diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 28d13de53..e7a5ab035 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ DOCKER_BUILD_EXTRA_ARGS ?=
 DOCKER_BUILDER := bufbuild-plugins
 DOCKER_CACHE_DIR ?= $(TMP)/dockercache
 GO ?= go
-GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION ?= v2.1.2
+GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION ?= v2.1.6
 GOLANGCI_LINT := $(TMP)/golangici-lint-$(GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION)
 
 GO_TEST_FLAGS ?= -race -count=1
diff --git a/cmd/download-plugins/main.go b/cmd/download-plugins/main.go
index ca31de8df..967890128 100644
--- a/cmd/download-plugins/main.go
+++ b/cmd/download-plugins/main.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func run() error {
 			return err
 		}
 		if !exists {
-			if err := downloadReleaseToDir(ctx, client.GitHub.Client(), pluginRelease, downloadDir); err != nil {
+			if err := downloadReleaseToDir(ctx, client.GitHub, pluginRelease, downloadDir); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		}
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ func pluginExistsMatchingDigest(plugin release.PluginRelease, downloadDir string
 	return digest == plugin.PluginZipDigest, nil
 }
 
-func downloadReleaseToDir(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, plugin release.PluginRelease, downloadDir string) error {
+func downloadReleaseToDir(ctx context.Context, client *github.Client, plugin release.PluginRelease, downloadDir string) error {
 	expectedDigest, err := parseDigest(plugin.PluginZipDigest)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse digest for plugin: %w", err)
@@ -184,27 +184,16 @@ func downloadReleaseToDir(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, plugin relea
 		}
 	}()
 	log.Printf("downloading: %v", plugin.URL)
-	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, plugin.URL, nil)
+	req, err := client.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, plugin.URL, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to make HTTP request: %w", err)
 	}
-	resp, err := client.Do(req)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to perform HTTP request: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		if err := resp.Body.Close(); err != nil {
-			log.Printf("failed to close response: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to download %s: %s", plugin.URL, resp.Status)
-	}
 	digest := sha256.New()
 	w := io.MultiWriter(f, digest)
-	if _, err := io.Copy(w, resp.Body); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to copy file: %w", err)
+	if _, err := client.Do(ctx, req, w); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to perform HTTP request: %w", err)
 	}
+
 	sha256Digest := hex.EncodeToString(digest.Sum(nil))
 	if sha256Digest != expectedDigest {
 		return fmt.Errorf("checksum mismatch for %s: %q (expected) != %q (actual)", plugin.URL, expectedDigest, sha256Digest)