diff --git a/bin/xbps-repo/main.c b/bin/xbps-repo/main.c
index 18b96683..be05ce91 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-repo/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-repo/main.c
@@ -147,8 +147,11 @@ add_repository(const char *uri, bool remote)
 
 		printf("Fetching remote package index at %s...\n", uri);
 		rv = xbps_sync_repository_pkg_index(idxstr);
-		if (rv != 0)
+		if (rv != 0) {
+			printf("Couldn't download pkg index: %s\n",
+			    xbps_fetch_error_string());
 			return rv;
+		}
 
 		plist = xbps_get_pkg_index_plist(idxstr);
 	} else {
diff --git a/lib/download.c b/lib/download.c
index 30a7b3fc..1de03008 100644
--- a/lib/download.c
+++ b/lib/download.c
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ xbps_fetch_file(const char *uri, const char *outputdir, bool refetch,
 	printf("url_stat.mtime: %s\n", print_time(&url_st.mtime));
 #endif
 	if (fio == NULL && fetchLastErrCode != FETCH_OK) {
-		if (restart && fetchLastErrCode == FETCH_UNAVAIL) {
+		if (!refetch && restart && fetchLastErrCode == FETCH_UNAVAIL) {
 			/*
 			 * In HTTP when 416 is returned and length==0
 			 * means that local and remote file size match.