diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 697c3ba6c5..d65a1671b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run unittests and generate coverage report
         run: |
           pip install -r requirements/test.txt
-          pytest tests/ --ignore=tests/test_runner --ignore=tests/test_optimizer.py --ignore=tests/test_cnn --ignore=tests/test_parallel.py --ignore=tests/test_ops --ignore=tests/test_load_model_zoo.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_logging.py --ignore=tests/test_image/test_io.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_registry.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_parrots_jit.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_trace.py
+          pytest tests/ --ignore=tests/test_runner --ignore=tests/test_optimizer.py --ignore=tests/test_cnn --ignore=tests/test_parallel.py --ignore=tests/test_ops --ignore=tests/test_load_model_zoo.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_logging.py --ignore=tests/test_image/test_io.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_registry.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_parrots_jit.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_trace.py --ignore=tests/test_utils/test_hub.py
 
   build_without_ops:
     runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
diff --git a/mmcv/runner/checkpoint.py b/mmcv/runner/checkpoint.py
index abb1d193dc..b07f0a6755 100644
--- a/mmcv/runner/checkpoint.py
+++ b/mmcv/runner/checkpoint.py
@@ -15,11 +15,10 @@
 from torch.optim import Optimizer
 
 import mmcv
-from mmcv.utils import load_url
 from ..fileio import FileClient
 from ..fileio import load as load_file
 from ..parallel import is_module_wrapper
-from ..utils import mkdir_or_exist
+from ..utils import load_url, mkdir_or_exist
 from .dist_utils import get_dist_info
 
 ENV_MMCV_HOME = 'MMCV_HOME'
diff --git a/mmcv/utils/hub.py b/mmcv/utils/hub.py
index 839d4e6e66..f2ec13e1af 100644
--- a/mmcv/utils/hub.py
+++ b/mmcv/utils/hub.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 # The 1.6 release of PyTorch switched torch.save to use a new zipfile-based
-# file format. It will cause RuntimeError when a checkpoint was saved in high
-# version (PyTorch version>=1.6.0) but loaded in low version torch < 1.6.0.
-# More details at# https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmpose/issues/904
-from .parrots_wrapper import TORCH_VERSION, digit_version
+# file format. It will cause RuntimeError when a checkpoint was saved in
+# torch >= 1.6.0 but loaded in torch < 1.7.0.
+# More details at https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmpose/issues/904
+from .parrots_wrapper import TORCH_VERSION
 from .path import mkdir_or_exist
+from .version_utils import digit_version
 
 if TORCH_VERSION != 'parrots' and digit_version(TORCH_VERSION) < digit_version(
-        '1.6.0'):
+        '1.7.0'):
     # Modified from https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/blob/master/torch/hub.py
     import os
     import torch
diff --git a/tests/test_load_model_zoo.py b/tests/test_load_model_zoo.py
index ada0bc78f6..c230bfa62e 100644
--- a/tests/test_load_model_zoo.py
+++ b/tests/test_load_model_zoo.py
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ def load(filepath, map_location=None):
 
 @patch('mmcv.__path__', [osp.join(osp.dirname(__file__), 'data/')])
 @patch('mmcv.runner.checkpoint.load_from_http', load_from_http)
+@patch('mmcv.runner.checkpoint.load_url', load_url)
 @patch('torch.load', load)
-@patch('torch.utils.model_zoo.load_url', load_url)
 def test_load_external_url():
     # test modelzoo://
     url = _load_checkpoint('modelzoo://resnet50')
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def test_load_external_url():
     os.environ[ENV_MMCV_HOME] = mmcv_home
     url = _load_checkpoint('open-mmlab://train')
     assert url == 'url:https://localhost/train.pth'
-    with pytest.raises(IOError, match='train.pth is not a checkpoint ' 'file'):
+    with pytest.raises(IOError, match='train.pth is not a checkpoint file'):
         _load_checkpoint('open-mmlab://train_empty')
     url = _load_checkpoint('open-mmlab://test')
     assert url == f'local:{osp.join(_get_mmcv_home(), "test.pth")}'
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def test_load_external_url():
     assert url == 'url:http://localhost/train.pth'
 
     # test local file
-    with pytest.raises(IOError, match='train.pth is not a checkpoint ' 'file'):
+    with pytest.raises(IOError, match='train.pth is not a checkpoint file'):
         _load_checkpoint('train.pth')
     url = _load_checkpoint(osp.join(_get_mmcv_home(), 'test.pth'))
     assert url == f'local:{osp.join(_get_mmcv_home(), "test.pth")}'
diff --git a/tests/test_utils/test_hub.py b/tests/test_utils/test_hub.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cc3d700360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utils/test_hub.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import pytest
+from torch.utils import model_zoo
+
+from mmcv.utils import TORCH_VERSION, digit_version, load_url
+
+
+def test_load_url():
+    url1 = 'https://download.openmmlab.com/mmcv/test_data/saved_in_pt1.5.pth'
+    url2 = 'https://download.openmmlab.com/mmcv/test_data/saved_in_pt1.6.pth'
+
+    # The 1.6 release of PyTorch switched torch.save to use a new zipfile-based
+    # file format. It will cause RuntimeError when a checkpoint was saved in
+    # torch >= 1.6.0 but loaded in torch < 1.7.0.
+    # More details at https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmpose/issues/904
+    if digit_version(TORCH_VERSION) < digit_version('1.7.0'):
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
+            model_zoo.load_url(url2)
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError):
+            model_zoo.load_url(url1)
+    else:
+        # high version of PyTorch can load checkpoints from url, regardless
+        # of which version they were saved in
+        model_zoo.load_url(url1)
+        model_zoo.load_url(url2)
+
+    # load_url works well for all versions of PyTorch
+    load_url(url1)
+    load_url(url2)