diff --git a/lib/version.js b/lib/version.js
index c1047fbb..a078374a 100644
--- a/lib/version.js
+++ b/lib/version.js
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 'use strict'
 
-var exec = require('child_process').exec
+var request = require('request')
 
 var efh = require('./error').efh
 
 module.exports = function (pkg, cb) {
   if (!pkg.name) return cb(new Error('Package must have a name'))
 
-  exec('curl -s "' + process.env.npm_config_registry + pkg.name + '"', efh(cb)(function(stdout) {
-    var pkg = JSON.parse(stdout)
+  request(process.env.npm_config_registry + pkg.name, efh(cb)(function (response, body) {
+    var pkg = JSON.parse(body)
 
-    if (pkg.error) return cb(null, null, true)
+    if (response.statusCode === 404 || pkg.error) return cb(null, null, true)
 
     cb(null, pkg['dist-tags'].latest)
   }))
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 639efa7a..1a390e0c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@
     "github-url-from-git": "^1.4.0",
     "minimist": "^1.1.0",
     "parse-github-repo-url": "^1.0.0",
+    "request": "^2.53.0",
     "semver": "^4.2.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "github-release-fake-server": "^1.1.1",
+    "github-release-fake-server": "^1.2.0",
     "lodash.defaults": "^3.0.0",
     "nano-uid": "^0.2.0",
     "nixt": "^0.4.1",