diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/vendor-install.sh b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/vendor-install.sh
index 8aba2174e5bad..5a734a2db4bb4 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/vendor-install.sh
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/vendor-install.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,15 @@ fetch() {
   local sha
   local temporary_path
 
-  curl_args=(
+  curl_args=()
+
+  # do not load .curlrc unless requested (must be the first argument)
+  if [[ -n "$HOMEBREW_CURLRC" ]]
+  then
+    curl_args[${#curl_args[*]}]="-q"
+  fi
+
+  curl_args+=(
     --fail
     --remote-time
     --location
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/diagnostic.rb b/Library/Homebrew/diagnostic.rb
index 18808033f5e13..736f35ff19786 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/diagnostic.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/diagnostic.rb
@@ -480,21 +480,6 @@ def check_user_path_3
         EOS
       end
 
-      def check_user_curlrc
-        curlrc_found = %w[CURL_HOME HOME].any? do |var|
-          ENV[var] && File.exist?("#{ENV[var]}/.curlrc")
-        end
-        return unless curlrc_found
-
-        <<~EOS
-          You have a curlrc file
-          If you have trouble downloading packages with Homebrew, then maybe this
-          is the problem? If the following command doesn't work, then try removing
-          your curlrc:
-            curl #{Formatter.url("https://github.com")}
-        EOS
-      end
-
       def check_for_gettext
         find_relative_paths("lib/libgettextlib.dylib",
                             "lib/libintl.dylib",
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/manpages/brew.1.md.erb b/Library/Homebrew/manpages/brew.1.md.erb
index a4854cc67c5be..638117044ee46 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/manpages/brew.1.md.erb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/manpages/brew.1.md.erb
@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ can take several different forms:
 
     *Default:* `~/Library/Caches/Homebrew`.
 
+  * `HOMEBREW_CURLRC`:
+    If set, Homebrew will not pass `-q` when invoking `curl`(1) (which disables
+    the use of `curlrc`).
+
   * `HOMEBREW_CURL_VERBOSE`:
     If set, Homebrew will pass `--verbose` when invoking `curl`(1).
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/diagnostic_spec.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/diagnostic_spec.rb
index 8f82e71b1fb17..52e7d3a392ed9 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/diagnostic_spec.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/diagnostic_spec.rb
@@ -131,15 +131,6 @@
     end
   end
 
-  specify "#check_user_curlrc" do
-    mktmpdir do |path|
-      FileUtils.touch "#{path}/.curlrc"
-      ENV["CURL_HOME"] = path
-
-      expect(subject.check_user_curlrc).to match("You have a curlrc file")
-    end
-  end
-
   specify "#check_for_config_scripts" do
     mktmpdir do |path|
       file = "#{path}/foo-config"
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/utils/curl_spec.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/utils/curl_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7e3cc18f7a3f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/utils/curl_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+require "utils/curl"
+
+describe "curl" do
+  describe "curl_args" do
+    it "returns -q as the first argument when HOMEBREW_CURLRC is set" do
+      ENV["HOMEBREW_CURLRC"] = "1"
+      # -q must be the first argument according to "man curl"
+      expect(curl_args("foo")[1]).to eq("-q")
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't return -q as the first argument when HOMEBREW_CURLRC is not set" do
+      expect(curl_args("foo")[1]).to_not eq("-q")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/curl.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils/curl.rb
index 7b2488ec72dbb..5e2c1c98d857f 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils/curl.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/curl.rb
@@ -12,10 +12,14 @@ def curl_executable
 end
 
 def curl_args(*extra_args, show_output: false, user_agent: :default)
-  args = [
-    curl_executable.to_s,
-    "--show-error",
-  ]
+  args = [curl_executable.to_s]
+
+  # do not load .curlrc unless requested (must be the first argument)
+  if ENV["HOMEBREW_CURLRC"]
+    args << "-q"
+  end
+
+  args << "--show-error"
 
   args << "--user-agent" << case user_agent
   when :browser, :fake
diff --git a/docs/Manpage.md b/docs/Manpage.md
index 8d0408d7ba2df..e75fdcda9a9de 100644
--- a/docs/Manpage.md
+++ b/docs/Manpage.md
@@ -1110,6 +1110,10 @@ can take several different forms:
 
     *Default:* `~/Library/Caches/Homebrew`.
 
+  * `HOMEBREW_CURLRC`:
+    If set, Homebrew will not pass `-q` when invoking `curl`(1) (which disables
+    the use of `curlrc`).
+
   * `HOMEBREW_CURL_VERBOSE`:
     If set, Homebrew will pass `--verbose` when invoking `curl`(1).
 
diff --git a/manpages/brew-cask.1 b/manpages/brew-cask.1
index 6b32a90518676..346c45d6a81e8 100644
--- a/manpages/brew-cask.1
+++ b/manpages/brew-cask.1
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .\" generated with Ronn/v0.7.3
 .\" http://github.com/rtomayko/ronn/tree/0.7.3
 .
-.TH "BREW\-CASK" "1" "March 2018" "Homebrew" "brew-cask"
+.TH "BREW\-CASK" "1" "April 2018" "Homebrew" "brew-cask"
 .
 .SH "NAME"
 \fBbrew\-cask\fR \- a friendly binary installer for macOS
diff --git a/manpages/brew.1 b/manpages/brew.1
index 163b2e4560485..69f0b31ab76a3 100644
--- a/manpages/brew.1
+++ b/manpages/brew.1
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 .\" generated with Ronn/v0.7.3
 .\" http://github.com/rtomayko/ronn/tree/0.7.3
 .
-.TH "BREW" "1" "March 2018" "Homebrew" "brew"
+.TH "BREW" "1" "April 2018" "Homebrew" "brew"
 .
 .SH "NAME"
 \fBbrew\fR \- The missing package manager for macOS
@@ -1128,6 +1128,10 @@ If set, instructs Homebrew to use the given directory as the download cache\.
 \fIDefault:\fR \fB~/Library/Caches/Homebrew\fR\.
 .
 .TP
+\fBHOMEBREW_CURLRC\fR
+If set, Homebrew will not pass \fB\-q\fR when invoking \fBcurl\fR(1) (which disables the use of \fBcurlrc\fR)\.
+.
+.TP
 \fBHOMEBREW_CURL_VERBOSE\fR
 If set, Homebrew will pass \fB\-\-verbose\fR when invoking \fBcurl\fR(1)\.
 .