qry))
+      [(assoc 'first qry)
        => (lambda (a-pair)
             (response/xexpr
              `(html (head (title "Second Page"))
diff --git a/collects/web-server/dispatch/syntax.rkt b/collects/web-server/dispatch/syntax.rkt
index c40428c27b..35d4e83513 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/dispatch/syntax.rkt
+++ b/collects/web-server/dispatch/syntax.rkt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
                  (list (make-path/param "" empty))
                  (map (lambda (s) (make-path/param s empty))
                       strlist))
-             #f #f)))
+             empty #f)))
 
 (define-syntax (dispatch-case stx)
   (syntax-case stx (else)
diff --git a/collects/web-server/http/request.rkt b/collects/web-server/http/request.rkt
index c5e193b2b2..460fc103bc 100644
--- a/collects/web-server/http/request.rkt
+++ b/collects/web-server/http/request.rkt
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
                                    (make-binding:form (string->bytes/utf-8 (symbol->string k))
                                                       (string->bytes/utf-8 v))
                                    #f)])
-                            (or (url-query uri) empty))))
+                            (url-query uri))))
              #f)]
     [(bytes-ci=? #"POST" meth)
      (local