diff --git a/src/cmd/go/http.go b/src/cmd/go/http.go
index 6de9a3e1e4..107b820f28 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/http.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/http.go
@@ -20,9 +20,13 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 )
 
+// httpClient is the default HTTP client, but a variable so it can be
+// changed by tests, without modifying http.DefaultClient.
+var httpClient = http.DefaultClient
+
 // httpGET returns the data from an HTTP GET request for the given URL.
 func httpGET(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-	resp, err := http.Get(url)
+	resp, err := httpClient.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -37,10 +41,6 @@ func httpGET(url string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return b, nil
 }
 
-// httpClient is the default HTTP client, but a variable so it can be
-// changed by tests, without modifying http.DefaultClient.
-var httpClient = http.DefaultClient
-
 // httpsOrHTTP returns the body of either the importPath's
 // https resource or, if unavailable, the http resource.
 func httpsOrHTTP(importPath string) (urlStr string, body io.ReadCloser, err error) {