diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/rvm_gem/gem.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/rvm_gem/gem.rb
index 704c20b0..e79d753e 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/rvm_gem/gem.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/rvm_gem/gem.rb
@@ -38,8 +38,13 @@ def gemlist(hash)
       command << "--http-proxy" << resource[:proxy_url]
     end
 
+    if resource[:source] && source_uri(resource[:source]).scheme =~ /^http/
+      command << '--source' << resource[:source].to_s
+    end
+
     list = []
     begin
+      Puppet.debug("Running command #{command}")
       list = execute(command).split("\n").collect do |set|
         if gemhash = self.class.gemsplit(set)
           gemhash[:provider] = :gem
@@ -76,7 +81,6 @@ def self.gemsplit(desc)
     end
   end
 
-
   def install(useversion = true)
     command = gembinary + ['install']
     command << "-v" << resource[:ensure] if (! resource[:ensure].is_a? Symbol) and useversion
@@ -89,12 +93,7 @@ def install(useversion = true)
     end
 
     if source = resource[:source]
-      begin
-        uri = URI.parse(source)
-      rescue => detail
-        fail "Invalid source '#{uri}': #{detail}"
-      end
-
+      uri = source_uri(source)
       case uri.scheme
       when nil
         # no URI scheme => interpret the source as a local file
@@ -123,6 +122,15 @@ def install(useversion = true)
     self.fail "Could not install: #{output.chomp}" if output.include?("ERROR")
   end
 
+  def source_uri(source)
+    begin
+      uri = URI.parse(source)
+    rescue => detail
+      fail "Invalid source '#{uri}': #{detail}"
+    end
+    uri
+  end
+
   def latest
     # This always gets the latest version available.
     hash = gemlist(:justme => resource[:name])