diff --git a/scripts/general.sh b/scripts/general.sh
index 1fc6b974d3c7..7fc597b775de 100755
--- a/scripts/general.sh
+++ b/scripts/general.sh
@@ -362,7 +362,12 @@ fetch_from_github_archive()
 	[[ -n $ref_name ]] || return 1
 
 	local base=${upstream_url%.git}
-	local tar_url="${base}/archive/refs/heads/${ref_name}.tar.gz"
+	local gh_path=${base#https://github.com/}
+	local gh_owner=${gh_path%%/*}
+	local gh_repo=${gh_path#*/}
+	gh_repo=${gh_repo%%/*}
+	# Prefer codeload endpoint; it is often more reliable than github.com/archive.
+	local tar_url="https://codeload.github.com/${gh_owner}/${gh_repo}/tar.gz/refs/heads/${ref_name}"
 	local archive_dir="${EXTER}/cache/sources/.github-archives"
 	local tar_path="${archive_dir}/$(basename "${base}")-${ref_name}.tar.gz"
 	local tar_part="${tar_path}.part"