diff --git a/History.md b/History.md
index 0b145d7b89..5d63c9dc9d 100644
--- a/History.md
+++ b/History.md
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@
 * The `meteor <command> ...` syntax will now work for any command
   installed in `dev_bundle/bin`, except for Meteor's own commands.
 
+* Incomplete package downloads will now fail (and be retried several
+  times) instead of silently succeeding, which was the cause of the
+  dreaded `Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open... os.json`
+  error. [#7806](https://github.com/meteor/meteor/issues/7806)
+
 ## v1.4.1.2
 
 * Node has been upgraded to version 4.6.0, a recommended security release:
diff --git a/tools/utils/http-helpers.js b/tools/utils/http-helpers.js
index 673da536b7..c8c9b49942 100644
--- a/tools/utils/http-helpers.js
+++ b/tools/utils/http-helpers.js
@@ -299,7 +299,15 @@ _.extend(exports, {
     // require it until we definitely need it.
     Console.debug("Doing HTTP request: ", options.method || 'GET', options.url);
     var request = require('request');
-    var req = request(options, callback);
+    var req = request(options, function (error, response, body) {
+      const contentLength = Number(response.headers["content-length"]);
+      if (contentLength > 0 && body.length < contentLength) {
+        error = new Error(
+          "Expected " + contentLength + " bytes in request body " +
+            "but received only " + body.length);
+      }
+      return callback.call(this, error, response, body);
+    });
 
     if (_.isFunction(onRequest)) {
       onRequest(req);