diff --git a/cmd/helm/init_test.go b/cmd/helm/init_test.go
index 19414478f..fba99e2c6 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init_test.go
@@ -1,12 +1,21 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 func TestEnsureHome(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain")
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "OK")
+	}))
+	defaultRepositoryURL = ts.URL
+
 	home := createTmpHome()
 	helmHome = home
 	if err := ensureHome(); err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo.go b/cmd/helm/repo.go
index eee3b9a71..cce323e1c 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo.go
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ func runRepoAdd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err := addRepository(name, url); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
 	fmt.Println(name + " has been added to your repositories")
 	return nil
 }
@@ -110,8 +111,8 @@ func index(dir, url string) error {
 }
 
 func addRepository(name, url string) error {
-	if err := repo.DownloadIndexFile(name, url, cacheDirectory(name, "-index.yaml")); err != nil {
-		return errors.New("Looks like " + url + " is not a valid chart repository or cannot be reached\n")
+	if err := repo.DownloadIndexFile(name, url, cacheDirectory(name+"-index.yaml")); err != nil {
+		return errors.New("Looks like " + url + " is not a valid chart repository or cannot be reached: " + err.Error())
 	}
 
 	return insertRepoLine(name, url)
diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo_test.go b/cmd/helm/repo_test.go
index 972051108..b65013e10 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/kubernetes/helm/pkg/repo"
@@ -12,13 +18,21 @@ var (
 )
 
 func TestRepoAdd(t *testing.T) {
-	home := createTmpHome()
-	helmHome = home
-	if err := ensureHome(); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("%s", err)
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/plain")
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "OK")
+	}))
+
+	helmHome, _ = ioutil.TempDir("", "helm_home")
+	defer os.Remove(helmHome)
+	os.Mkdir(filepath.Join(helmHome, repositoryDir), 0755)
+	os.Mkdir(cacheDirectory(), 0755)
+
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(repositoriesFile(), []byte("example-repo: http://exampleurl.com"), 0666); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("%#v", err)
 	}
 
-	if err := insertRepoLine(testName, testURL); err != nil {
+	if err := addRepository(testName, ts.URL); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("%s", err)
 	}
 
@@ -31,7 +45,7 @@ func TestRepoAdd(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("%s was not successfully inserted into %s", testName, repositoriesFile())
 	}
 
-	if err := insertRepoLine(testName, testURL); err == nil {
+	if err := insertRepoLine(testName, ts.URL); err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Duplicate repository name was added")
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/repo/index.go b/pkg/repo/index.go
index f61ba57c6..99b764e34 100644
--- a/pkg/repo/index.go
+++ b/pkg/repo/index.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ type ChartRef struct {
 }
 
 // DownloadIndexFile uses
-func DownloadIndexFile(repoName, url, indexFileName string) error {
+func DownloadIndexFile(repoName, url, indexFilePath string) error {
 	var indexURL string
 
 	indexURL = strings.TrimSuffix(url, "/") + "/index.yaml"
@@ -49,11 +49,7 @@ func DownloadIndexFile(repoName, url, indexFileName string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(indexFileName, b, 0644); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return ioutil.WriteFile(indexFilePath, b, 0644)
 }
 
 // UnmarshalYAML unmarshals the index file