diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index 077e91995..eb0ad0672 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -53,17 +54,24 @@ func main() {
 func mainRun() exitCode {
 	buildDate := build.Date
 	buildVersion := build.Version
-
-	updateMessageChan := make(chan *update.ReleaseInfo)
-	go func() {
-		rel, _ := checkForUpdate(buildVersion)
-		updateMessageChan <- rel
-	}()
-
 	hasDebug, _ := utils.IsDebugEnabled()
 
 	cmdFactory := factory.New(buildVersion)
 	stderr := cmdFactory.IOStreams.ErrOut
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	updateCtx, updateCancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer updateCancel()
+	updateMessageChan := make(chan *update.ReleaseInfo)
+	go func() {
+		rel, err := checkForUpdate(updateCtx, cmdFactory, buildVersion)
+		if err != nil && hasDebug {
+			fmt.Fprintf(stderr, "warning: checking for update failed: %v", err)
+		}
+		updateMessageChan <- rel
+	}()
+
 	if !cmdFactory.IOStreams.ColorEnabled() {
 		surveyCore.DisableColor = true
 		ansi.DisableColors(true)
@@ -209,7 +217,7 @@ func mainRun() exitCode {
 
 	rootCmd.SetArgs(expandedArgs)
 
-	if cmd, err := rootCmd.ExecuteC(); err != nil {
+	if cmd, err := rootCmd.ExecuteContextC(ctx); err != nil {
 		var pagerPipeError *iostreams.ErrClosedPagerPipe
 		var noResultsError cmdutil.NoResultsError
 		if err == cmdutil.SilentError {
@@ -257,6 +265,7 @@ func mainRun() exitCode {
 		return exitError
 	}
 
+	updateCancel() // if the update checker hasn't completed by now, abort it
 	newRelease := <-updateMessageChan
 	if newRelease != nil {
 		isHomebrew := isUnderHomebrew(cmdFactory.Executable())
@@ -348,21 +357,17 @@ func isCI() bool {
 		os.Getenv("RUN_ID") != "" // TaskCluster, dsari
 }
 
-func checkForUpdate(currentVersion string) (*update.ReleaseInfo, error) {
+func checkForUpdate(ctx context.Context, f *cmdutil.Factory, currentVersion string) (*update.ReleaseInfo, error) {
 	if !shouldCheckForUpdate() {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	httpClient, err := api.NewHTTPClient(api.HTTPClientOptions{
-		AppVersion: currentVersion,
-		Log:        os.Stderr,
-	})
+	httpClient, err := f.HttpClient()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	client := api.NewClientFromHTTP(httpClient)
 	repo := updaterEnabled
 	stateFilePath := filepath.Join(config.StateDir(), "state.yml")
-	return update.CheckForUpdate(client, stateFilePath, repo, currentVersion)
+	return update.CheckForUpdate(ctx, httpClient, stateFilePath, repo, currentVersion)
 }
 
 func isRecentRelease(publishedAt time.Time) bool {
diff --git a/internal/update/update.go b/internal/update/update.go
index e9ada22f6..6d69eeada 100644
--- a/internal/update/update.go
+++ b/internal/update/update.go
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 package update
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
@@ -9,8 +13,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/api"
-	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/ghinstance"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
@@ -30,13 +32,13 @@ type StateEntry struct {
 }
 
 // CheckForUpdate checks whether this software has had a newer release on GitHub
-func CheckForUpdate(client *api.Client, stateFilePath, repo, currentVersion string) (*ReleaseInfo, error) {
+func CheckForUpdate(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, stateFilePath, repo, currentVersion string) (*ReleaseInfo, error) {
 	stateEntry, _ := getStateEntry(stateFilePath)
 	if stateEntry != nil && time.Since(stateEntry.CheckedForUpdateAt).Hours() < 24 {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 
-	releaseInfo, err := getLatestReleaseInfo(client, repo)
+	releaseInfo, err := getLatestReleaseInfo(ctx, client, repo)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -53,13 +55,27 @@ func CheckForUpdate(client *api.Client, stateFilePath, repo, currentVersion stri
 	return nil, nil
 }
 
-func getLatestReleaseInfo(client *api.Client, repo string) (*ReleaseInfo, error) {
-	var latestRelease ReleaseInfo
-	err := client.REST(ghinstance.Default(), "GET", fmt.Sprintf("repos/%s/releases/latest", repo), nil, &latestRelease)
+func getLatestReleaseInfo(ctx context.Context, client *http.Client, repo string) (*ReleaseInfo, error) {
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", fmt.Sprintf("https://api.github.com/repos/%s/releases/latest", repo), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-
+	res, err := client.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_, _ = io.Copy(io.Discard, res.Body)
+		res.Body.Close()
+	}()
+	if res.StatusCode != 200 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected HTTP %d", res.StatusCode)
+	}
+	dec := json.NewDecoder(res.Body)
+	var latestRelease ReleaseInfo
+	if err := dec.Decode(&latestRelease); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return &latestRelease, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/update/update_test.go b/internal/update/update_test.go
index 96dce4f2a..bb514adfc 100644
--- a/internal/update/update_test.go
+++ b/internal/update/update_test.go
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 package update
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/api"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/httpmock"
 )
 
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ func TestCheckForUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			reg := &httpmock.Registry{}
 			httpClient := &http.Client{}
 			httpmock.ReplaceTripper(httpClient, reg)
-			client := api.NewClientFromHTTP(httpClient)
 
 			reg.Register(
 				httpmock.REST("GET", "repos/OWNER/REPO/releases/latest"),
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ func TestCheckForUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				}`, s.LatestVersion, s.LatestURL)),
 			)
 
-			rel, err := CheckForUpdate(client, tempFilePath(), "OWNER/REPO", s.CurrentVersion)
+			rel, err := CheckForUpdate(context.TODO(), httpClient, tempFilePath(), "OWNER/REPO", s.CurrentVersion)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}