diff --git a/crates/uv-client/src/registry_client.rs b/crates/uv-client/src/registry_client.rs
index 0951645f8..f0f2915da 100644
--- a/crates/uv-client/src/registry_client.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-client/src/registry_client.rs
@@ -88,19 +88,24 @@ impl RegistryClientBuilder {
     }
 
     pub fn build(self) -> RegistryClient {
-        let client_raw = self.client.unwrap_or_else(|| {
-            // Timeout options, matching https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/config.html#httptimeout
-            // `UV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT` is provided for backwards compatibility with v0.1.6
-            let default_timeout = 5 * 60;
-            let timeout = env::var("UV_HTTP_TIMEOUT").or_else(|_| env::var("UV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT")).or_else(|_| env::var("HTTP_TIMEOUT")).and_then(|value| {
+        // Timeout options, matching https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/cargo/reference/config.html#httptimeout
+        // `UV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT` is provided for backwards compatibility with v0.1.6
+        let default_timeout = 5 * 60;
+        let timeout = env::var("UV_HTTP_TIMEOUT")
+            .or_else(|_| env::var("UV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT"))
+            .or_else(|_| env::var("HTTP_TIMEOUT"))
+            .and_then(|value| {
                 value.parse::<u64>()
                     .or_else(|_| {
-                        // On parse error, warn and  use the default timeout
-                        warn_user_once!("Ignoring invalid value from environment for UV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT. Expected integer number of seconds, got \"{value}\".");
+                        // On parse error, warn and use the default timeout
+                        warn_user_once!("Ignoring invalid value from environment for UV_HTTP_TIMEOUT. Expected integer number of seconds, got \"{value}\".");
                         Ok(default_timeout)
                     })
-            }).unwrap_or(default_timeout);
-            debug!("Using registry request timeout of {}s", timeout);
+            })
+            .unwrap_or(default_timeout);
+        debug!("Using registry request timeout of {}s", timeout);
+
+        let client_raw = self.client.unwrap_or_else(|| {
             // Disallow any connections.
             let client_core = ClientBuilder::new()
                 .user_agent("uv")
@@ -130,6 +135,7 @@ impl RegistryClientBuilder {
             connectivity: self.connectivity,
             client_raw,
             client: CachedClient::new(uncached_client),
+            timeout,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -141,13 +147,15 @@ pub struct RegistryClient {
     index_urls: IndexUrls,
     /// The underlying HTTP client.
     client: CachedClient,
-    /// Don't use this client, it only exists because `async_http_range_reader` needs
+    /// Don't use this client, it only exists because `async_http_range_reader` needs.
     /// [`reqwest::Client] instead of [`reqwest_middleware::Client`]
     client_raw: Client,
-    /// Used for the remote wheel METADATA cache
+    /// Used for the remote wheel METADATA cache.
     cache: Cache,
     /// The connectivity mode to use.
     connectivity: Connectivity,
+    /// Configured client timeout, in seconds.
+    timeout: u64,
 }
 
 impl RegistryClient {
@@ -161,6 +169,11 @@ impl RegistryClient {
         self.connectivity
     }
 
+    /// Return the timeout this client is configured with, in seconds.
+    pub fn timeout(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.timeout
+    }
+
     /// Fetch a package from the `PyPI` simple API.
     ///
     /// "simple" here refers to [PEP 503 – Simple Repository API](https://peps.python.org/pep-0503/)
diff --git a/crates/uv-distribution/src/distribution_database.rs b/crates/uv-distribution/src/distribution_database.rs
index dd2efdf61..b79bb3526 100644
--- a/crates/uv-distribution/src/distribution_database.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-distribution/src/distribution_database.rs
@@ -73,6 +73,20 @@ impl<'a, Context: BuildContext + Send + Sync> DistributionDatabase<'a, Context>
         }
     }
 
+    /// Handle a specific `reqwest` error, and convert it to [`io::Error`].
+    fn handle_response_errors(&self, err: reqwest::Error) -> io::Error {
+        if err.is_timeout() {
+            io::Error::new(
+                io::ErrorKind::TimedOut,
+                format!(
+                    "Failed to download distribution due to network timeout. Try increasing UV_HTTP_TIMEOUT (current value: {}s).",  self.client.timeout()
+                ),
+            )
+        } else {
+            io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, err)
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Either fetch the wheel or fetch and build the source distribution
     ///
     /// If `no_remote_wheel` is set, the wheel will be built from a source distribution
@@ -150,7 +164,7 @@ impl<'a, Context: BuildContext + Send + Sync> DistributionDatabase<'a, Context>
                     async {
                         let reader = response
                             .bytes_stream()
-                            .map_err(|err| io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, err))
+                            .map_err(|err| self.handle_response_errors(err))
                             .into_async_read();
 
                         // Download and unzip the wheel to a temporary directory.
@@ -212,7 +226,7 @@ impl<'a, Context: BuildContext + Send + Sync> DistributionDatabase<'a, Context>
                     async {
                         let reader = response
                             .bytes_stream()
-                            .map_err(|err| io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, err))
+                            .map_err(|err| self.handle_response_errors(err))
                             .into_async_read();
 
                         // Download and unzip the wheel to a temporary directory.