diff --git a/src/rebar.hrl b/src/rebar.hrl
index dfb56df2..edc82162 100644
--- a/src/rebar.hrl
+++ b/src/rebar.hrl
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 -define(DEFAULT_RELEASE_DIR, "rel").
 -define(CONFIG_VERSION, "1.2.0").
 -define(SUPPORTED_CONFIG_VERSIONS, ["1.1.0", "1.2.0"]). % older were untagged
--define(DEFAULT_CDN, "https://repo.hex.pm/").
+-define(DEFAULT_CDN, "https://repo.hex.pm").
 -define(REMOTE_PACKAGE_DIR, "tarballs").
 -define(LOCK_FILE, "rebar.lock").
 -define(DEFAULT_COMPILER_SOURCE_FORMAT, relative).
diff --git a/src/rebar3.erl b/src/rebar3.erl
index 91123460..1e02ae0e 100644
--- a/src/rebar3.erl
+++ b/src/rebar3.erl
@@ -131,13 +131,12 @@ run_aux(State, RawArgs) ->
     rebar_utils:check_min_otp_version(rebar_state:get(State1, minimum_otp_vsn, undefined)),
     rebar_utils:check_blacklisted_otp_versions(rebar_state:get(State1, blacklisted_otp_vsns, undefined)),
 
-    %% Change the default hex CDN
-    State2 = case os:getenv("HEX_CDN") of
-                 false ->
-                     State1;
-                 CDN ->
-                     rebar_state:set(State1, rebar_packages_cdn, CDN)
+    %% Maybe change the default hex CDN
+    HexCDN = case os:getenv("HEX_CDN") of
+                 false -> ?DEFAULT_CDN;
+                 CDN -> CDN
              end,
+    State2 = rebar_state:set(State1, rebar_packages_cdn, HexCDN),
 
     Compilers = application:get_env(rebar, compilers, []),
     State0 = rebar_state:compilers(State2, Compilers),
diff --git a/src/rebar_pkg_resource.erl b/src/rebar_pkg_resource.erl
index 54688424..c81df706 100644
--- a/src/rebar_pkg_resource.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_pkg_resource.erl
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ download(TmpDir, Pkg={pkg, Name, Vsn, _OldHash, _Hash, Repo}, State, _ResourceSt
     ETagFile = binary_to_list(<<Name/binary, "-", Vsn/binary, ".etag">>),
     CachePath = filename:join(PackageDir, Package),
     ETagPath = filename:join(PackageDir, ETagFile),
-    case cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg, etag(CachePath, ETagPath), ETagPath, UpdateETag) of
+    case cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg, State, etag(CachePath, ETagPath), ETagPath, UpdateETag) of
         {bad_registry_checksum, Expected, Found} ->
             %% checksum comparison failed. in case this is from a modified cached package
             %% overwrite the etag if it exists so it is not relied on again
@@ -206,17 +206,19 @@ store_etag_in_cache(Path, ETag) ->
 %%%=============================================================================
 %%% Private functions
 %%%=============================================================================
--spec cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg, ETag, ETagPath, UpdateETag) -> Res when
+-spec cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg, State, ETag, ETagPath, UpdateETag) -> Res when
       TmpDir :: file:name(),
       CachePath :: file:name(),
       Pkg :: package(),
+      State :: rebar_state:t(),
       ETag :: binary(),
       ETagPath :: file:name(),
       UpdateETag :: boolean(),
       Res :: ok | {unexpected_hash, integer(), integer()} | {fetch_fail, binary(), binary()}.
-cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg={pkg, Name, Vsn, _OldHash, _Hash, RepoConfig}, ETag,
+cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg={pkg, Name, Vsn, _OldHash, _Hash, RepoConfig}, State, ETag,
                 ETagPath, UpdateETag) ->
-    case request(RepoConfig, Name, Vsn, ETag) of
+    CDN = maybe_default_cdn(State),
+    case request(RepoConfig#{repo_url => CDN}, Name, Vsn, ETag) of
         {ok, cached} ->
             ?INFO("Version cached at ~ts is up to date, reusing it", [CachePath]),
             serve_from_cache(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg);
@@ -232,6 +234,10 @@ cached_download(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg={pkg, Name, Vsn, _OldHash, _Hash, RepoCon
             {fetch_fail, Name, Vsn}
     end.
 
+maybe_default_cdn(State) ->
+    CDN = rebar_state:get(State, rebar_packages_cdn, ?DEFAULT_CDN),
+	rebar_utils:to_binary(CDN).
+
 -spec serve_from_cache(TmpDir, CachePath, Pkg) -> Res when
       TmpDir :: file:name(),
       CachePath :: file:name(),