diff --git a/tools/xen/README.md b/tools/xen/README.md
index 06192ed2b7..ee1abcc091 100644
--- a/tools/xen/README.md
+++ b/tools/xen/README.md
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ the `XENAPI_PASSWORD` must be your dom0 root password.
 Of course, use real passwords if this machine is exposed.
 
     cat > ./localrc <<EOF
+    # At the moment, we depend on github's snapshot function.
+    GIT_BASE="http://github.com"
+
     # Passwords
     # NOTE: these need to be specified, otherwise devstack will try
     # to prompt for these passwords, blocking the install process.
diff --git a/tools/xen/functions b/tools/xen/functions
index 563303da21..97c56bc1af 100644
--- a/tools/xen/functions
+++ b/tools/xen/functions
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+function die_with_error {
+    local err_msg
+
+    err_msg="$1"
+
+    echo "$err_msg" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
 function xapi_plugin_location {
     for PLUGIN_DIR in "/etc/xapi.d/plugins/" "/usr/lib/xcp/plugins/" "/usr/lib/xapi/plugins"; do
         if [ -d $PLUGIN_DIR ]; then
@@ -11,7 +20,7 @@ function xapi_plugin_location {
 }
 
 function zip_snapshot_location {
-    echo $1 | sed "s:\.git$::;s:$:/zipball/$2:g"
+    echo $1 | sed "s,^git://,http://,g;s:\.git$::;s:$:/zipball/$2:g"
 }
 
 function create_directory_for_kernels {
@@ -41,7 +50,9 @@ function extract_remote_zipball {
     local EXTRACTED_FILES=$(mktemp -d)
 
     {
-        wget -nv $ZIPBALL_URL -O $LOCAL_ZIPBALL --no-check-certificate
+        if ! wget -nv $ZIPBALL_URL -O $LOCAL_ZIPBALL --no-check-certificate; then
+            die_with_error "Failed to download [$ZIPBALL_URL]"
+        fi
         unzip -q -o $LOCAL_ZIPBALL -d $EXTRACTED_FILES
         rm -f $LOCAL_ZIPBALL
     } >&2
diff --git a/tools/xen/mocks b/tools/xen/mocks
index ec8679e816..3b9b05c747 100644
--- a/tools/xen/mocks
+++ b/tools/xen/mocks
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function mktemp {
 
 function wget {
     if [[ $@ =~ "failurl" ]]; then
-        exit 1
+        return 1
     fi
     echo "wget $@" >> $LIST_OF_ACTIONS
 }
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ function [ {
     exit 1
 }
 
+function die_with_error {
+    echo "$1" >> $DEAD_MESSAGES
+}
+
 function xe {
     cat $XE_RESPONSE
     {
diff --git a/tools/xen/test_functions.sh b/tools/xen/test_functions.sh
index 14551868e1..373d996760 100755
--- a/tools/xen/test_functions.sh
+++ b/tools/xen/test_functions.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ function before_each_test {
 
     XE_CALLS=$(mktemp)
     truncate -s 0 $XE_CALLS
+
+    DEAD_MESSAGES=$(mktemp)
+    truncate -s 0 $DEAD_MESSAGES
 }
 
 # Teardown
@@ -64,6 +67,10 @@ function assert_xe_param {
     grep -qe "^$1\$" $XE_CALLS
 }
 
+function assert_died_with {
+    diff -u <(echo "$1") $DEAD_MESSAGES
+}
+
 function mock_out {
     local FNNAME="$1"
     local OUTPUT="$2"
@@ -109,10 +116,16 @@ function test_no_plugin_directory_found {
     grep "[ -d /usr/lib/xcp/plugins/ ]" $LIST_OF_ACTIONS
 }
 
-function test_zip_snapshot_location {
+function test_zip_snapshot_location_http {
     diff \
-    <(zip_snapshot_location "git://git.openstack.org/openstack/nova.git" "master") \
-    <(echo "git://git.openstack.org/openstack/nova/zipball/master")
+    <(zip_snapshot_location "http://github.com/openstack/nova.git" "master") \
+    <(echo "http://github.com/openstack/nova/zipball/master")
+}
+
+function test_zip_snapsot_location_git {
+    diff \
+    <(zip_snapshot_location "git://github.com/openstack/nova.git" "master") \
+    <(echo "http://github.com/openstack/nova/zipball/master")
 }
 
 function test_create_directory_for_kernels {
@@ -179,7 +192,7 @@ function test_extract_remote_zipball_wget_fail {
     local IGNORE
     IGNORE=$(. mocks && extract_remote_zipball "failurl")
 
-    assert_previous_command_failed
+    assert_died_with "Failed to download [failurl]"
 }
 
 function test_find_nova_plugins {