diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1bd9972a1..eeb0fa3dc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 ## UNRELEASED - CLI
 
 - fix: Make `modus --version` just print modus CLI's version [#563](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/563)
-- fix: implement retry and caching for CLI downloads [#571](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/571)
+- fix: implement retry and caching for CLI downloads [#571](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/571) [#574](https://github.com/hypermodeinc/modus/pull/574)
 
 ## UNRELEASED - Runtime
 
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/new/index.ts b/cli/src/commands/new/index.ts
index 7a569027a..1e8c1f8be 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/new/index.ts
+++ b/cli/src/commands/new/index.ts
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ export default class NewCommand extends BaseCommand {
         this.logError(`Could not find an installed ${sdkText}.`);
         this.exit(1);
       } else {
-        this.logError(`Could not find a locally installed ${sdkText}. Please connect to the internet and try again.`);
+        this.logError(`Could not find a locally installed ${sdkText}, and you appear to be offline. Please connect to the internet and try again.`);
         this.exit(1);
       }
     }
diff --git a/cli/src/util/http.ts b/cli/src/util/http.ts
index 688bb44d3..c54e115ad 100644
--- a/cli/src/util/http.ts
+++ b/cli/src/util/http.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ import ky from "ky";
 // All outbound HTTP requests in the CLI should be made through functions in this file,
 // to ensure consistent retry and timeout behavior.
 
-export async function get<T>(url: string, timeout: number | false = 10000) {
+export async function get<T>(url: string, timeout: number | false = 5000) {
   return await ky.get<T>(url, {
-    retry: 10, // retry 10 times, up to the default 10s timeout (unless overridden)
+    retry: 4,
     timeout,
   });
 }
diff --git a/cli/src/util/index.ts b/cli/src/util/index.ts
index 3e4dfaeec..0775faccf 100644
--- a/cli/src/util/index.ts
+++ b/cli/src/util/index.ts
@@ -9,14 +9,13 @@
 
 import chalk from "chalk";
 import ora, { Ora } from "ora";
-
+import dns from "node:dns";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { Readable } from "node:stream";
 import { finished } from "node:stream/promises";
 import { createWriteStream } from "node:fs";
 import * as http from "./http.js";
 import * as fs from "./fs.js";
-import * as vi from "./versioninfo.js";
 
 export async function withSpinner<T>(text: string, fn: (spinner: Ora) => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
   // NOTE: Ora comes with "oraPromise", but it doesn't clear the original text on completion.
@@ -60,8 +59,7 @@ export async function isOnline(): Promise<boolean> {
   if (online !== undefined) return online;
 
   try {
-    // we don't need the result here, just checking if the request is successful
-    await vi.fetchModusLatest();
+    await dns.promises.lookup("releases.hypermode.com");
     online = true;
   } catch {
     online = false;