diff --git a/deb/remote_test.go b/deb/remote_test.go
index ba55a1dd..7d0f64dc 100644
--- a/deb/remote_test.go
+++ b/deb/remote_test.go
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ func (s *RemoteRepoSuite) TestDownloadFlat(c *C) {
 	err := s.flat.Fetch(downloader, nil)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 
-	err = s.flat.DownloadPackageIndexes(s.progress, downloader, s.collectionFactory, false)
+	err = s.flat.DownloadPackageIndexes(s.progress, downloader, s.collectionFactory, true)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	c.Assert(downloader.Empty(), Equals, true)
 
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ func (s *RemoteRepoSuite) TestDownloadWithSourcesFlat(c *C) {
 	err := s.flat.Fetch(downloader, nil)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 
-	err = s.flat.DownloadPackageIndexes(s.progress, downloader, s.collectionFactory, false)
+	err = s.flat.DownloadPackageIndexes(s.progress, downloader, s.collectionFactory, true)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	c.Assert(downloader.Empty(), Equals, true)
 
diff --git a/http/download.go b/http/download.go
index 3d8e4f32..c2aef32a 100644
--- a/http/download.go
+++ b/http/download.go
@@ -349,5 +349,9 @@ func DownloadTryCompression(downloader aptly.Downloader, url string, expectedChe
 
 		return uncompressed, file, err
 	}
+
+	if err == nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("no candidates for %s found", url)
+	}
 	return nil, nil, err
 }
diff --git a/http/download_test.go b/http/download_test.go
index d5eda5b4..b63fd665 100644
--- a/http/download_test.go
+++ b/http/download_test.go
@@ -257,27 +257,32 @@ func (s *DownloaderSuite) TestDownloadTryCompression(c *C) {
 	d = NewFakeDownloader()
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file.bz2", &HTTPError{Code: 404})
 	d.ExpectResponse("http://example.com/file.gz", "x")
-	r, file, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, false)
+	r, file, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, true)
 	c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, "unexpected EOF")
 	c.Assert(d.Empty(), Equals, true)
 }
 
 func (s *DownloaderSuite) TestDownloadTryCompressionErrors(c *C) {
 	d := NewFakeDownloader()
-	_, _, err := DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, false)
+	_, _, err := DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, true)
 	c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, "unexpected request.*")
 
 	d = NewFakeDownloader()
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file.bz2", &HTTPError{Code: 404})
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file.gz", &HTTPError{Code: 404})
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file", errors.New("403"))
-	_, _, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, false)
+	_, _, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", nil, true)
 	c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, "403")
 
 	d = NewFakeDownloader()
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file.bz2", &HTTPError{Code: 404})
 	d.ExpectError("http://example.com/file.gz", &HTTPError{Code: 404})
 	d.ExpectResponse("http://example.com/file", rawData)
-	_, _, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", map[string]utils.ChecksumInfo{"file": {Size: 7}}, false)
+	expectedChecksums := map[string]utils.ChecksumInfo{
+		"file.bz2": {Size: 7},
+		"file.gz":  {Size: 7},
+		"file":     {Size: 7},
+	}
+	_, _, err = DownloadTryCompression(d, "http://example.com/file", expectedChecksums, false)
 	c.Assert(err, ErrorMatches, "checksums don't match.*")
 }