diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 513f32a3a..e67964fc3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:
         # we specify bash to get pipefail; it guards against the `curl` command
         # failing. otherwise `sh` won't catch that `curl` returned non-0
         shell: bash
-        run: "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist"
+        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.6.0-prerelease.3/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
       # sure would be cool if github gave us proper conditionals...
       # so here's a doubly-nested ternary-via-truthiness to try to provide the best possible
       # functionality based on whether this is a pull_request, and whether it's from a fork.
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           submodules: recursive
       - name: Install cargo-dist
-        run: "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist"
+        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.6.0-prerelease.3/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
       # Get all the local artifacts for the global tasks to use (for e.g. checksums)
       - name: Fetch local artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           submodules: recursive
       - name: Install cargo-dist
-        run: "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist"
+        run: "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v0.6.0-prerelease.3/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh"
       # Fetch artifacts from scratch-storage
       - name: Fetch artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7f90e6666..ea77c9578 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ publish = false
 # Config for 'cargo dist'
 [workspace.metadata.dist]
 # The preferred cargo-dist version to use in CI (Cargo.toml SemVer syntax)
-cargo-dist-version = "0.6.0-github-main"
+cargo-dist-version = "0.6.0-prerelease.3"
 # CI backends to support
 ci = ["github"]
 # The installers to generate for each app
diff --git a/cargo-dist/tests/snapshots/manifest.snap b/cargo-dist/tests/snapshots/manifest.snap
index 7fc8303b1..ca41645ea 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/tests/snapshots/manifest.snap
+++ b/cargo-dist/tests/snapshots/manifest.snap
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ stdout:
               "aarch64-apple-darwin"
             ],
             "runner": "macos-11",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=aarch64-apple-darwin"
           },
           {
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ stdout:
               "aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu"
             ],
             "runner": "buildjet-8vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu"
           },
           {
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ stdout:
               "aarch64-unknown-linux-musl"
             ],
             "runner": "buildjet-8vcpu-ubuntu-2204-arm",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=aarch64-unknown-linux-musl",
             "packages_install": "sudo apt-get install musl-tools"
           },
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ stdout:
               "x86_64-apple-darwin"
             ],
             "runner": "macos-11",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=x86_64-apple-darwin"
           },
           {
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ stdout:
               "x86_64-pc-windows-msvc"
             ],
             "runner": "windows-2019",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "irm  https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.ps1 | iex",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc"
           },
           {
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ stdout:
               "x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"
             ],
             "runner": "ubuntu-20.04",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"
           },
           {
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ stdout:
               "x86_64-unknown-linux-musl"
             ],
             "runner": "ubuntu-20.04",
-            "install_dist": "cargo install --git https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/ --branch=main cargo-dist",
+            "install_dist": "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/axodotdev/cargo-dist/releases/download/v1.0.0-FAKEVERSION/cargo-dist-installer.sh | sh",
             "dist_args": "--artifacts=local --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-musl",
             "packages_install": "sudo apt-get install musl-tools"
           }