diff --git a/kfg b/kfg
index af54b26..b38ce6b 100644
--- a/kfg
+++ b/kfg
@@ -211,8 +211,8 @@ function download {
   fi
 
   case "${_dld}" in
-    curl) _result="$(curl $_args "${_url}")" || err "curl: failed to download ${_url}" ;;
-    wget) _result="$(wget $_args "${_url}")" || err "wget: failed to download ${_url}" ;;
+    curl) _result="$(curl "$_args" "${_url}")" || "$(sudo curl "$_args" "${_url}")" || err "curl: failed to download ${_url}" ;;
+    wget) _result="$(wget "$_args" "${_url}")" || "$(sudo wget "$_args" "${_url}")" || err "wget: failed to download ${_url}" ;;
     *) err "unsupported downloader: ${_dld}" ;;
   esac