diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18bcf88e9..647340709 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -223,6 +223,13 @@ same major line. Should you need to upgrade to a new major, use an explicit
   not to lookup on the remote registry for the latest version of the selected
   package manager.
 
+- `COREPACK_ENABLE_EXPLICIT_VALIDATION_BEFORE_DOWNLOAD` can be set to `0` to
+  prevent Corepack from asking for validation before downloading software from
+  the network, or on the contrary set to `1` to force Corepack to ask for
+  explicit consent. By default, Corepack will ask for explicit consent only when
+  Corepack is used implicitly (i.e. `corepack pnpm …` won't ask for explicit
+  consent, `pnpm …` would).
+
 - `COREPACK_ENABLE_NETWORK` can be set to `0` to prevent Corepack from accessing
   the network (in which case you'll be responsible for hydrating the package
   manager versions that will be required for the projects you'll run, using
diff --git a/mkshims.ts b/mkshims.ts
index fde6dacac..dec096ddc 100644
--- a/mkshims.ts
+++ b/mkshims.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ async function main() {
   const corepackPath = path.join(distDir, `corepack.js`);
   fs.writeFileSync(corepackPath, [
     `#!/usr/bin/env node`,
+    `process.env.COREPACK_ENABLE_EXPLICIT_VALIDATION_BEFORE_DOWNLOAD??='0'`,
     `require('./lib/corepack.cjs').runMain(process.argv.slice(2));`,
   ].join(`\n`));
   fs.chmodSync(corepackPath, 0o755);
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ async function main() {
       const entryPath = path.join(distDir, `${binaryName}.js`);
       const entryScript = [
         `#!/usr/bin/env node`,
+        `process.env.COREPACK_ENABLE_EXPLICIT_VALIDATION_BEFORE_DOWNLOAD??='1'`,
         `require('./lib/corepack.cjs').runMain(['${binaryName}', ...process.argv.slice(2)]);`,
       ].join(`\n`);
 
diff --git a/sources/httpUtils.ts b/sources/httpUtils.ts
index 48d89ed46..a2935c762 100644
--- a/sources/httpUtils.ts
+++ b/sources/httpUtils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-import {UsageError}                     from 'clipanion';
-import {RequestOptions}                 from 'https';
-import {IncomingMessage, ClientRequest} from 'http';
+import {UsageError}                          from 'clipanion';
+import {once}                                from 'events';
+import type {RequestOptions}                 from 'https';
+import type {IncomingMessage, ClientRequest} from 'http';
+import {stderr, stdin}                       from 'process';
 
 export async function fetchUrlStream(url: string, options: RequestOptions = {}) {
   if (process.env.COREPACK_ENABLE_NETWORK === `0`)
@@ -12,7 +14,19 @@ export async function fetchUrlStream(url: string, options: RequestOptions = {})
 
   const proxyAgent = new ProxyAgent();
 
-  console.log(`Corepack: Fetching ${url}...`);
+  if (process.env.COREPACK_ENABLE_EXPLICIT_VALIDATION_BEFORE_DOWNLOAD !== `0`) {
+    console.error(`Corepack is about to download ${url}.`);
+    stderr.write(`\nDo you want to continue? [Y/n] `);
+    stdin.resume();
+    const chars = await once(stdin, `data`);
+    stdin.pause();
+    if (
+      chars[0][0] === 0x6e || // n
+      chars[0][0] === 0x4e // N
+    ) {
+      throw new UsageError(`Aborted by the user`);
+    }
+  }
 
   return new Promise<IncomingMessage>((resolve, reject) => {
     const createRequest = (url: string) => {