diff --git a/github/github.go b/github/github.go
index 2321ee7..9eb99b7 100644
--- a/github/github.go
+++ b/github/github.go
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ const (
 type Client struct {
 	// HTTP client used to communicate with the API.
 	client *http.Client
+	// clientMu protects the client during calls that modify the CheckRedirect func.
+	clientMu sync.Mutex
 
 	// Base URL for API requests.  Defaults to the public GitHub API, but can be
 	// set to a domain endpoint to use with GitHub Enterprise.  BaseURL should
diff --git a/github/repos_releases.go b/github/repos_releases.go
index 9f6133d..0eac47b 100644
--- a/github/repos_releases.go
+++ b/github/repos_releases.go
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"mime"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // RepositoryRelease represents a GitHub release in a repository.
@@ -213,27 +215,43 @@ func (s *RepositoriesService) GetReleaseAsset(owner, repo string, id int) (*Rele
 	return asset, resp, err
 }
 
-// DownloadReleaseAsset downloads a release asset.
+// DownloadReleaseAsset downloads a release asset or returns a redirect URL.
 //
 // DownloadReleaseAsset returns an io.ReadCloser that reads the contents of the
 // specified release asset. It is the caller's responsibility to close the ReadCloser.
+// If a redirect is returned, the redirect URL will be returned as a string instead
+// of the io.ReadCloser. Exactly one of rc and redirectURL will be zero.
 //
 // GitHub API docs : http://developer.github.com/v3/repos/releases/#get-a-single-release-asset
-func (s *RepositoriesService) DownloadReleaseAsset(owner, repo string, id int) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+func (s *RepositoriesService) DownloadReleaseAsset(owner, repo string, id int) (rc io.ReadCloser, redirectURL string, err error) {
 	u := fmt.Sprintf("repos/%s/%s/releases/assets/%d", owner, repo, id)
 
 	req, err := s.client.NewRequest("GET", u, nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, "", err
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Accept", defaultMediaType)
 
+	s.client.clientMu.Lock()
+	defer s.client.clientMu.Unlock()
+
+	var loc string
+	saveRedirect := s.client.client.CheckRedirect
+	s.client.client.CheckRedirect = func(req *http.Request, via []*http.Request) error {
+		loc = req.URL.String()
+		return errors.New("disable redirect")
+	}
+	defer func() { s.client.client.CheckRedirect = saveRedirect }()
+
 	resp, err := s.client.client.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "disable redirect") {
+			return nil, "", err
+		}
+		return nil, loc, nil
 	}
 
-	return resp.Body, nil
+	return resp.Body, "", nil
 }
 
 // EditReleaseAsset edits a repository release asset.
diff --git a/github/repos_releases_test.go b/github/repos_releases_test.go
index 5b0f094..532039b 100644
--- a/github/repos_releases_test.go
+++ b/github/repos_releases_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ func TestRepositoriesService_DownloadReleaseAsset_Stream(t *testing.T) {
 		fmt.Fprint(w, "Hello World")
 	})
 
-	reader, err := client.Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset("o", "r", 1)
+	reader, _, err := client.Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset("o", "r", 1)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset returned error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -239,28 +240,16 @@ func TestRepositoriesService_DownloadReleaseAsset_Redirect(t *testing.T) {
 	mux.HandleFunc("/repos/o/r/releases/assets/1", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		testMethod(t, r, "GET")
 		testHeader(t, r, "Accept", defaultMediaType)
-		w.Header().Set("Location", server.URL+"/github-cloud/releases/1/hello-world.txt")
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusFound)
+		http.Redirect(w, r, "/yo", http.StatusFound)
 	})
 
-	mux.HandleFunc("/github-cloud/releases/1/hello-world.txt", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		testMethod(t, r, "GET")
-		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
-		w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=hello-world.txt")
-		fmt.Fprint(w, "Hello World")
-	})
-
-	reader, err := client.Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset("o", "r", 1)
+	_, got, err := client.Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset("o", "r", 1)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset returned error: %v", err)
 	}
-	want := []byte("Hello World")
-	content, err := ioutil.ReadAll(reader)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset returned bad reader: %v", err)
-	}
-	if !bytes.Equal(want, content) {
-		t.Errorf("Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset returned %+v, want %+v", content, want)
+	want := "/yo"
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(got, want) {
+		t.Errorf("Repositories.DownloadReleaseAsset returned %+v, want %+v", got, want)
 	}
 }