diff --git a/internal/getproviders/registry_client.go b/internal/getproviders/registry_client.go
index 1ee561be6..fd96c65de 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/registry_client.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/registry_client.go
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ func (c *registryClient) PackageMeta(provider addrs.Provider, version Version, t
 			OS:   body.OS,
 			Arch: body.Arch,
 		},
-		Filename:    body.Filename,
-		DownloadURL: body.DownloadURL,
+		Filename: body.Filename,
+		Location: PackageHTTPURL(body.DownloadURL),
 		// SHA256Sum is populated below
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/getproviders/registry_source.go b/internal/getproviders/registry_source.go
index 3e45f6aab..13f5e8d96 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/registry_source.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/registry_source.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ type RegistrySource struct {
 	services *disco.Disco
 }
 
+var _ Source = (*RegistrySource)(nil)
+
 // NewRegistrySource creates and returns a new source that will install
 // providers from their originating provider registries.
 func NewRegistrySource(services *disco.Disco) *RegistrySource {
@@ -60,11 +62,11 @@ func (s *RegistrySource) AvailableVersions(provider addrs.Provider) (VersionList
 	return ret, nil
 }
 
-// DownloadLocation returns metadata about the location and capabilities of
+// PackageMeta returns metadata about the location and capabilities of
 // a distribution package for a particular provider at a particular version
 // targeting a particular platform.
 //
-// Callers of DownloadLocation should first call AvailableVersions and pass
+// Callers of PackageMeta should first call AvailableVersions and pass
 // one of the resulting versions to this function. This function cannot
 // distinguish between a version that is not available and an unsupported
 // target platform, so if it encounters either case it will return an error
@@ -73,13 +75,13 @@ func (s *RegistrySource) AvailableVersions(provider addrs.Provider) (VersionList
 //
 // To find a package suitable for the platform where the provider installation
 // process is running, set the "target" argument to
-// findproviders.CurrentPlatform.
+// getproviders.CurrentPlatform.
 //
 // If the request fails, the returned error might be an value of
 // ErrHostNoProviders, ErrHostUnreachable, ErrUnauthenticated,
 // ErrPlatformNotSupported, or ErrQueryFailed. Callers must be defensive and
 // expect errors of other types too, to allow for future expansion.
-func (s *RegistrySource) DownloadLocation(provider addrs.Provider, version Version, target Platform) (PackageMeta, error) {
+func (s *RegistrySource) PackageMeta(provider addrs.Provider, version Version, target Platform) (PackageMeta, error) {
 	client, err := s.registryClient(provider.Hostname)
 	if err != nil {
 		return PackageMeta{}, err
diff --git a/internal/getproviders/registry_source_test.go b/internal/getproviders/registry_source_test.go
index de40fd0e0..943112086 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/registry_source_test.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/registry_source_test.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func TestSourceAvailableVersions(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
-func TestSourceDownloadLocation(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSourcePackageMeta(t *testing.T) {
 	source, close := testRegistrySource(t)
 	defer close()
 
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func TestSourceDownloadLocation(t *testing.T) {
 				ProtocolVersions: VersionList{versions.MustParseVersion("5.0.0")},
 				TargetPlatform:   Platform{"linux", "amd64"},
 				Filename:         "happycloud_1.2.0.zip",
-				DownloadURL:      "/pkg/happycloud_1.2.0.zip",
+				Location:         PackageHTTPURL("/pkg/happycloud_1.2.0.zip"),
 				SHA256Sum:        [32]uint8{30: 0xf0, 31: 0x0d}, // fake registry uses a memorable sum
 			},
 			``,
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ func TestSourceDownloadLocation(t *testing.T) {
 
 			version := versions.MustParseVersion(test.version)
 
-			got, err := source.DownloadLocation(providerAddr, version, Platform{test.os, test.arch})
+			got, err := source.PackageMeta(providerAddr, version, Platform{test.os, test.arch})
 
 			if err != nil {
 				if test.wantErr == "" {
diff --git a/internal/getproviders/source.go b/internal/getproviders/source.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2921e2d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/getproviders/source.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package getproviders
+
+import (
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/addrs"
+)
+
+// A Source can query a particular source for information about providers
+// that are available to install.
+type Source interface {
+	AvailableVersions(provider addrs.Provider) (VersionList, error)
+	PackageMeta(provider addrs.Provider, version Version, target Platform) (PackageMeta, error)
+}
diff --git a/internal/getproviders/types.go b/internal/getproviders/types.go
index 2162315b0..b2faf3808 100644
--- a/internal/getproviders/types.go
+++ b/internal/getproviders/types.go
@@ -51,9 +51,30 @@ type PackageMeta struct {
 	ProtocolVersions VersionList
 	TargetPlatform   Platform
 
-	Filename    string
-	DownloadURL string
-	SHA256Sum   [sha256.Size]byte
+	Filename  string
+	Location  PackageLocation
+	SHA256Sum [sha256.Size]byte
 
 	// TODO: Extra metadata for signature verification
 }
+
+// PackageLocation represents a location where a provider distribution package
+// can be obtained. A value of this type contains either a PackageLocalPath or a
+// PackageHTTPURL value.
+type PackageLocation interface {
+	packageLocation()
+}
+
+// PackageLocalPath is a provider package location in the local filesystem.
+// Its value is a local filesystem path using the syntax understood by Go's
+// standard path/filepath package on the operating system where Terraform is
+// running.
+type PackageLocalPath string
+
+func (p PackageLocalPath) packageLocation() {}
+
+// PackageHTTPURL is a provider package location accessible via HTTP.
+// Its value is a URL string using either the http: scheme or the https: scheme.
+type PackageHTTPURL string
+
+func (p PackageHTTPURL) packageLocation() {}