diff --git a/dvc/exceptions.py b/dvc/exceptions.py
index 3ad8c72b8..62c0a3466 100644
--- a/dvc/exceptions.py
+++ b/dvc/exceptions.py
@@ -352,6 +352,4 @@ class NoOutputInExternalRepoError(DvcException):
 
 class HTTPError(DvcException):
     def __init__(self, code, reason):
-        super(HTTPError, self).__init__(
-            "HTTP error: '{} {}'".format(code, reason)
-        )
+        super(HTTPError, self).__init__("'{} {}'".format(code, reason))
diff --git a/dvc/remote/http.py b/dvc/remote/http.py
index e9ec4f888..bf7e93adb 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/http.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/http.py
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ class RemoteHTTP(RemoteBASE):
             with open(to_file, "wb") as fd:
                 for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=self.CHUNK_SIZE):
                     fd.write(chunk)
-                    fd.flush()
                     pbar.update(len(chunk))
 
     def exists(self, path_info):
diff --git a/tests/unit/remote/test_http.py b/tests/unit/remote/test_http.py
index 924a05ae2..c0d3bd42b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/remote/test_http.py
+++ b/tests/unit/remote/test_http.py
@@ -1,8 +1,3 @@
-try:
-    from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler
-except ImportError:
-    from BaseHTTPServer import BaseHTTPRequestHandler
-
 import pytest
 
 from dvc.config import ConfigError
@@ -24,12 +19,7 @@ def test_no_traverse_compatibility(dvc_repo):
 
 
 def test_download_fails_on_error_code(dvc_repo):
-    class ErrorStatusRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
-        def do_GET(self):
-            self.send_response(404, message="Not found")
-            self.end_headers()
-
-    with StaticFileServer(ErrorStatusRequestHandler) as httpd:
+    with StaticFileServer() as httpd:
         url = "http://localhost:{}/".format(httpd.server_port)
         config = {"url": url}