diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
index 4b1f6e944a3ab42ce4bbbfa516f79add7f0213de..86bc270c8a2366d1a72caed9d4dae563beacf261 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@ end
 
 def curl(*args)
   curl = Pathname.new ENV["HOMEBREW_CURL"]
+  curl = Pathname.new "/usr/bin/curl" unless curl.exist?
   raise "#{curl} is not executable" unless curl.exist? && curl.executable?
 
   flags = HOMEBREW_CURL_ARGS