diff --git a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/IndexUtils.hs b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/IndexUtils.hs
index 2dc7d37e2..945afcc0a 100644
--- a/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/IndexUtils.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/src/Distribution/Client/IndexUtils.hs
@@ -430,16 +430,15 @@ readRepoIndex
   -> IO (PackageIndex UnresolvedSourcePackage, [Dependency], IndexStateInfo)
 readRepoIndex verbosity repoCtxt repo idxState =
   handleNotFound $ do
-    ret@(_, _, isi) <-
-      readPackageIndexCacheFile
-        verbosity
-        mkAvailablePackage
-        (RepoIndex repoCtxt repo)
-        idxState
-    when (isRepoRemote repo) $ do
-      warnIfIndexIsOld =<< getIndexFileAge repo
-      dieIfRequestedIdxIsNewer isi
-    pure ret
+    when (isRepoRemote repo) $ warnIfIndexIsOld =<< getIndexFileAge repo
+    -- note that if this step fails due to a bad repo cache, the the procedure can still succeed by reading from the existing cache, which is updated regardless.
+    updateRepoIndexCache verbosity (RepoIndex repoCtxt repo)
+      `catchIO` (\e -> warn verbosity $ "unable to update the repo index cache -- " ++ displayException e)
+    readPackageIndexCacheFile
+      verbosity
+      mkAvailablePackage
+      (RepoIndex repoCtxt repo)
+      idxState
   where
     mkAvailablePackage pkgEntry =
       SourcePackage
@@ -460,8 +459,8 @@ readRepoIndex verbosity repoCtxt repo idxState =
       if isDoesNotExistError e
         then do
           case repo of
-            RepoRemote{..} -> dieWithException verbosity $ MissingPackageList repoRemote
-            RepoSecure{..} -> dieWithException verbosity $ MissingPackageList repoRemote
+            RepoRemote{..} -> warn verbosity $ errMissingPackageList repoRemote
+            RepoSecure{..} -> warn verbosity $ errMissingPackageList repoRemote
             RepoLocalNoIndex local _ ->
               warn verbosity $
                 "Error during construction of local+noindex "
@@ -479,15 +478,10 @@ readRepoIndex verbosity repoCtxt repo idxState =
         RepoSecure{..} -> warn verbosity $ warnOutdatedPackageList repoRemote dt
         RepoLocalNoIndex{} -> return ()
 
-    dieIfRequestedIdxIsNewer isi =
-      let latestTime = isiHeadTime isi
-       in case idxState of
-            IndexStateTime t -> when (t > latestTime) $ case repo of
-              RepoSecure{..} ->
-                dieWithException verbosity $ UnusableIndexState repoRemote latestTime t
-              RepoRemote{} -> pure ()
-              RepoLocalNoIndex{} -> return ()
-            IndexStateHead -> pure ()
+    errMissingPackageList repoRemote =
+      "The package list for '"
+        ++ unRepoName (remoteRepoName repoRemote)
+        ++ "' does not exist. Run 'cabal update' to download it."
 
     warnOutdatedPackageList repoRemote dt =
       "The package list for '"