diff --git a/netutils/cjson/CMakeLists.txt b/netutils/cjson/CMakeLists.txt
index 83a6475cde7..b497e4a0170 100644
--- a/netutils/cjson/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/netutils/cjson/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,12 +30,13 @@ if(CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON)
     set(CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_VERSION "1.7.10")
   endif()
 
+  # GitHub requires refs/tags/ in the archive URL for tag downloads
   if(NOT EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cJSON)
     FetchContent_Declare(
       cJSON
       DOWNLOAD_NAME "v${CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_VERSION}.tar.gz"
       DOWNLOAD_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}
-      URL "${CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_URL}/v${CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+      URL "${CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_URL}/refs/tags/v${CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_VERSION}.tar.gz"
           SOURCE_DIR
           ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cJSON
           BINARY_DIR
diff --git a/netutils/cjson/Makefile b/netutils/cjson/Makefile
index d8993373d2b..683bdb3da95 100644
--- a/netutils/cjson/Makefile
+++ b/netutils/cjson/Makefile
@@ -49,10 +49,12 @@ CSRCS = $(CJSON_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)cJSON.c
 CSRCS += $(CJSON_SRCDIR)$(DELIM)cJSON_Utils.c
 
 # Download and unpack tarball if no git repo found
+# GitHub requires refs/tags/ in the archive URL for tag downloads (see
+# https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/working-with-files/using-files/downloading-source-code-archives)
 ifeq ($(wildcard $(CJSON_UNPACKNAME)/.git),)
 $(CJSON_TARBALL):
 	@echo "Downloading: $(CJSON_TARBALL)"
-	$(Q) curl -O -L $(CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_URL)/$(CJSON_TARBALL)
+	$(Q) curl -O -L $(CONFIG_NETUTILS_CJSON_URL)/refs/tags/$(CJSON_TARBALL)
 
 $(CJSON_UNPACKNAME): $(CJSON_TARBALL)
 	@echo "Unpacking: $(CJSON_TARBALL) -> $(CJSON_UNPACKNAME)"