diff --git a/hack/install_golangci.sh b/hack/install_golangci.sh
index 7385e230da..fa3652eab1 100755
--- a/hack/install_golangci.sh
+++ b/hack/install_golangci.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@
 # This script is intended to be a convenience, to be called from the
 # Makefile `.install.golangci-lint` target.  Any other usage is not recommended.
 
-die() { echo "${1:-No error message given} (from $(basename $0))"; exit 1; }
+die() { echo "${1:-No error message given} (from $(basename "$0"))"; exit 1; }
 
 [ -n "$VERSION" ] || die "\$VERSION is empty or undefined"
 
+# Strip the leading v, if found.
+VERSION=${VERSION#v}
+
 function install() {
     local retry=$1
 
@@ -14,27 +17,20 @@ function install() {
     if [[ $retry -ne 0 ]]; then
         msg+=" - retry #$retry"
     fi
-    echo $msg
+    echo "$msg"
 
-    curl -sSL --retry 5 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh | sh -s v$VERSION
+    curl -sSfL --retry 5 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/HEAD/install.sh | sh -s -- -b $BINDIR "v$VERSION"
 }
 
-# Undocumented behavior: golangci-lint installer requires $BINDIR in env,
-# will default to ./bin but we can't rely on that.
-export BINDIR="./bin"
+BINDIR="./bin"
 BIN="$BINDIR/golangci-lint"
-if [ ! -x "$BIN" ]; then
-    # This flakes much too frequently with "crit unable to find v1.51.1"
-    for retry in $(seq 0 5); do
-	install $retry && exit 0
-        sleep 5
-    done
-else
-    # Prints its own file name as part of --version output
-    $BIN --version | grep "$VERSION"
-    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-        echo "Using existing $BINDIR/$($BIN --version)"
-    else
-        install
-    fi
+if [ -x "$BIN" ] && $BIN --version | grep "$VERSION"; then
+    echo "Using existing $BIN"
+    exit 0
 fi
+
+# This flakes much too frequently with "crit unable to find v1.51.1"
+for retry in $(seq 0 5); do
+    install "$retry" && exit 0
+    sleep 5
+done