diff --git a/src/new/orig.rs b/src/new/orig.rs
index 5e61cf0..4d250dd 100644
--- a/src/new/orig.rs
+++ b/src/new/orig.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 //! independently of the upstream sources.
 
 use std::ffi::OsString;
-use std::io::{Read, Write};
+use std::io::Read;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
 use std::time::Duration;
@@ -225,39 +225,60 @@ fn git_archive_tarball(
         .into());
     }
 
-    let file = std::fs::File::create(&dest)?;
-    let mut encoder = XzEncoder::new(file, 6);
-    let mut child = Command::new("git")
-        .args([
-            "archive",
-            "--format=tar",
-            &format!("--prefix={name}-{upstream_version}/"),
-            tag,
-        ])
-        .current_dir(repo)
-        .stdout(Stdio::piped())
-        .stderr(Stdio::piped())
-        .spawn()
-        .map_err(|e| format!("failed to run 'git archive': {e}"))?;
-    let mut stdout = child
-        .stdout
-        .take()
-        .ok_or_else(|| "git archive produced no output".to_string())?;
-    std::io::copy(&mut stdout, &mut encoder)
-        .map_err(|e| format!("cannot pipe git archive into '{}': {e}", dest.display()))?;
-    encoder
-        .finish()
-        .map_err(|e| format!("failed to write '{}': {e}", dest.display()))?;
-    let status = child.wait()?;
-    if !status.success() {
-        // The half-written xz file is not a valid tarball: remove it.
-        let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&dest);
-        return Err(format!(
-            "'git archive --format=tar {}' failed with status: {status} \
-             (is HEAD exactly on the tag '{tag}'?)",
-            tag
-        )
-        .into());
+    // Any failure after the destination file was created (spawn error,
+    // broken pipe, failed git) leaves behind an empty or half-written xz
+    // file that is not a valid tarball: it is removed before returning.
+    let outcome = (|| {
+        let file = std::fs::File::create(&dest)?;
+        let mut encoder = XzEncoder::new(file, 6);
+        // git's stderr is inherited, not piped: nothing here drains a piped
+        // stderr, and a chatty git filling the 64 KiB pipe buffer would
+        // deadlock the archive — its diagnostics belong on the terminal
+        // anyway, like every other child process in this module.
+        let mut child = Command::new("git")
+            .args([
+                "archive",
+                "--format=tar",
+                &format!("--prefix={name}-{upstream_version}/"),
+                tag,
+            ])
+            .current_dir(repo)
+            .stdout(Stdio::piped())
+            .spawn()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to run 'git archive': {e}"))?;
+        let mut stdout = child
+            .stdout
+            .take()
+            .ok_or_else(|| "git archive produced no output".to_string())?;
+        let copied = std::io::copy(&mut stdout, &mut encoder)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("cannot pipe git archive into '{}': {e}", dest.display()));
+        // The child is reaped whatever happened to the pipe, and a copy
+        // error only surfaces once it has been waited on. Closing our end
+        // first unblocks a git still writing into the pipe (SIGPIPE);
+        // otherwise `wait` could hang on it forever.
+        drop(stdout);
+        let status = child.wait()?;
+        copied?;
+        encoder
+            .finish()
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to write '{}': {e}", dest.display()))?;
+        Ok(status)
+    })();
+    match outcome {
+        Ok(status) if status.success() => {}
+        Ok(status) => {
+            let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&dest);
+            return Err(format!(
+                "'git archive --format=tar {}' failed with status: {status} \
+                 (is HEAD exactly on the tag '{tag}'?)",
+                tag
+            )
+            .into());
+        }
+        Err(error) => {
+            let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&dest);
+            return Err(error);
+        }
     }
 
     log::info!(
@@ -340,28 +361,44 @@ fn fetch_and_repack(
 /// blocking client must not run on a tokio worker thread (scaffold is
 /// called from inside the async runtime), so the download runs on a plain
 /// dedicated thread.
+///
+/// Only the connection carries a timeout (10 s, like the rest of the
+/// codebase): a whole-request timeout would cap the ENTIRE download and
+/// always fail large release tarballs on slow links. The body is instead
+/// streamed to the temporary file chunk by chunk as it arrives, never
+/// buffered whole in memory.
 fn download_to_temp(url: &str) -> Result<PathBuf, Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let url = url.to_string();
-    let contents = std::thread::spawn(move || {
-        reqwest::blocking::Client::builder()
-            .timeout(Duration::from_secs(30))
+    let download = move || -> Result<PathBuf, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
+        let mut response = reqwest::blocking::Client::builder()
+            .connect_timeout(Duration::from_secs(10))
             .build()?
             .get(&url)
             .send()?
-            .error_for_status()?
-            .bytes()
-    })
-    .join()
-    .map_err(|_| -> Box<dyn std::error::Error> { "the download thread panicked".into() })??;
-
-    let temp = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!(
-        "pkh-orig-{}-{}",
-        std::process::id(),
-        chrono::Utc::now().timestamp_nanos_opt().unwrap_or_default()
-    ));
-    let mut file = std::fs::File::create(&temp)?;
-    file.write_all(&contents)?;
-    Ok(temp)
+            .error_for_status()?;
+        let temp = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!(
+            "pkh-orig-{}-{}",
+            std::process::id(),
+            chrono::Utc::now().timestamp_nanos_opt().unwrap_or_default()
+        ));
+        let mut file = std::fs::File::create(&temp)?;
+        if let Err(error) = response.copy_to(&mut file) {
+            // A failed download must not leave a partial temporary behind.
+            let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&temp);
+            return Err(error.into());
+        }
+        Ok(temp)
+    };
+    let downloaded: Result<PathBuf, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> =
+        std::thread::spawn(download)
+            .join()
+            .map_err(|_| -> Box<dyn std::error::Error> { "the download thread panicked".into() })?;
+    // The thread must carry a `Send + Sync` error box; the auto traits are
+    // dropped on the way out.
+    match downloaded {
+        Ok(temp) => Ok(temp),
+        Err(error) => Err(error),
+    }
 }
 
 /// Container/compression format of a tarball, detected from its content
@@ -508,17 +545,24 @@ fn repack_tarball_file(
     };
 
     let result = repack_tar_stream(reader, name, upstream_version, &dest);
-    if let Some(mut child) = bzip2_child
-        && let Ok(dest_path) = &result
-    {
-        let status = child.wait()?;
-        if !status.success() {
-            let _ = std::fs::remove_file(dest_path);
-            return Err(format!(
-                "'bzip2 -dc {}' failed with status: {status}",
-                path.display()
-            )
-            .into());
+    if let Some(mut child) = bzip2_child {
+        if result.is_err() {
+            // The repack failed and nothing reads the child's stdout
+            // anymore: kill it (harmless if it already exited — bzip2 may
+            // be blocked writing into the unread pipe) and reap it,
+            // instead of leaking a zombie holding an open pipe.
+            let _ = child.kill();
+            let _ = child.wait();
+        } else {
+            let status = child.wait()?;
+            if !status.success() {
+                let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&dest);
+                return Err(format!(
+                    "'bzip2 -dc {}' failed with status: {status}",
+                    path.display()
+                )
+                .into());
+            }
         }
     }
     if result.is_err() {
@@ -703,6 +747,7 @@ fn repack_tar_stream(
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
+    use std::io::Write;
 
     /// List the entry names of an xz tarball.
     fn tarball_names(path: &Path) -> Vec<String> {