diff --git a/src/Composer/Installer.php b/src/Composer/Installer.php
index 8b48e866a..ab2ca6635 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Installer.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Installer.php
@@ -968,7 +968,11 @@ class Installer
 
                 // update the dist and source URLs
                 $package->setSourceUrl($newPackage->getSourceUrl());
-                $package->setDistUrl($newPackage->getDistUrl());
+                // only update dist url for github dists as they use a combination of dist url + dist reference to install
+                // but for other urls this is ambiguous and could result in bad outcomes
+                if (preg_match('{^https?://(api\.)?github\.com/}', $newPackage->getDistUrl())) {
+                    $package->setDistUrl($newPackage->getDistUrl());
+                }
             }
         }
     }