diff --git a/src/Artifacts.jl b/src/Artifacts.jl
index cc203e9b94..3b79d94b90 100644
--- a/src/Artifacts.jl
+++ b/src/Artifacts.jl
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import ..GitTools
 using ..BinaryPlatforms
 import ..TOML
 import ..Types: parse_toml, write_env_usage
+import ...Pkg: pkg_server
 using ..PlatformEngines
 using SHA
 
@@ -667,8 +668,12 @@ end
 
 Download/install an artifact into the artifact store.  Returns `true` on success.
 """
-function download_artifact(tree_hash::SHA1, tarball_url::String, tarball_hash::String;
-                           verbose::Bool = false)
+function download_artifact(
+    tree_hash::SHA1,
+    tarball_url::String,
+    tarball_hash::Union{String, Nothing} = nothing;
+    verbose::Bool = false,
+)
     if artifact_exists(tree_hash)
         return true
     end
@@ -791,6 +796,15 @@ function ensure_artifact_installed(name::String, meta::Dict, artifacts_toml::Str
     hash = SHA1(meta["git-tree-sha1"])
 
     if !artifact_exists(hash)
+        # first try downloading from Pkg server
+        # TODO: only do this if Pkg server knows about this package
+        if (server = pkg_server()) !== nothing
+            url = "$server/artifact/$hash"
+            if download_artifact(hash, url)
+                return artifact_path(hash)
+            end
+        end
+
         # If this artifact does not exist on-disk already, ensure it has download
         # information, then download it!
         if !haskey(meta, "download")
diff --git a/src/Operations.jl b/src/Operations.jl
index bb33aa8c2d..83467119f0 100644
--- a/src/Operations.jl
+++ b/src/Operations.jl
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ using ..Types, ..Resolve, ..PlatformEngines, ..GitTools, ..Display
 import ..depots, ..depots1, ..devdir, ..set_readonly, ..Types.uuid_julia, ..Types.PackageEntry
 import ..Artifacts: ensure_all_artifacts_installed, artifact_names
 using ..BinaryPlatforms
-import ..Pkg
-
+import ...Pkg
+import ...Pkg: pkg_server
 
 #########
 # Utils #
@@ -451,11 +451,6 @@ end
 # Package installation #
 ########################
 
-function pkg_server()
-    server = get(ENV, "JULIA_PKG_SERVER", "127.0.0.1")
-    return isempty(server) ? nothing : "http://$server:8000"
-end
-
 function get_archive_url_for_version(url::String, ref)
     if (m = match(r"https://github.com/(.*?)/(.*?).git", url)) != nothing
         return "https://api.github.com/repos/$(m.captures[1])/$(m.captures[2])/tarball/$(ref)"
diff --git a/src/Pkg.jl b/src/Pkg.jl
index ebd0df5e14..765895f536 100644
--- a/src/Pkg.jl
+++ b/src/Pkg.jl
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ function depots1()
     return d[1]
 end
 
+function pkg_server()
+    server = get(ENV, "JULIA_PKG_SERVER", "127.0.0.1")
+    return isempty(server) ? nothing : "http://$server:8000"
+end
+
 logdir(depot = depots1()) = joinpath(depot, "logs")
 devdir(depot = depots1()) = get(ENV, "JULIA_PKG_DEVDIR", joinpath(depots1(), "dev"))
 envdir(depot = depots1()) = joinpath(depot, "environments")
diff --git a/src/PlatformEngines.jl b/src/PlatformEngines.jl
index 46c8528717..20b08c73e3 100644
--- a/src/PlatformEngines.jl
+++ b/src/PlatformEngines.jl
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ function download(url::AbstractString, dest::AbstractString;
 end
 
 """
-    download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
+    download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::Union{AbstractString, Nothing},
                     dest::AbstractString; verbose::Bool = false,
                     force::Bool = false, quiet_download::Bool = false)
 
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ set to `false`) the downloading process will be completely silent.  If
 `verbose` is set to `true`, messages about integrity verification will be
 printed in addition to messages regarding downloading.
 """
-function download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
+function download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::Union{AbstractString, Nothing},
                          dest::AbstractString; verbose::Bool = false,
                          force::Bool = false, quiet_download::Bool = true)
     # Whether the file existed in the first place
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@ function download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
 
         # verify download, if it passes, return happy.  If it fails, (and
         # `force` is `true`, re-download!)
-        if verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
+        if hash !== nothing && verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
             return true
         elseif !force
             error("Verification failed, not overwriting $(dest)")
@@ -635,7 +635,7 @@ function download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
 
     # Download the file, optionally continuing
     download(url, dest; verbose=verbose || !quiet_download)
-    if !verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
+    if hash !== nothing && !verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
         # If the file already existed, it's possible the initially downloaded chunk
         # was bad.  If verification fails after downloading, auto-delete the file
         # and start over from scratch.
@@ -647,7 +647,7 @@ function download_verify(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
 
             # Download and verify from scratch
             download(url, dest; verbose=verbose || !quiet_download)
-            if !verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
+            if hash !== nothing && !verify(dest, hash; verbose=verbose)
                 error("Verification failed")
             end
         else
@@ -785,7 +785,7 @@ function package(src_dir::AbstractString, tarball_path::AbstractString)
 end
 
 """
-    download_verify_unpack(url::AbstractString, hash::AbstractString,
+    download_verify_unpack(url::AbstractString, hash::Union{AbstractString, Nothing},
                            dest::AbstractString; tarball_path = nothing,
                            verbose::Bool = false, ignore_existence::Bool = false,
                            force::Bool = false)
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ Returns `true` if a tarball was actually unpacked, `false` if nothing was
 changed in the destination prefix.
 """
 function download_verify_unpack(url::AbstractString,
-                                hash::AbstractString,
+                                hash::Union{AbstractString, Nothing},
                                 dest::AbstractString;
                                 tarball_path = nothing,
                                 ignore_existence::Bool = false,