diff --git a/libcurl_http_fetcher.cc b/libcurl_http_fetcher.cc
index c6293b1..170abfa 100644
--- a/libcurl_http_fetcher.cc
+++ b/libcurl_http_fetcher.cc
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 namespace {
 const int kMaxRetriesCount = 20;
+const int kNoNetworkRetrySeconds = 30;
 const char kCACertificatesPath[] = "/usr/share/chromeos-ca-certificates";
 }  // namespace {}
 
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@
   transfer_size_ = -1;
   resume_offset_ = 0;
   retry_count_ = 0;
+  no_network_retry_count_ = 0;
   http_response_code_ = 0;
   ResolveProxiesForUrl(url);
   ResumeTransfer(url);
@@ -192,6 +194,7 @@
     GetHttpResponseCode();
     if (http_response_code_) {
       LOG(INFO) << "HTTP response code: " << http_response_code_;
+      no_network_retry_count_ = 0;
     } else {
       LOG(ERROR) << "Unable to get http response code.";
     }
@@ -199,6 +202,21 @@
     // we're done!
     CleanUp();
 
+    // TODO(petkov): This temporary code tries to deal with the case where the
+    // update engine performs an update check while the network is not ready
+    // (e.g., right after resume). Longer term, we should check if the network
+    // is online/offline and return an appropriate error code.
+    if (!sent_byte_ &&
+        http_response_code_ == 0 &&
+        no_network_retry_count_ < no_network_max_retries_) {
+      no_network_retry_count_++;
+      g_timeout_add_seconds(kNoNetworkRetrySeconds,
+                            &LibcurlHttpFetcher::StaticRetryTimeoutCallback,
+                            this);
+      LOG(INFO) << "No HTTP response, retry " << no_network_retry_count_;
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (!sent_byte_ &&
         (http_response_code_ < 200 || http_response_code_ >= 300)) {
       // The transfer completed w/ error and we didn't get any bytes.
diff --git a/libcurl_http_fetcher.h b/libcurl_http_fetcher.h
index c41804e..c5f784b 100644
--- a/libcurl_http_fetcher.h
+++ b/libcurl_http_fetcher.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
         resume_offset_(0),
         retry_count_(0),
         retry_seconds_(60),
+        no_network_retry_count_(0),
+        no_network_max_retries_(0),
         idle_seconds_(1),
         force_connection_type_(false),
         forced_expensive_connection_(false),
@@ -74,6 +76,10 @@
   // Sets the retry timeout. Useful for testing.
   void set_retry_seconds(int seconds) { retry_seconds_ = seconds; }
 
+  void set_no_network_max_retries(int retries) {
+    no_network_max_retries_ = retries;
+  }
+
   void SetConnectionAsExpensive(bool is_expensive) {
     force_connection_type_ = true;
     forced_expensive_connection_ = is_expensive;
@@ -185,6 +191,10 @@
   // Seconds to wait before retrying a resume.
   int retry_seconds_;
 
+  // Number of resumes due to no network (e.g., HTTP response code 0).
+  int no_network_retry_count_;
+  int no_network_max_retries_;
+
   // Seconds to wait before asking libcurl to "perform".
   int idle_seconds_;
 
@@ -200,7 +210,7 @@
 
   // If true, we are currently performing a write callback on the delegate.
   bool in_write_callback_;
-  
+
   // If true, we have returned at least one byte in the write callback
   // to the delegate.
   bool sent_byte_;
diff --git a/update_attempter.cc b/update_attempter.cc
index 4e7d7bf..7c958cb 100644
--- a/update_attempter.cc
+++ b/update_attempter.cc
@@ -162,11 +162,18 @@
   processor_->set_delegate(this);
 
   // Actions:
+  LibcurlHttpFetcher* update_check_fetcher =
+      new LibcurlHttpFetcher(GetProxyResolver());
+  // If this is an automatic check, try harder to connect to the network. See
+  // comment in libcurl_http_fetcher.cc.
+  if (!obey_proxies) {
+    update_check_fetcher->set_no_network_max_retries(3);
+  }
   shared_ptr<OmahaRequestAction> update_check_action(
       new OmahaRequestAction(prefs_,
                              omaha_request_params_,
                              NULL,
-                             new LibcurlHttpFetcher(GetProxyResolver())));
+                             update_check_fetcher));  // passes ownership
   shared_ptr<OmahaResponseHandlerAction> response_handler_action(
       new OmahaResponseHandlerAction(prefs_));
   shared_ptr<FilesystemCopierAction> filesystem_copier_action(