diff --git a/pungi/phases/gather/methods/method_hybrid.py b/pungi/phases/gather/methods/method_hybrid.py
index aec4017a..0deedd77 100644
--- a/pungi/phases/gather/methods/method_hybrid.py
+++ b/pungi/phases/gather/methods/method_hybrid.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from pungi import multilib_dnf
 from pungi.module_util import Modulemd
 from pungi.arch import get_valid_arches, tree_arch_to_yum_arch
 from pungi.phases.gather import _mk_pkg_map
-from pungi.util import get_arch_variant_data, pkg_is_debug, temp_dir
+from pungi.util import get_arch_variant_data, pkg_is_debug, temp_dir, as_local_file
 from pungi.wrappers import fus
 from pungi.wrappers.comps import CompsWrapper
 
@@ -412,14 +412,18 @@ def iter_platforms_in_repo(url):
     """Find all platform streams that any module in give repo requires at runtime.
     Yields lists of stream names (possible empty).
     """
-    repomd = cr.Repomd(os.path.join(url, "repodata/repomd.xml"))
+    repomd = os.path.join(url, "repodata/repomd.xml")
+    with as_local_file(repomd) as url_:
+        repomd = cr.Repomd(url_)
     for rec in repomd.records:
         if rec.type != "modules":
             continue
         # No with statement on Python 2.6 for GzipFile...
-        gzipped_file = gzip.GzipFile(os.path.join(url, rec.location_href), "r")
+        record_url = os.path.join(url, rec.location_href)
+        with as_local_file(record_url) as url_:
+            gzipped_file = gzip.GzipFile(url_, "rb")
         mod_index = Modulemd.ModuleIndex.new()
-        mod_index.update_from_string(gzipped_file.read(), False)
+        mod_index.update_from_string(gzipped_file.read().decode("utf-8"), False)
         gzipped_file.close()
         for module_name in mod_index.get_module_names():
             module = mod_index.get_module(module_name)
diff --git a/pungi/util.py b/pungi/util.py
index 8bafec48..23b68050 100644
--- a/pungi/util.py
+++ b/pungi/util.py
@@ -936,3 +936,20 @@ def load_config(file_path, defaults={}):
         conf.load_from_file(file_path)
 
     return conf
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def as_local_file(url):
+    """If URL points to a file over HTTP, the file will be downloaded locally
+    and a path to the local copy is yielded. For local files the original path
+    is returned.
+    """
+    if url.startswith("http://") or url.startswith("https://"):
+        local_filename, _ = urllib.request.urlretrieve(url)
+        try:
+            yield local_filename
+        finally:
+            os.remove(local_filename)
+    else:
+        # Not a remote url, return unchanged.
+        yield url
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index 6a746156..46d8a588 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -873,3 +873,27 @@ class TestCopyAll(PungiTestCase):
 
         self.assertTrue(os.path.islink(os.path.join(self.dst, "symlink")))
         self.assertEqual(os.readlink(os.path.join(self.dst, "symlink")), "broken")
+
+
+@mock.patch("six.moves.urllib.request.urlretrieve")
+class TestAsLocalFile(PungiTestCase):
+    def test_local_file(self, urlretrieve):
+        with util.as_local_file("/tmp/foo") as fn:
+            self.assertEqual(fn, "/tmp/foo")
+        self.assertEqual(urlretrieve.call_args_list, [])
+
+    def test_http(self, urlretrieve):
+        url = "http://example.com/repodata/repomd.xml"
+
+        def my_mock(url_):
+            self.assertEqual(url, url_)
+            self.filename = os.path.join(self.topdir, "my-file")
+            touch(self.filename)
+            return self.filename, {}
+
+        urlretrieve.side_effect = my_mock
+
+        with util.as_local_file(url) as fn:
+            self.assertEqual(fn, self.filename)
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.filename))
+        self.assertFalse(os.path.exists(self.filename))