diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 412d011f..b9b5ee10 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ dist/
 .rubygems/pkg/
 .rubygems/libexec/
 .npm/bin/
+!.npm/bin/*.js
 package.json
+!.npm/package.json
 node_modules/
 yarn.lock
 package-lock.json
diff --git a/.npm/bin/index.js b/.npm/bin/index.js
index 2e64e83e..8ec5ffff 100755
--- a/.npm/bin/index.js
+++ b/.npm/bin/index.js
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
 var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
-const { getExePath } = require('../get-exe');
+const path = require("path")
+const extension = ["win32", "cygwin"].includes(process.platform) ? ".exe" : ""
+const exePath = path.join(__dirname, `lefthook${extension}`)
 
 var command_args = process.argv.slice(2);
-
 var child = spawn(
-    getExePath(),
+    exePath,
     command_args,
     { stdio: "inherit" });
 
diff --git a/.npm/get-exe.js b/.npm/get-exe.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 217578ba..00000000
--- a/.npm/get-exe.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-const path = require("path")
-
-function getExePath() {
-  // Detect OS
-  // https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_platform
-  let goOS = process.platform;
-  let extension = '';
-  if (['win32', 'cygwin'].includes(process.platform)) {
-    goOS = 'windows';
-    extension = '.exe';
-  }
-
-  // Detect architecture
-  // https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_arch
-  let goArch = process.arch;
-  switch (process.arch) {
-    case 'x64': {
-      goArch = 'amd64';
-      break;
-    }
-    case 'x32':
-    case 'ia32': {
-      goArch = '386';
-      break;
-    }
-  }
-
-  const dir = path.join(__dirname, 'bin');
-  const executable = path.join(
-    dir,
-    `lefthook_${goOS}_${goArch}`,
-    `lefthook${extension}`
-  );
-  return executable;
-}
-exports.getExePath = getExePath;
diff --git a/.npm/install.js b/.npm/install.js
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a9cb9919
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.npm/install.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+const { spawnSync } = require("child_process")
+
+const iswin = ["win32", "cygwin"].includes(process.platform)
+
+async function install() {
+  if (process.env.CI) {
+    return
+  }
+  const exePath = await downloadBinary()
+  if (!iswin) {
+    const { chmodSync } = require("fs")
+    chmodSync(exePath, "755")
+  }
+  // run install
+  spawnSync(exePath, ["install", "-f"], {
+    cwd: process.env.INIT_CWD || process.cwd,
+    stdio: "inherit",
+  })
+}
+
+function getDownloadURL() {
+  // Detect OS
+  // https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_platform
+  let goOS = process.platform
+  let extension = ""
+  if (iswin) {
+    goOS = "windows"
+    extension = ".exe"
+  }
+
+  // Convert the goOS to the os name in the download URL
+  let downloadOS = goOS === "darwin" ? "macOS" : goOS
+  downloadOS = `${downloadOS.charAt(0).toUpperCase()}${downloadOS.slice(1)}`
+
+  // Detect architecture
+  // https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_arch
+  let arch = process.arch
+  switch (process.arch) {
+    case "x64": {
+      arch = "x86_64"
+      break
+    }
+    case "x32":
+    case "ia32": {
+      arch = "i386"
+      break
+    }
+  }
+  const version = require("./package.json").version
+
+  return `https://github.com/evilmartians/lefthook/releases/download/v${version}/lefthook_${version}_${downloadOS}_${arch}${extension}`
+}
+
+const { DownloaderHelper } = require("node-downloader-helper")
+const path = require("path")
+
+async function downloadBinary() {
+  // TODO zip the binaries to reduce the download size
+  const downloadURL = getDownloadURL()
+  const extension = iswin ? ".exe" : ""
+  const fileName = `lefthook${extension}`
+  const binDir = path.join(__dirname, "bin")
+  const dl = new DownloaderHelper(downloadURL, binDir, {
+    fileName,
+    retry: { maxRetries: 5, delay: 50 },
+  })
+  dl.on("end", () => console.log("lefthook binary was downloaded"))
+  try {
+    await dl.start()
+  } catch(e) {
+    const message = `Failed to download ${fileName}: ${e.message} while fetching ${downloadURL}`
+    console.error(message)
+    throw new Error(message)
+  }
+  return path.join(binDir, fileName)
+}
+
+// start:
+install().catch((e) => {
+  throw e
+})
diff --git a/.npm/package.json b/.npm/package.json
index 042b6cbe..f97b3709 100644
--- a/.npm/package.json
+++ b/.npm/package.json
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
     "x32"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "postinstall": "node postinstall.js"
+    "install": "node install.js"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "node-downloader-helper": "^1.0.18"
   }
 }
diff --git a/.npm/postinstall.js b/.npm/postinstall.js
deleted file mode 100755
index 68708d9d..00000000
--- a/.npm/postinstall.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-if (!process.env.CI) {
-  const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
-  const { getExePath } = require('./get-exe');
-
-  // run install
-  spawnSync(getExePath(), ['install', '-f'], {
-    cwd: process.env.INIT_CWD || process.cwd,
-    stdio: 'inherit',
-  });
-}