diff --git a/newt/downloader/downloader.go b/newt/downloader/downloader.go
index c3a9bc530..bf88e884d 100644
--- a/newt/downloader/downloader.go
+++ b/newt/downloader/downloader.go
@@ -110,6 +110,12 @@ type Downloader interface {
 	// Returns the branch that contains the YAML control files; this option
 	// allows implementers to override "master" as the main branch.
 	MainBranch() string
+
+	// Returns formatted string with repo details
+	String() string
+
+	// Returns if repository was already fetched
+	IsFetched() bool
 }
 
 type Commit struct {
@@ -814,6 +820,10 @@ func (gd *GenericDownloader) LatestRc(path string,
 	return bestStr, nil
 }
 
+func (gd *GenericDownloader) IsFetched() bool {
+	return gd.fetched
+}
+
 func (gd *GithubDownloader) Fetch(repoDir string) error {
 	return gd.cachedFetch(func() error {
 		util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_VERBOSE, "Fetching repo %s\n",
@@ -921,11 +931,7 @@ func (gd *GithubDownloader) setRemoteAuth(path string) error {
 func (gd *GithubDownloader) Clone(commit string, dstPath string) error {
 	branch := gd.MainBranch()
 
-	url, publicUrl := gd.remoteUrls()
-
-	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT,
-		"Downloading repository %s (commit: %s) from %s\n",
-		gd.Repo, commit, publicUrl)
+	url, _ := gd.remoteUrls()
 
 	gp, err := gitPath()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -960,6 +966,8 @@ func (gd *GithubDownloader) Clone(commit string, dstPath string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	gd.fetched = true
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -987,6 +995,12 @@ func (gd *GithubDownloader) MainBranch() string {
 	}
 }
 
+func (gd *GithubDownloader) String() string {
+	_, publicUrl := gd.remoteUrls()
+
+	return publicUrl
+}
+
 func NewGithubDownloader() *GithubDownloader {
 	return &GithubDownloader{}
 }
@@ -1024,9 +1038,6 @@ func (gd *GitDownloader) FetchFile(
 func (gd *GitDownloader) Clone(commit string, dstPath string) error {
 	branch := gd.MainBranch()
 
-	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT,
-		"Downloading repository %s (commit: %s)\n", gd.Url, commit)
-
 	gp, err := gitPath()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -1059,6 +1070,8 @@ func (gd *GitDownloader) Clone(commit string, dstPath string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	gd.fetched = true
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -1084,6 +1097,10 @@ func (gd *GitDownloader) MainBranch() string {
 	}
 }
 
+func (gd *GitDownloader) String() string {
+	return gd.Url
+}
+
 func NewGitDownloader() *GitDownloader {
 	return &GitDownloader{}
 }
@@ -1118,9 +1135,6 @@ func (ld *LocalDownloader) Checkout(path string, commit string) error {
 }
 
 func (ld *LocalDownloader) Clone(commit string, dstPath string) error {
-	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT,
-		"Downloading local repository %s\n", ld.Path)
-
 	if err := util.CopyDir(ld.Path, dstPath); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -1140,6 +1154,10 @@ func (gd *LocalDownloader) MainBranch() string {
 	return "master"
 }
 
+func (ld *LocalDownloader) String() string {
+	return ld.Path
+}
+
 func NewLocalDownloader() *LocalDownloader {
 	return &LocalDownloader{}
 }
diff --git a/newt/repo/repo.go b/newt/repo/repo.go
index 8193e0baf..070cc452e 100644
--- a/newt/repo/repo.go
+++ b/newt/repo/repo.go
@@ -260,6 +260,9 @@ func (r *Repo) downloadRepo(commit string) error {
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir)
 
+	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT,
+		"Cloning %s (%s)\n", r.Name(), dl.String())
+
 	// Download the git repo, returns the git repo, checked out to that commit
 	if err := dl.Clone(commit, tmpdir); err != nil {
 		return util.FmtNewtError("Error downloading repository %s: %s",
@@ -382,7 +385,9 @@ func (r *Repo) UpdateDesc() (bool, error) {
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
-	util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT, "Fetching %s\n", r.Name())
+	if !r.downloader.IsFetched() {
+		util.StatusMessage(util.VERBOSITY_DEFAULT, "Fetching %s\n", r.Name())
+	}
 
 	// Make sure the repo's "origin" remote points to the correct URL.  This is
 	// necessary in case the user changed his `project.yml` file to point to a