diff --git a/src/cli/services/__tests__/linter.test.ts b/src/cli/services/__tests__/linter.test.ts
index 212e71a8b..2fcc83b66 100644
--- a/src/cli/services/__tests__/linter.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/services/__tests__/linter.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import { ValidationError } from '../../../ruleset/validation';
 import { ILintConfig } from '../../../types/config';
 import lintCommand from '../../commands/lint';
 import { lint } from '../linter';
+import * as http from 'http';
+import * as url from 'url';
+import { DEFAULT_REQUEST_OPTIONS } from '../../../request';
+import * as ProxyAgent from 'proxy-agent';
 
 jest.mock('../output');
 
@@ -803,4 +807,59 @@ describe('Linter service', () => {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  describe('proxy', () => {
+    let server: http.Server;
+    const PORT = 4001;
+
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      // nock cannot mock proxied requests
+      server = http
+        .createServer((req, res) => {
+          const { pathname } = url.parse(String(req.url));
+          if (pathname === '/custom-ruleset') {
+            res.writeHead(403);
+          } else if (pathname === '/ok.json') {
+            res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
+            res.write(
+              JSON.stringify({
+                info: {
+                  title: '',
+                  description: 'Foo',
+                },
+              }),
+            );
+          } else {
+            res.writeHead(404);
+          }
+
+          res.end();
+        })
+        .listen(PORT, '0.0.0.0');
+    });
+
+    afterAll(() => {
+      server.close();
+    });
+
+    describe('when agent is set', () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        DEFAULT_REQUEST_OPTIONS.agent = new ProxyAgent(`http://localhost:${PORT}`) as any;
+      });
+
+      afterEach(() => {
+        delete DEFAULT_REQUEST_OPTIONS.agent;
+      });
+
+      describe('loading a ruleset', () => {
+        it('proxies the request', async () => {
+          await expect(
+            run(`lint --ruleset http://localhost:4000/custom-ruleset src/__tests__/__fixtures__/petstore.oas3.json`),
+          ).rejects.toThrowErrorMatchingInlineSnapshot(
+            `"Could not parse http://localhost:4000/custom-ruleset: Forbidden"`,
+          );
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/cli/services/linter/linter.ts b/src/cli/services/linter/linter.ts
index 38ea2b0b3..fff15d716 100644
--- a/src/cli/services/linter/linter.ts
+++ b/src/cli/services/linter/linter.ts
@@ -7,13 +7,19 @@ import { ILintConfig } from '../../../types/config';
 import { getRuleset, listFiles, skipRules, segregateEntriesPerKind, readFileDescriptor } from './utils';
 import { getResolver } from './utils/getResolver';
 import { YamlParserResult } from '@stoplight/yaml';
+import { DEFAULT_REQUEST_OPTIONS } from '../../../request';
+import type { Agent } from 'https';
 
 export async function lint(documents: Array<number | string>, flags: ILintConfig): Promise<IRuleResult[]> {
   const spectral = new Spectral({
     resolver: getResolver(flags.resolver),
+    proxyUri: process.env.PROXY,
+  });
+
+  const ruleset = await getRuleset(flags.ruleset, {
+    agent: DEFAULT_REQUEST_OPTIONS.agent as Agent,
   });
 
-  const ruleset = await getRuleset(flags.ruleset);
   spectral.setRuleset(ruleset);
 
   for (const [format, lookup, prettyName] of KNOWN_FORMATS) {
diff --git a/src/cli/services/linter/utils/getRuleset.ts b/src/cli/services/linter/utils/getRuleset.ts
index 224297b0d..fab02d5fe 100644
--- a/src/cli/services/linter/utils/getRuleset.ts
+++ b/src/cli/services/linter/utils/getRuleset.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import { isAbsolute, resolve } from '@stoplight/path';
 import { Optional } from '@stoplight/types';
-import { readRuleset } from '../../../../ruleset';
+import { IRulesetReadOptions, readRuleset } from '../../../../ruleset';
 import { getDefaultRulesetFile } from '../../../../ruleset/utils';
 import { IRuleset } from '../../../../types/ruleset';
 import { KNOWN_RULESETS } from '../../../../formats';
 
-async function loadRulesets(cwd: string, rulesetFiles: string[]): Promise<IRuleset> {
+async function loadRulesets(cwd: string, rulesetFiles: string[], opts: IRulesetReadOptions): Promise<IRuleset> {
   if (rulesetFiles.length === 0) {
     return {
       functions: {},
@@ -14,13 +14,16 @@ async function loadRulesets(cwd: string, rulesetFiles: string[]): Promise<IRules
     };
   }
 
-  return readRuleset(rulesetFiles.map(file => (isAbsolute(file) ? file : resolve(cwd, file))));
+  return readRuleset(
+    rulesetFiles.map(file => (isAbsolute(file) ? file : resolve(cwd, file))),
+    opts,
+  );
 }
 
-export async function getRuleset(rulesetFile: Optional<string[]>): Promise<IRuleset> {
+export async function getRuleset(rulesetFile: Optional<string[]>, opts: IRulesetReadOptions): Promise<IRuleset> {
   const rulesetFiles = rulesetFile ?? (await getDefaultRulesetFile(process.cwd()));
 
   return await (rulesetFiles !== null
-    ? loadRulesets(process.cwd(), Array.isArray(rulesetFiles) ? rulesetFiles : [rulesetFiles])
-    : readRuleset(KNOWN_RULESETS));
+    ? loadRulesets(process.cwd(), Array.isArray(rulesetFiles) ? rulesetFiles : [rulesetFiles], opts)
+    : readRuleset(KNOWN_RULESETS, opts));
 }