diff --git a/src/Composer/Command/SelfUpdateCommand.php b/src/Composer/Command/SelfUpdateCommand.php
index c14c6bc43..07dd86033 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Command/SelfUpdateCommand.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Command/SelfUpdateCommand.php
@@ -61,9 +61,11 @@ EOT
     {
         $config = Factory::createConfig();
 
+        $disableTls = false;
         if($config->get('disable-tls') === true || $input->getOption('disable-tls')) {
-            $output->writeln('<info>You are running Composer with SSL/TLS protection disabled.</info>');
+            $output->writeln('<comment>You are running Composer with SSL/TLS protection disabled.</comment>');
             $baseUrl = 'http://' . self::HOMEPAGE;
+            $disableTls = true;
         } elseif (!extension_loaded('openssl')) {
             $output->writeln('<error>The openssl extension is required for SSL/TLS protection.</error>');
             $output->writeln('<error>You can disable this error, at your own risk, by enabling the \'disable-tls\' option.</error>');
@@ -79,12 +81,12 @@ EOT
             if (!is_null($input->get('cafile'))) {
                 $remoteFilesystemOptions = array('ssl'=>array('cafile'=>$input->get('cafile')));
             }
-            $remoteFilesystem = new RemoteFilesystem($this->getIO(), $remoteFilesystemOptions);
+            $remoteFilesystem = new RemoteFilesystem($this->getIO(), $remoteFilesystemOptions, $disableTls);
         } catch (TransportException $e) {
             if (preg_match('|cafile|', $e->getMessage())) {
                 $output->writeln('<error>' . $e->getMessage() . '</error>');
                 $output->writeln('<error>Unable to locate a valid CA certificate file. You must set a valid \'cafile\' option.</error>');
-                $output->writeln('<error>You can disable this error, at your own risk, by enabling the \'disable-tls\' option.</error>');
+                $output->writeln('<error>You can alternatively disable this error, at your own risk, by enabling the \'disable-tls\' option.</error>');
                 return 1;
             } else {
                 throw $e;
diff --git a/src/Composer/Util/RemoteFilesystem.php b/src/Composer/Util/RemoteFilesystem.php
index 5a9bac36c..7308d6b69 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Util/RemoteFilesystem.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Util/RemoteFilesystem.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
      * @param IOInterface $io      The IO instance
      * @param array       $options The options
      */
-    public function __construct(IOInterface $io, $options = array())
+    public function __construct(IOInterface $io, $options = array(), $disableTls = false)
     {
         $this->io = $io;
 
@@ -48,11 +48,13 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
          * Setup TLS options
          * The cafile option can be set via config.json
          */
-        $this->options = $this->getTlsDefaults();
-        if (isset($options['ssl']['cafile'])
-        && (!is_readable($options['ssl']['cafile'])
-        || !openssl_x509_parse(file_get_contents($options['ssl']['cafile'])))) { //check return value and test (it's subject to change)
-            throw new TransportException('The configured cafile was not valid or could not be read.');
+        if ($disableTls === false) {
+            $this->options = $this->getTlsDefaults();
+            if (isset($options['ssl']['cafile'])
+            && (!is_readable($options['ssl']['cafile'])
+            || !openssl_x509_parse(file_get_contents($options['ssl']['cafile'])))) { //check return value and test (it's subject to change)
+                throw new TransportException('The configured cafile was not valid or could not be read.');
+            }
         }
 
         // handle the other externally set options normally.
@@ -70,9 +72,9 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
      *
      * @return bool true
      */
-    public function copy($originUrl, $fileUrl, $fileName, $progress = true, $options = array())
+    public function copy($originUrl, $fileUrl, $fileName, $progress = true, $options = array(), $disableTls = false)
     {
-        return $this->get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $options, $fileName, $progress);
+        return $this->get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $options, $fileName, $progress, $disableTls);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -85,9 +87,9 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
      *
      * @return string The content
      */
-    public function getContents($originUrl, $fileUrl, $progress = true, $options = array())
+    public function getContents($originUrl, $fileUrl, $progress = true, $options = array(), $disableTls = false)
     {
-        return $this->get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $options, null, $progress);
+        return $this->get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $options, null, $progress, $disableTls);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
      *
      * @return bool|string
      */
-    protected function get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $additionalOptions = array(), $fileName = null, $progress = true)
+    protected function get($originUrl, $fileUrl, $additionalOptions = array(), $fileName = null, $progress = true, $disableTls = false)
     {
         $this->bytesMax = 0;
         $this->originUrl = $originUrl;
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
             $this->io->setAuthentication($originUrl, urldecode($match[1]), urldecode($match[2]));
         }
 
-        $options = $this->getOptionsForUrl($originUrl, $additionalOptions);
+        $options = $this->getOptionsForUrl($originUrl, $additionalOptions, $disableTls);
 
         if ($this->io->isDebug()) {
             $this->io->write((substr($fileUrl, 0, 4) === 'http' ? 'Downloading ' : 'Reading ') . $fileUrl);
@@ -320,7 +322,7 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
         throw new TransportException('RETRY');
     }
 
-    protected function getOptionsForUrl($originUrl, $additionalOptions)
+    protected function getOptionsForUrl($originUrl, $additionalOptions, $disableTls = false)
     {
         $headers = array(
             sprintf(
@@ -339,9 +341,11 @@ class RemoteFilesystem
         }
 
         // Setup remaining TLS options - the matching may need monitoring, esp. www vs none in CN
-        $host = parse_url($originUrl, PHP_URL_HOST);
-        $this->options['ssl']['CN_match'] = $host;
-        $this->options['ssl']['SNI_server_name'] = $host;
+        if ($disableTls === false) {
+            $host = parse_url($originUrl, PHP_URL_HOST);
+            $this->options['ssl']['CN_match'] = $host;
+            $this->options['ssl']['SNI_server_name'] = $host;
+        }
 
         $options = array_replace_recursive($this->options, $additionalOptions);
 
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/RemoteFilesystemTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/RemoteFilesystemTest.php
index e1cda3780..ffb744327 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Util/RemoteFilesystemTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Util/RemoteFilesystemTest.php
@@ -197,6 +197,8 @@ class RemoteFilesystemTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $this->assertEquals('/some/path/file.crt', $res['ssl']['cafile']);
         if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.4.13') >= 0) {
             $this->assertTrue($res['ssl']['disable_compression']);
+        } else {
+            $this->assertFalse(isset($res['ssl']['disable_compression']));
         }
     }