diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 0c779e5c..bd5e6684 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ jobs:
             ci/${RELEASE} \
             ci/repository.yml \
             --workspace ${{ runner.temp }}/kmd-ws \
-            --cache ${{ runner.temp }}/kmd-cache \
             --prefix ${{ runner.temp }}/pfx \
             --release ci \
             --locations-config $(realpath ci/locations.yml) \
diff --git a/docs/basic-usage.md b/docs/basic-usage.md
index e2e780d9..e415251a 100644
--- a/docs/basic-usage.md
+++ b/docs/basic-usage.md
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ A full software distribution can then be built and deployed to a specified
 path, e.g. `./builds/stable-0.0.1`, with the following command:
 
 ```bash
-kmd stable.yml repository.yml --prefix builds --release stable-0.0.1 --locations-config locations.yml --cache pip-cache
+kmd stable.yml repository.yml --prefix builds --release stable-0.0.1 --locations-config locations.yml
 ```
 
 To use this environment, type `source builds/stable-0.0.1/enable`.
diff --git a/komodo/cli.py b/komodo/cli.py
index c7af03eb..c29a235d 100755
--- a/komodo/cli.py
+++ b/komodo/cli.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def _main(args):
     data = Data(extra_data_dirs=args.extra_data_dirs)
 
     if args.download or (not args.build and not args.install):
-        git_hashes = fetch(args.pkgs, args.repo, outdir=args.cache, pip=args.pip)
+        git_hashes = fetch(args.pkgs, args.repo, outdir=args.downloads, pip=args.pip)
 
     if args.download and not args.build:
         sys.exit(0)
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def _main(args):
             args.repo,
             data,
             prefix=str(tmp_prefix),
-            dlprefix=args.cache,
+            dlprefix=args.downloads,
             builddir=args.tmp,
             jobs=args.jobs,
             cmk=args.cmake,
@@ -137,8 +137,9 @@ def _main(args):
     shell(f"rm -rf {args.prefix}/{args.release}.delete", sudo=args.sudo)
 
     if args.tmp:
-        # Allows e.g. pip to use this folder as tmpfolder, instead of in some
-        # cases falling back to /tmp, which is undesired when building on nfs.
+        # Allows e.g. pip to use this folder as a destination for "pip
+        # download", instead of in some cases falling back to /tmp, which is
+        # undesired when building on nfs.
         os.environ["TMPDIR"] = args.tmp
 
     release_path = Path(args.prefix) / Path(args.release)
@@ -159,8 +160,9 @@ def _main(args):
             "--no-index",
             "--no-deps",
             "--ignore-installed",
-            f"--cache-dir {args.cache}",
-            f"--find-links {args.cache}",
+            # assuming fetch.py has done "pip download" to this directory:
+            f"--cache-dir {args.downloads}",
+            f"--find-links {args.downloads}",
         ]
         shell_input.append(current.get("makeopts"))
 
@@ -265,11 +267,15 @@ def parse_args(args: List[str]) -> argparse.Namespace:
         "current working directory.",
     )
     optional_args.add_argument(
-        "--cache",
-        "-c",
+        "--downloads",
+        "--cache",  # deprecated
+        "-c",  # deprecated
         type=str,
-        default="pip-cache",
-        help="The temporary directory used for downloads, e.g. by pip.",
+        default="downloads",
+        help="A destination directory relative to the workspace, used for downloads, "
+        "used by pip download, cp, rsync and git clone. This directory "
+        "must be empty if it already exists, otherwise it will be created, "
+        "unless you are running with the --build option.",
     )
     optional_args.add_argument(
         "--jobs",
@@ -282,13 +288,15 @@ def parse_args(args: List[str]) -> argparse.Namespace:
         "--download",
         "-d",
         action="store_true",
-        help="Flag to choose whether to download the packages.",
+        help="If set, packages will be downloaded but nothing will be built, unless "
+        "--build is also included.",
     )
     optional_args.add_argument(
         "--build",
         "-b",
         action="store_true",
-        help="Flag to choose whether to build the packages.",
+        help="Flag to only build. If set and --download is not, "
+        "the downloads directory must already be populated.",
     )
     optional_args.add_argument(
         "--install",
diff --git a/komodo/fetch.py b/komodo/fetch.py
index 3c8453ab..530e3cfd 100644
--- a/komodo/fetch.py
+++ b/komodo/fetch.py
@@ -70,8 +70,12 @@ def fetch(pkgs, repo, outdir, pip="pip") -> dict:
 
     if not outdir:
         raise ValueError(
-            "The value of `outdir`, the cache location for pip and other "
-            "tools, cannot be None or the empty string."
+            "The value of `outdir`, the download destination location "
+            "cannot be None or the empty string."
+        )
+    if os.path.exists(outdir) and os.listdir(outdir):
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            f"Downloading to non-empty directory {outdir} is not supported."
         )
     if not os.path.exists(outdir):
         os.mkdir(outdir)
@@ -171,13 +175,14 @@ def fetch(pkgs, repo, outdir, pip="pip") -> dict:
         "-o",
         type=str,
         required=True,
-        help="The cache location for pip and other tools; will be created.",
+        help="The download destination for pip, cp, rsync and git. "
+        "Must be non-existing or empty.",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--pip",
         type=str,
         default="pip",
-        help="The command to use for downloading.",
+        help="The command to use for downloading pip packages.",
     )
     args = parser.parse_args()
     fetch(args.pkgfile, args.repofile, outdir=args.output, pip=args.pip)
diff --git a/tests/data/cli/nominal_repository.yml b/tests/data/cli/nominal_repository.yml
index 749f107d..26e16970 100644
--- a/tests/data/cli/nominal_repository.yml
+++ b/tests/data/cli/nominal_repository.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ setuptools:
 
 hackres:
   0.0.5289:
-    source: ../hackres # we assume here hackres is copied into cache/..
+    source: ../hackres # we assume here hackres is copied into _work/..
     fetch: fs-cp
     make: sh
     makefile: test_build_script.sh