diff --git a/nerfstudio/utils/install_checks.py b/nerfstudio/utils/install_checks.py
index 23351a1b2..05e505d4e 100644
--- a/nerfstudio/utils/install_checks.py
+++ b/nerfstudio/utils/install_checks.py
@@ -39,3 +39,11 @@ def check_colmap_installed():
         CONSOLE.print("[bold red]Could not find COLMAP. Please install COLMAP.")
         print("See https://colmap.github.io/install.html for installation instructions.")
         sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def check_curl_installed():
+    """Checks if curl is installed."""
+    curl_path = shutil.which("curl")
+    if curl_path is None:
+        CONSOLE.print("[bold red]Could not find [yellow]curl[red], Please install [yellow]curl")
+        sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/scripts/downloads/download_data.py b/scripts/downloads/download_data.py
index 12a0a0227..89c77391f 100755
--- a/scripts/downloads/download_data.py
+++ b/scripts/downloads/download_data.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from rich.console import Console
 from typing_extensions import Annotated
 
 from nerfstudio.configs.base_config import PrintableConfig
+from nerfstudio.utils import install_checks
 from nerfstudio.utils.scripts import run_command
 
 CONSOLE = Console(width=120)
@@ -212,6 +213,7 @@ class DNerfDownload(DatasetDownload):
         """Download the D-NeRF dataset (https://github.com/albertpumarola/D-NeRF)."""
         # TODO: give this code the same structure as download_nerfstudio
 
+        install_checks.check_curl_installed()
         final_path = save_dir / Path("dnerf")
         if os.path.exists(final_path):
             shutil.rmtree(str(final_path))
@@ -253,6 +255,7 @@ class PhototourismDownload(DatasetDownload):
     def download(self, save_dir: Path):
         """Download a PhotoTourism dataset: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~kmyi/imw2020/data.html"""
 
+        install_checks.check_curl_installed()
         if self.capture_name == "all":
             for capture_name in phototourism_downloads:
                 if capture_name != "all":