diff --git a/testserver/binaries.go b/testserver/binaries.go
index 1e93873..beaf690 100644
--- a/testserver/binaries.go
+++ b/testserver/binaries.go
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ const updatesUrl = "https://register.cockroachdb.com/api/updates"
 
 var muslRE = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\bmusl\b`)
 
-// GetDownloadResponse return the http response of a CRDB download.
-// It creates the url for downloading a CRDB binary for current runtime OS,
-// makes a request to this url, and return the response.
-// nonStable should only be used if desiredVersion is not specified. If nonStable
-// is used, the latest cockroach binary will be used.
-func GetDownloadResponse(desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (*http.Response, string, error) {
+// GetDownloadURL returns the URL of a CRDB download. It creates the URL for
+// downloading a CRDB binary for current runtime OS. If desiredVersion is
+// specified, it will return the URL of the specified version. Otherwise, it
+// will return the URL of the latest stable cockroach binary. If nonStable is
+// true, the latest cockroach binary will be used.
+func GetDownloadURL(desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (string, string, error) {
 	goos := runtime.GOOS
 	if goos == "linux" {
 		goos += func() string {
@@ -100,21 +100,31 @@ func GetDownloadResponse(desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (*http.Response,
 		// For the latest stable CRDB, we use the url provided in the CRDB release page.
 		dbUrl, desiredVersion, err = getLatestStableVersionInfo()
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, "", err
+			return dbUrl, "", err
 		}
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("GET %s", dbUrl)
-	response, err := http.Get(dbUrl)
+	return dbUrl, desiredVersion, nil
+}
+
+// DownloadFromURL starts a download of the cockroach binary from the given URL.
+func DownloadFromURL(downloadURL string) (*http.Response, error) {
+	log.Printf("GET %s", downloadURL)
+	response, err := http.Get(downloadURL)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, "", err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	if response.StatusCode != 200 {
-		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("error downloading %s: %d (%s)", dbUrl,
-			response.StatusCode, response.Status)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"error downloading %s: %d (%s)",
+			downloadURL,
+			response.StatusCode,
+			response.Status,
+		)
 	}
-	return response, desiredVersion, nil
+
+	return response, nil
 }
 
 // DownloadBinary saves the latest version of CRDB into a local binary file,
@@ -124,19 +134,30 @@ func GetDownloadResponse(desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (*http.Response,
 // To download the latest STABLE version of CRDB, set `nonStable` to false.
 // To download the bleeding edge version of CRDB, set `nonStable` to true.
 func DownloadBinary(tc *TestConfig, desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (string, error) {
-	response, desiredVersion, err := GetDownloadResponse(desiredVersion, nonStable)
+	dbUrl, desiredVersion, err := GetDownloadURL(desiredVersion, nonStable)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	defer func() { _ = response.Body.Close() }()
+	filename, err := GetDownloadFilename(desiredVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	localFile := filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), filename)
+
+	// Short circuit if the file already exists and is in the finished state.
+	info, err := os.Stat(localFile)
+	if err == nil && info.Mode().Perm() == finishedFileMode {
+		return localFile, nil
+	}
 
-	filename, err := GetDownloadFilename(response, nonStable, desiredVersion)
+	response, err := DownloadFromURL(dbUrl)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	localFile := filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), filename)
+	defer func() { _ = response.Body.Close() }()
+
 	for {
 		info, err := os.Stat(localFile)
 		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
@@ -229,7 +250,7 @@ func DownloadBinary(tc *TestConfig, desiredVersion string, nonStable bool) (stri
 
 // GetDownloadFilename returns the local filename of the downloaded CRDB binary file.
 func GetDownloadFilename(
-	response *http.Response, nonStableDB bool, desiredVersion string,
+	desiredVersion string,
 ) (string, error) {
 	filename := fmt.Sprintf("cockroach-%s", desiredVersion)
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
diff --git a/testserver/testserver_test.go b/testserver/testserver_test.go
index 01e5e77..9bfa018 100644
--- a/testserver/testserver_test.go
+++ b/testserver/testserver_test.go
@@ -762,11 +762,11 @@ func testFlockWithDownloadKilled(t *testing.T) (*sql.DB, func()) {
 
 // getLocalFile returns the to-be-downloaded CRDB binary's local path.
 func getLocalFile(nonStable bool) (string, error) {
-	response, latestStableVersion, err := testserver.GetDownloadResponse("", nonStable)
+	_, latestStableVersion, err := testserver.GetDownloadURL("", nonStable)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	filename, err := testserver.GetDownloadFilename(response, nonStable, latestStableVersion)
+	filename, err := testserver.GetDownloadFilename(latestStableVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}