diff --git a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/http/HttpBindingGenerator.kt b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/http/HttpBindingGenerator.kt
index d4aa4b707c..5c69047fa5 100644
--- a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/http/HttpBindingGenerator.kt
+++ b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/http/HttpBindingGenerator.kt
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ class HttpBindingGenerator(
         rustTemplate(
             """
             // Empty vecs in headers are serialized as the empty string
-            if ${context.valueExpression.asRef()}.is_empty() {
+            if ${context.valueExpression.name}.is_empty() {
                 builder = builder.header("$headerName", "");
             }""",
         )