diff --git a/guix/download.scm b/guix/download.scm
index 2cc8a4a5b8ef708e09c8a9671dd7f67ccb46dcb2..0889928d3a592e138530c5c011d2f9aff514e8f1 100644
--- a/guix/download.scm
+++ b/guix/download.scm
@@ -242,7 +242,11 @@ (define need-gnutls?
                                               (guix build utils)
                                               (guix ftp-client))
                                   #:guile-for-build guile-for-build
-                                  #:env-vars env-vars)))
+                                  #:env-vars env-vars
+
+                                  ;; In general, offloading downloads is not a
+                                  ;; good idea.
+                                  #:local-build? #t)))
 
 (define* (download-to-store store url #:optional (name (basename url))
                             #:key (log (current-error-port)))
diff --git a/guix/git-download.scm b/guix/git-download.scm
index 472bf756ced2787cc0ecaebd40010de8c961cb22..5e0a6a21dce68c457bc30bd2f7cd146df86b89e0 100644
--- a/guix/git-download.scm
+++ b/guix/git-download.scm
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ (define git-for-build
                                   #:recursive? #t
                                   #:modules '((guix build git)
                                               (guix build utils))
-                                  #:guile-for-build guile-for-build)))
+                                  #:guile-for-build guile-for-build
+                                  #:local-build? #t)))
 
 ;;; git-download.scm ends here