diff --git a/docs/manual/nodes.md b/docs/manual/nodes.md
index 63fd5ed40..b987e5f34 100644
--- a/docs/manual/nodes.md
+++ b/docs/manual/nodes.md
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ The remote file will be downloaded to the containerlab's temp directory at `$TMP
 
     * Upon deletion of a lab, the downloaded startup-config files will not be removed. A manual cleanup should be performed if required.
     * If a lab is redeployed with the lab name and startup-config paths unchanged, the local file will be overwritten.
+    * For https locations the certificates won't be verified to allow fetching artifacts from servers with self-signed certificates.
 
 ### enforce-startup-config
 
diff --git a/utils/file.go b/utils/file.go
index eefa4ad00..d06fe7540 100644
--- a/utils/file.go
+++ b/utils/file.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -87,7 +88,19 @@ func CopyFileContents(src, dst string, mode os.FileMode) (err error) {
 	var in io.ReadCloser
 
 	if IsHttpUri(src) {
-		resp, err := http.Get(src)
+		// set InsecureSkipVerify to true to allow fetching
+		// files form servers with self-signed certificates
+		tr := &http.Transport{
+			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
+				InsecureSkipVerify: true, // skipcq: GSC-G402
+				MinVersion:         tls.VersionTLS12,
+			},
+		}
+
+		client := &http.Client{Transport: tr}
+
+		// download using client
+		resp, err := client.Get(src)
 		if err != nil || resp.StatusCode != 200 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", errHTTPFetch, src)
 		}