diff --git a/cmd/helm/repo_add.go b/cmd/helm/repo_add.go
index cd3dc8a62..84912ee78 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/repo_add.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/repo_add.go
@@ -187,10 +187,8 @@ func (o *repoAddOptions) run(out io.Writer) error {
 	// 2. When the config is different require --force-update
 	if !o.forceUpdate && f.Has(o.name) {
 		existing := f.Get(o.name)
-		if c != *existing {
-
-			// The input coming in for the name is different from what is already
-			// configured. Return an error.
+		// Only fail with an error if the configs are different.
+		if c.URLWithTrailingSlash() != existing.URLWithTrailingSlash() {
 			return errors.Errorf("repository name (%s) already exists, please specify a different name", o.name)
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/repo/chartrepo.go b/pkg/repo/chartrepo.go
index 3629bd24b..1abbb28eb 100644
--- a/pkg/repo/chartrepo.go
+++ b/pkg/repo/chartrepo.go
@@ -347,3 +347,9 @@ func (e *Entry) String() string {
 	}
 	return string(buf)
 }
+
+// URLWithTrailingSlash returns the repository URL with a trailing slash.
+// If the URL already ends with a slash, it will be returned unchanged.
+func (e *Entry) URLWithTrailingSlash() string {
+	return strings.TrimSuffix(e.URL, "/") + "/"
+}
diff --git a/pkg/repo/chartrepo_test.go b/pkg/repo/chartrepo_test.go
index e3330b8eb..5523f503e 100644
--- a/pkg/repo/chartrepo_test.go
+++ b/pkg/repo/chartrepo_test.go
@@ -405,3 +405,19 @@ func TestResolveReferenceURL(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestEntry_URLWithTrailingSlash(t *testing.T) {
+	urlWithTrailingSlash := "http://someserver/something/"
+	e := Entry{URL: urlWithTrailingSlash}
+
+	if e.URLWithTrailingSlash() != urlWithTrailingSlash {
+		t.Errorf("Expected unchanged repository URL")
+	}
+
+	urlWithoutTrailingSlash := strings.TrimSuffix(urlWithTrailingSlash, "/")
+	e = Entry{URL: urlWithoutTrailingSlash}
+
+	if e.URLWithTrailingSlash() != urlWithTrailingSlash {
+		t.Errorf("Expected repository URL with trailing slash")
+	}
+}