diff --git a/plugins/flashrom/fu-plugin-flashrom.c b/plugins/flashrom/fu-plugin-flashrom.c
index 801d2fdff..084498ffb 100644
--- a/plugins/flashrom/fu-plugin-flashrom.c
+++ b/plugins/flashrom/fu-plugin-flashrom.c
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ fu_plugin_startup (FuPlugin *plugin, GError **error)
 {
 	FuPluginData *data = fu_plugin_get_data (plugin);
 	GPtrArray *hwids;
+	g_autoptr(GError) error_local = NULL;
 
 	/* we need flashrom from the host system */
-	data->flashrom_fn = g_find_program_in_path ("flashrom");
+	data->flashrom_fn = fu_common_find_program_in_path ("flashrom", &error_local);
 
 	/* search for devices */
 	hwids = fu_plugin_get_hwids (plugin);
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ fu_plugin_startup (FuPlugin *plugin, GError **error)
 			if (data->flashrom_fn != NULL) {
 				fu_device_add_flag (dev, FWUPD_DEVICE_FLAG_UPDATABLE);
 			} else {
-				fu_device_set_update_error (dev, "flashrom binary not found");
+				fu_device_set_update_error (dev, error_local->message);
 			}
 			fu_device_add_guid (dev, guid);
 			fu_device_set_name (dev, fu_plugin_get_dmi_value (plugin, FU_HWIDS_KEY_PRODUCT_NAME));
diff --git a/plugins/uefi/fu-plugin-uefi.c b/plugins/uefi/fu-plugin-uefi.c
index 2e3a416f4..203b854b8 100644
--- a/plugins/uefi/fu-plugin-uefi.c
+++ b/plugins/uefi/fu-plugin-uefi.c
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ fu_plugin_update (FuPlugin *plugin,
 		return FALSE;
 
 	/* record boot information to system log for future debugging */
-	efibootmgr_path = g_find_program_in_path ("efibootmgr");
+	efibootmgr_path = fu_common_find_program_in_path ("efibootmgr", NULL);
 	if (efibootmgr_path != NULL) {
 		if (!g_spawn_command_line_sync ("efibootmgr -v",
 						&boot_variables, NULL, NULL, error))
diff --git a/src/fu-common.c b/src/fu-common.c
index 172da817d..218983505 100644
--- a/src/fu-common.c
+++ b/src/fu-common.c
@@ -349,6 +349,47 @@ fu_common_add_argv (GPtrArray *argv, const gchar *fmt, ...)
 		g_ptr_array_add (argv, g_strdup (split[i]));
 }
 
+gchar *
+fu_common_find_program_in_path (const gchar *basename, GError **error)
+{
+	gchar *fn = g_find_program_in_path (basename);
+	if (fn == NULL) {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+			     "missing executable %s in PATH",
+			     basename);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	return fn;
+}
+
+static gboolean
+fu_common_test_namespace_support (GError **error)
+{
+	/* test if CONFIG_USER_NS is valid */
+	if (!g_file_test ("/proc/self/ns/user", G_FILE_TEST_IS_SYMLINK)) {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+			     "missing CONFIG_USER_NS in kernel");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	if (g_file_test ("/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone", G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
+		g_autofree gchar *clone = NULL;
+		if (!g_file_get_contents ("/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone", &clone, NULL, error))
+			return FALSE;
+		if (g_ascii_strtoll (clone, NULL, 10) == 0) {
+			g_set_error (error,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+				     "unprivileged user namespace clones disabled by distro");
+			return FALSE;
+		}
+	}
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
 /**
  * fu_common_firmware_builder:
  * @bytes: The data to use
@@ -391,35 +432,13 @@ fu_common_firmware_builder (GBytes *bytes,
 	g_return_val_if_fail (error == NULL || *error == NULL, NULL);
 
 	/* find bwrap in the path */
-	bwrap_fn = g_find_program_in_path ("bwrap");
-	if (bwrap_fn == NULL) {
-		g_set_error (error,
-			     FWUPD_ERROR,
-			     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
-			     "missing executable bwrap in PATH");
+	bwrap_fn = fu_common_find_program_in_path ("bwrap", error);
+	if (bwrap_fn == NULL)
 		return NULL;
-	}
 
 	/* test if CONFIG_USER_NS is valid */
-	if (!g_file_test ("/proc/self/ns/user", G_FILE_TEST_IS_SYMLINK)) {
-		g_set_error (error,
-			     FWUPD_ERROR,
-			     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
-			     "missing CONFIG_USER_NS in kernel");
+	if (!fu_common_test_namespace_support (error))
 		return NULL;
-	}
-	if (g_file_test ("/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone", G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-		g_autofree gchar *clone = NULL;
-		if (!g_file_get_contents ("/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone", &clone, NULL, error))
-			return NULL;
-		if (g_ascii_strtoll (clone, NULL, 10) == 0) {
-			g_set_error (error,
-				     FWUPD_ERROR,
-				     FWUPD_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED,
-				     "unprivileged user namespace clones disabled by distro");
-			return NULL;
-		}
-	}
 
 	/* untar file to temp location */
 	tmpdir = g_dir_make_tmp ("fwupd-gen-XXXXXX", error);
diff --git a/src/fu-common.h b/src/fu-common.h
index 7b6337a54..134ab384e 100644
--- a/src/fu-common.h
+++ b/src/fu-common.h
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ GBytes		*fu_common_firmware_builder	(GBytes		*bytes,
 						 GError		**error);
 GError		*fu_common_error_array_get_best	(GPtrArray	*errors);
 guint64		 fu_common_strtoull		(const gchar	*str);
+gchar		*fu_common_find_program_in_path	(const gchar	*basename,
+						 GError		**error);
 
 typedef guint FuEndianType;