diff --git a/core/install.sh b/core/install.sh
index 8e4b8c6f7..12797066c 100755
--- a/core/install.sh
+++ b/core/install.sh
@@ -35,11 +35,21 @@ aarch64)
     ;;
 esac
 
-# Get the latest release version
-LATEST_VERSION=$(curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+REPO_URL="https://github.com/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell"
+
+# The web redirect has no per-ip quota; api.github.com allows 60 unauthenticated requests per hour per ip
+LATEST_VERSION=$(curl -sI "$REPO_URL/releases/latest" | tr -d '\r' | awk 'tolower($1) == "location:" { sub(".*/releases/tag/", "", $2); print $2 }')
+
+if [ -z "$LATEST_VERSION" ]; then
+    API_RESPONSE=$(curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/latest)
+    LATEST_VERSION=$(printf "%s" "$API_RESPONSE" | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+fi
 
 if [ -z "$LATEST_VERSION" ]; then
     printf "%bError: Could not fetch latest version%b\n" "$RED" "$NC"
+    if printf "%s" "$API_RESPONSE" | grep -q "rate limit"; then
+        printf "GitHub API rate limit reached for your IP address (60 requests per hour). Wait an hour or install from a different network.\n"
+    fi
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -52,7 +62,7 @@ cd "$TEMP_DIR" || exit 1
 
 # Download the gzipped binary and its checksum
 printf "%bDownloading installer...%b\n" "$GREEN" "$NC"
-RELEASE_URL="https://github.com/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/download/$LATEST_VERSION"
+RELEASE_URL="$REPO_URL/releases/download/$LATEST_VERSION"
 # install.duxlabs.dev serves this file from master; releases before 2.0.1 only ship dankinstall-*.gz
 ASSET="duxinstall-$ARCH.gz"
 if ! curl -fsLI "$RELEASE_URL/$ASSET" >/dev/null; then
diff --git a/core/internal/netfetch/release.go b/core/internal/netfetch/release.go
index f36e4c415..6693e821c 100644
--- a/core/internal/netfetch/release.go
+++ b/core/internal/netfetch/release.go
@@ -3,14 +3,72 @@ package netfetch
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"path"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
 
-const latestReleaseURL = "https://api.github.com/repos/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/latest"
+const (
+	latestReleaseRedirectURL = "https://github.com/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/latest"
+	latestReleaseAPIURL      = "https://api.github.com/repos/duxlabs-dev/dux-shell/releases/latest"
+	releaseLookupTimeout     = 10 * time.Second
+)
+
+var ErrGitHubRateLimited = errors.New("github api rate limit exceeded (60 unauthenticated requests per hour per ip)")
 
 func LatestReleaseTag(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
-	body, err := Bytes(ctx, latestReleaseURL, Options{Timeout: 10 * time.Second})
+	tag, redirectErr := latestTagFromRedirect(ctx, latestReleaseRedirectURL)
+	if redirectErr == nil {
+		return tag, nil
+	}
+
+	tag, apiErr := latestTagFromAPI(ctx, latestReleaseAPIURL)
+	if apiErr == nil {
+		return tag, nil
+	}
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("release redirect: %w; release api: %w", redirectErr, apiErr)
+}
+
+func latestTagFromRedirect(ctx context.Context, url string) (string, error) {
+	opts := Options{
+		Timeout: releaseLookupTimeout,
+		CheckRedirect: func(*http.Request, []*http.Request) error {
+			return http.ErrUseLastResponse
+		},
+	}
+	req, err := opts.request(ctx, url)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	req.Method = http.MethodHead
+
+	resp, err := opts.client().Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode < 300 || resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
+		return "", &StatusError{Code: resp.StatusCode}
+	}
+
+	location := resp.Header.Get("Location")
+	tag := path.Base(location)
+	if tag == "" || tag == "." || tag == "/" || !strings.Contains(location, "/releases/tag/") {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unexpected release redirect: %q", location)
+	}
+	return tag, nil
+}
+
+func latestTagFromAPI(ctx context.Context, url string) (string, error) {
+	body, err := Bytes(ctx, url, Options{Timeout: releaseLookupTimeout})
+	var status *StatusError
+	if errors.As(err, &status) && (status.Code == http.StatusForbidden || status.Code == http.StatusTooManyRequests) {
+		return "", ErrGitHubRateLimited
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}