diff --git a/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs b/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
index c7c245b2c48..0fe74b8d8f9 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/resolver/mod.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@
 //! dependency graph (one of the largest known ones), so hopefully it'll work
 //! for a bit longer as well!
 
-use std::cell::RefCell;
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::collections::hash_map::HashMap;
 use std::fmt;
@@ -232,7 +231,7 @@ impl fmt::Debug for Resolve {
 struct Context {
     activations: HashMap<(String, SourceId), Vec<Rc<Summary>>>,
     resolve: Resolve,
-    visited: Rc<RefCell<HashSet<PackageId>>>,
+    visited: HashSet<PackageId>,
 }
 
 /// Builds the list of all packages required to build the first argument.
@@ -244,7 +243,7 @@ pub fn resolve(summary: &Summary, method: Method,
     let cx = Box::new(Context {
         resolve: Resolve::new(summary.package_id().clone()),
         activations: HashMap::new(),
-        visited: Rc::new(RefCell::new(HashSet::new())),
+        visited: HashSet::new(),
     });
     let _p = profile::start(format!("resolving: {}", summary.package_id()));
     match try!(activate(cx, registry, &summary, method, &mut |cx, _| Ok(Ok(cx)))) {
@@ -271,14 +270,14 @@ fn activate(mut cx: Box<Context>,
     // Dependency graphs are required to be a DAG, so we keep a set of
     // packages we're visiting and bail if we hit a dupe.
     let id = parent.package_id();
-    if !cx.visited.borrow_mut().insert(id.clone()) {
+    if !cx.visited.insert(id.clone()) {
         return Err(human(format!("cyclic package dependency: package `{}` \
                                   depends on itself", id)))
     }
 
     // If we're already activated, then that was easy!
     if cx.flag_activated(parent, &method) {
-        cx.visited.borrow_mut().remove(id);
+        cx.visited.remove(id);
         return finished(cx, registry)
     }
     debug!("activating {}", parent.package_id());
@@ -292,8 +291,8 @@ fn activate(mut cx: Box<Context>,
     };
 
     activate_deps(cx, registry, parent, platform, deps.iter(), 0,
-                  &mut |cx, registry| {
-        cx.visited.borrow_mut().remove(parent.package_id());
+                  &mut |mut cx, registry| {
+        cx.visited.remove(id);
         finished(cx, registry)
     })
 }
@@ -373,7 +372,7 @@ fn activate_deps<'a>(cx: Box<Context>,
         // If we hit an intransitive dependency then clear out the visitation
         // list as we can't induce a cycle through transitive dependencies.
         if !dep.is_transitive() {
-            my_cx.visited.borrow_mut().clear();
+            my_cx.visited.clear();
         }
         let my_cx = try!(activate(my_cx, registry, candidate, method,
                                   &mut |cx, registry| {
diff --git a/tests/test_cargo_registry.rs b/tests/test_cargo_registry.rs
index 4dc750a9981..9f9426c7aa2 100644
--- a/tests/test_cargo_registry.rs
+++ b/tests/test_cargo_registry.rs
@@ -771,3 +771,37 @@ test!(update_transitive_dependency {
 {compiling} foo v0.5.0 ([..])
 ", downloading = DOWNLOADING, compiling = COMPILING)));
 });
+
+test!(update_backtracking_ok {
+    let p = project("foo")
+        .file("Cargo.toml", r#"
+            [project]
+            name = "foo"
+            version = "0.5.0"
+            authors = []
+
+            [dependencies]
+            webdriver = "0.1"
+        "#)
+        .file("src/main.rs", "fn main() {}");
+    p.build();
+
+    r::mock_pkg("webdriver", "0.1.0", &[("hyper", "0.6", "normal")]);
+    r::mock_pkg("hyper", "0.6.5", &[("openssl", "0.1", "normal"),
+                                    ("cookie", "0.1", "normal")]);
+    r::mock_pkg("cookie", "0.1.0", &[("openssl", "0.1", "normal")]);
+    r::mock_pkg("openssl", "0.1.0", &[]);
+
+    assert_that(p.cargo("generate-lockfile"),
+                execs().with_status(0));
+
+    r::mock_pkg("openssl", "0.1.1", &[]);
+    r::mock_pkg("hyper", "0.6.6", &[("openssl", "0.1.1", "normal"),
+                                    ("cookie", "0.1.0", "normal")]);
+
+    assert_that(p.cargo("update").arg("-p").arg("hyper"),
+                execs().with_status(0)
+                       .with_stdout(&format!("\
+{updating} registry `[..]`
+", updating = UPDATING)));
+});