diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ea287db..b64d4b5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ Once this is complete, you should be able to run the test suite:
 rake
 ```
 
+There are some remote tests that are excluded by default. To run those, run
+
+```
+bundle exec rspec --tag remote
+```
+
 ## Bug Reporting
 
 Please use the [Issues](https://github.com/pythonicrubyist/creek/issues) page to report bugs or suggest new enhancements.
diff --git a/creek.gemspec b/creek.gemspec
index 7ad309f..e261388 100644
--- a/creek.gemspec
+++ b/creek.gemspec
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency "bundler", "~> 1.3"
   spec.add_development_dependency "rake"
   spec.add_development_dependency 'rspec', '~> 3.6.0'
-  spec.add_development_dependency 'pry'
+  spec.add_development_dependency 'pry-byebug'
 
   spec.add_dependency 'nokogiri', '>= 1.7.0'
   spec.add_dependency 'rubyzip', '>= 1.0.0'
-  spec.add_dependency 'http', '~> 4.0'
 end
diff --git a/lib/creek/book.rb b/lib/creek/book.rb
index 613cac6..061b935 100644
--- a/lib/creek/book.rb
+++ b/lib/creek/book.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'zip/filesystem'
 require 'nokogiri'
 require 'date'
-require 'http'
+require 'open-uri'
 
 module Creek
 
@@ -20,13 +20,7 @@ def initialize path, options = {}
         extension = File.extname(options[:original_filename] || path).downcase
         raise 'Not a valid file format.' unless (['.xlsx', '.xlsm'].include? extension)
       end
-      if options[:remote]
-        zipfile = Tempfile.new("file")
-        zipfile.binmode
-        zipfile.write(HTTP.get(path).to_s)
-        zipfile.close
-        path = zipfile.path
-      end
+      path = download_file(path) if options[:remote]
       @files = Zip::File.open(path)
       @shared_strings = SharedStrings.new(self)
     end
@@ -79,5 +73,20 @@ def base_date
         result
       end
     end
+
+    private
+
+    def download_file(url)
+      # OpenUri will return a StringIO if under OpenURI::Buffer::StringMax
+      # threshold, and a Tempfile if over.
+      downloaded = URI(url).open
+      if downloaded.is_a? StringIO
+        path = Tempfile.new(['creek-file', '.xlsx']).path
+        File.binwrite(path, downloaded.read)
+        path
+      else
+        downloaded.path
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 13f918c..ed04310 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
 require 'creek'
 require 'pry'
+require 'time'
 
+RSpec.configure do |config|
+  config.filter_run_excluding remote: true
+end
diff --git a/spec/test_spec.rb b/spec/test_spec.rb
index 2ba1ebb..dabb932 100644
--- a/spec/test_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/test_spec.rb
@@ -106,6 +106,20 @@
     expect(@creek).not_to be_nil
   end
 
+  it 'opens small remote files successfully', remote: true do
+    url = 'https://file-examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/file_example_XLSX_10.xlsx'
+    @creek = Creek::Book.new(url, remote: true)
+
+    expect(@creek.sheets[0]).to be_a Creek::Sheet
+  end
+
+  it 'opens large remote files successfully', remote: true do
+    url = 'http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/docs/BanaianZooExample.xlsx'
+    @creek = Creek::Book.new(url, remote: true)
+
+    expect(@creek.sheets[0]).to be_a Creek::Sheet
+  end
+
   it 'find sheets successfully.' do
     expect(@creek.sheets.count).to eq(1)
     sheet = @creek.sheets.first