diff --git a/reframe/core/pipeline.py b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
index 6545f97aea..881a7609fb 100644
--- a/reframe/core/pipeline.py
+++ b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
@@ -842,7 +842,8 @@ def _rfm_init(self, name=None, prefix=None):
 
         # Static directories of the regression check
         self._prefix = os.path.abspath(prefix)
-        if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(self._prefix, self.sourcesdir)):
+        if (not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(self._prefix, self.sourcesdir)) and
+            not osext.is_url(self.sourcesdir)):
             self.sourcesdir = None
 
         # Runtime information of the test