diff --git a/swh/loader/package/tests/test_utils.py b/swh/loader/package/tests/test_utils.py
--- a/swh/loader/package/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/swh/loader/package/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -54,6 +54,14 @@
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.fs
+def test_download_no_url_schema(tmp_path, requests_mock):
+    url = "www.roudoudou.com/export/cpc/rasm/rasm_v0117_src.zip"
+    requests_mock.get(f"http://{url}", status_code=200)
+
+    download(url, dest=str(tmp_path))
+
+
 @pytest.mark.fs
 def test_download_ok_no_header(tmp_path, requests_mock):
     """Download without issue should provide filename and hashes"""
diff --git a/swh/loader/package/utils.py b/swh/loader/package/utils.py
--- a/swh/loader/package/utils.py
+++ b/swh/loader/package/utils.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import logging
 import os
 from typing import Callable, Dict, Optional, Tuple, TypeVar
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 import requests
 
@@ -79,6 +80,8 @@
         params["headers"].update(extra_request_headers)
     # so the connection does not hang indefinitely (read/connection timeout)
     timeout = params.get("timeout", 60)
+    if not urlparse(url).scheme:
+        url = "http://" + url
     response = requests.get(url, **params, timeout=timeout, stream=True)
     if response.status_code != 200:
         raise ValueError("Fail to query '%s'. Reason: %s" % (url, response.status_code))