diff --git a/src/handle.c b/src/handle.c
index 5746fdfe..361a0f61 100644
--- a/src/handle.c
+++ b/src/handle.c
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ SEXP R_handle_setopt(SEXP ptr, SEXP keys, SEXP values){
         error("Value for option %s (%d) must be a number.", optname, key);
       }
       assert(curl_easy_setopt(handle, key, (curl_off_t) asReal(val)));
-    } else if(r_curl_is_string_option(key) || r_curl_is_postfields_option(key)){
+    } else if(r_curl_is_postfields_option(key) || r_curl_is_string_option(key)){
       switch (TYPEOF(val)) {
       case RAWSXP:
         if(key == CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS || key == CURLOPT_COPYPOSTFIELDS)
diff --git a/src/typechecking.c b/src/typechecking.c
index d1b55b14..648a5536 100644
--- a/src/typechecking.c
+++ b/src/typechecking.c
@@ -30,8 +30,12 @@ int r_curl_is_off_t_option(CURLoption x){
   return _curl_is_off_t_option(x);
 }
 
+/* workaround old curl bug: if an option is neither classified as string
+ * stringlist, we assume string: /~https://github.com/jeroen/curl/issues/192
+ */
 int r_curl_is_string_option(CURLoption x){
-  return _curl_is_string_option(x);
+  return _curl_is_string_option(x)  ||
+    (x > 10000 && x < 20000 && !r_curl_is_slist_option(x));
 }
 
 int r_curl_is_postfields_option(CURLoption x){