diff --git a/sbt b/sbt
index 12dee0e5d..680b7088d 100755
--- a/sbt
+++ b/sbt
@@ -139,16 +139,23 @@ jar_url () {
 download_url () {
   local url="$1"
   local jar="$2"
+  local exit_code 
   mkdir -p $(dirname "$jar") && {
     if command -v curl > /dev/null; then
-      curl --silent -L "$url" --output "$jar"
+      curl --fail --silent -L "$url" --output "$jar"
+      exit_code=$?
     elif command -v wget > /dev/null; then
       wget --quiet -O "$jar" "$url"
+      exit_code=$?
     else
       echoerr "failed to download $url: Neither curl nor wget is available"
       exit 2
     fi
-  } && [[ -f "$jar" ]]
+    $(exit "$exit_code") && [[ -f "$jar" ]]
+  } || {
+    echoerr "Error while fetching ${url}"
+    rm -f "$jar"
+  }
 }
 
 acquire_sbt_jar () {
@@ -177,6 +184,7 @@ acquire_sbt_jar () {
         exit 2
       fi
     else
+      echoerr "$(command shasum 2>&1 | grep -o 'shasum:.*') - JAR checksum verification SKIPPED!"
       mv "${download_jar}.temp" "${download_jar}"
     fi
     if [[ -f "$download_jar" ]]; then