This bug crops up a lot more often with apt-transport-https (0.7.3) In fact, I need to clear out the files in the partial/ directory before each update in order for the apt-get update to download the newer package list. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/109294 And the previous comment that says this is already fixed and refers to another bug seems to be referring to the wrong bugid, because it is not related to this issue.