1 files changed, 7 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/lib/chef/application/client.rb b/lib/chef/application/client.rb
index b5ce2decb3..ffb997f187 100644
--- a/lib/chef/application/client.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/application/client.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ require "chef/workstation_config_loader"
 require "chef/mixin/shell_out"
 require "chef-config/mixin/dot_d"
 require "mixlib/archive"
+require "uri"
 
 class Chef::Application::Client < Chef::Application
   include Chef::Mixin::ShellOut
@@ -534,14 +535,17 @@ class Chef::Application::Client < Chef::Application
 
   def fetch_recipe_tarball(url, path)
     Chef::Log.trace("Download recipes tarball from #{url} to #{path}")
-    if File.exist?(url)
-      FileUtils.cp(url, path)
-    else
+    if url =~ URI.regexp
       File.open(path, "wb") do |f|
         open(url) do |r|
           f.write(r.read)
         end
       end
+    elsif File.exist?(url)
+      FileUtils.cp(url, path)
+    else
+      Chef::Application.fatal! "You specified --recipe-url but the value is neither a valid URL nor a path to a file that exists on disk." +
+        "Please confirm the location of the tarball and try again."
     end
   end
 end