diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 4814217c64..51253e15a1 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -815,7 +815,21 @@ static int http_request(const char *url, void *result, int target, int options)
 			ret = HTTP_OK;
 		else if (missing_target(&results))
 			ret = HTTP_MISSING_TARGET;
-		else
+		else if (results.http_code == 401) {
+			if (user_name) {
+				ret = HTTP_NOAUTH;
+			} else {
+				/*
+				 * git_getpass is needed here because its very likely stdin/stdout are
+				 * pipes to our parent process.  So we instead need to use /dev/tty,
+				 * but that is non-portable.  Using git_getpass() can at least be stubbed
+				 * on other platforms with a different implementation if/when necessary.
+				 */
+				user_name = xstrdup(git_getpass("Username: "));
+				init_curl_http_auth(slot->curl);
+				ret = HTTP_REAUTH;
+			}
+		} else
 			ret = HTTP_ERROR;
 	} else {
 		error("Unable to start HTTP request for %s", url);
@@ -831,7 +845,11 @@ static int http_request(const char *url, void *result, int target, int options)
 
 int http_get_strbuf(const char *url, struct strbuf *result, int options)
 {
-	return http_request(url, result, HTTP_REQUEST_STRBUF, options);
+	int http_ret = http_request(url, result, HTTP_REQUEST_STRBUF, options);
+	if (http_ret == HTTP_REAUTH) {
+		http_ret = http_request(url, result, HTTP_REQUEST_STRBUF, options);
+	}
+	return http_ret;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/http.h b/http.h
index 5c9441c10c..2dd03e88b7 100644
--- a/http.h
+++ b/http.h
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ extern char *get_remote_object_url(const char *url, const char *hex,
 #define HTTP_MISSING_TARGET	1
 #define HTTP_ERROR		2
 #define HTTP_START_FAILED	3
+#define HTTP_REAUTH	4
+#define HTTP_NOAUTH	5
 
 /*
  * Requests an url and stores the result in a strbuf.
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index b76bfcb3d3..07827562b5 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ static struct discovery* discover_refs(const char *service)
 	case HTTP_MISSING_TARGET:
 		die("%s not found: did you run git update-server-info on the"
 		    " server?", refs_url);
+	case HTTP_NOAUTH:
+		die("Authentication failed");
 	default:
 		http_error(refs_url, http_ret);
 		die("HTTP request failed");