diff --git a/lib/sensu/transport/base.rb b/lib/sensu/transport/base.rb
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/lib/sensu/transport/base.rb
+++ b/lib/sensu/transport/base.rb
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ module Sensu
       # @param options [Hash, String]
       # @return [Transport] the transport object.
       def self.connect(options={})
-        options ||= Hash.new
+        options ||= {}
         transport = self.new
         transport.connect(options)
         transport
use {} instead of Hash.new, consistency