diff --git a/blender/init.sls b/blender/init.sls
index 8c27e8d..cd61d38 100644
--- a/blender/init.sls
+++ b/blender/init.sls
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 {% from "blender/map.jinja" import blender with context %}
 
-# 1. Download tarball to minion's local cache/tmp directory with custom User-Agent
+# 1. Download tarball via system curl to preserve User-Agent across redirects
 blender_download_tarball:
-  file.managed:
-    - name: /var/tmp/blender-{{ blender.version }}-linux-x64.tar.xz
-    - source: {{ blender.download_url }}
-    - skip_verify: True
-    - http_headers:
-        User-Agent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0'
+  cmd.run:
+    - name: |
+        curl -sSL -A "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0" \
+        -o /var/tmp/blender-{{ blender.version }}-linux-x64.tar.xz \
+        {{ blender.download_url }}
+    - creates: /var/tmp/blender-{{ blender.version }}-linux-x64.tar.xz
     - unless:
       - test -d {{ blender.archive_dir }}
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ blender_extract_tarball:
     - options: '--strip-components=1'
     - if_missing: {{ blender.archive_dir }}/blender
     - require:
-      - file: blender_download_tarball
+      - cmd: blender_download_tarball
 
 # 3. Maintain generic symlink pointing to active version
 blender_opt_symlink:
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ blender_desktop_entry:
     - require:
       - file: blender_opt_symlink
 
-# 6. Optional: Clean up cached tarball after extraction
+# 6. Clean up cached tarball after extraction
 blender_cleanup_tarball:
   file.absent:
     - name: /var/tmp/blender-{{ blender.version }}-linux-x64.tar.xz