diff --git a/boa/core/solver.py b/boa/core/solver.py
index d8aa2efc..7779c7a9 100644
--- a/boa/core/solver.py
+++ b/boa/core/solver.py
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ def __init__(self, channels, platform, output_folder=None):
         self.output_folder = output_folder or "local"
         self.pool = libmambapy.Pool()
         self.repos = []
+
         self.index = load_channels(
             self.pool, self.channels, self.repos, platform=platform
         )
diff --git a/boa/core/utils.py b/boa/core/utils.py
index 3b632693..31768285 100644
--- a/boa/core/utils.py
+++ b/boa/core/utils.py
@@ -216,6 +216,9 @@ def fixup_channel_spec(spec):
                 channel, channel_platform, full_url, pkgs_dirs, repodata_fn
             )
 
+            sd.download_and_check_targets(dlist)
+            sd.finalize_checks()
+
             index.append(
                 (sd, {"platform": channel_platform, "url": url, "channel": channel})
             )