diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/alternatives b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/alternatives
index 34aaca56..bb1619a9 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/alternatives
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/alternatives
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/sh -e
 
-update-alternatives --display "$__object_id" 2>/dev/null \
-    | awk -F ' - ' '/priority [0-9]+$/ { print $1 }'
+LC_ALL=C update-alternatives --display "${__object_id:?}" 2>/dev/null \
+| awk -F ' - ' '/priority [0-9]+$/ { print $1 }'
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/link b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/link
index 6519e7c2..d1087c75 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/link
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/link
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ for altdir in \
     /var/lib/dpkg/alternatives \
     /var/lib/alternatives
 do
-    if [ ! -f "$altdir/$__object_id" ]
+    if [ ! -f "$altdir/${__object_id:?}" ]
     then
         continue
     fi
 
-    link="$( awk 'NR==2' "$altdir/$__object_id" )"
+    link="$( awk 'NR==2' "$altdir/${__object_id:?}" )"
 
     if [ -n "$link" ]
     then
@@ -31,9 +31,12 @@ do
     fi
 done
 
-if [ -z "$link" ]
+if [ -z "$link" ] && [ -z "${__cdist_dry_run+dry run}" ]
 then
-    echo "unable to get link for $__object_id" >&2
+    # NOTE: ignore error for dry-runs because a package providing the link
+    #       might be managed by another cdist object (which wasn't executed,
+    #       because dry run…).
+    echo "unable to get link for ${__object_id:?}" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_is b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_is
index fc304d5d..5cf4fa4b 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_is
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_is
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 #!/bin/sh -e
 
-path_is="$( update-alternatives --display "$__object_id" 2>/dev/null \
-    | awk '/link currently points to/ {print $5}' )"
+path_is=$(
+    LC_ALL=C update-alternatives --display "${__object_id?}" 2>/dev/null \
+    | awk '/link currently points to/ { print $5 }')
 
-if [ -z "$path_is" ]
+if [ -z "$path_is" ] && [ -z "${__cdist_dry_run+dry run}" ]
 then
-    echo "unable to get current path for $__object_id" >&2
+    # NOTE: ignore error for dry-runs because a package providing the
+    #       alternative might be managed by another cdist object (which
+    #       wasn't executed, because dry run…).
+    echo "unable to get current path for ${__object_id:?}" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_should_state b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_should_state
index 59e015c5..b74a7ee8 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_should_state
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/explorer/path_should_state
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh -e
 
-if [ -f "$( cat "$__object/parameter/path" )" ]
+if [ -f "$( cat "${__object:?}/parameter/path" )" ]
 then
     echo 'present'
 else
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/gencode-remote
index e393cdef..e91ea78f 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__update_alternatives/gencode-remote
@@ -18,37 +18,39 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with cdist. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-path_is="$( cat "$__object/explorer/path_is" )"
+path_is="$( cat "${__object:?}/explorer/path_is" )"
 
-path_should="$( cat "$__object/parameter/path" )"
+path_should="$( cat "${__object:?}/parameter/path" )"
 
 if [ "$path_is" = "$path_should" ]
 then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-if [ "$( cat "$__object/explorer/path_should_state" )" = 'absent' ] && [ -z "$__cdist_dry_run" ]
+if [ "$( cat "${__object:?}/explorer/path_should_state" )" = 'absent' ] \
+    && [ -z "${__cdist_dry_run+dry run}" ]
 then
     echo "$path_should does not exist in target" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 
-name="$__object_id"
+name=${__object_id:?}
 
-alternatives="$( cat "$__object/explorer/alternatives" )"
-
-if ! echo "$alternatives" | grep -Fxq "$path_should"
+if ! grep -Fxq "$path_should" "${__object:?}/explorer/alternatives"
 then
-    if [ ! -f "$__object/parameter/install" ]
+    if [ -f "${__object:?}/parameter/install" ]
     then
+        link="$( cat "${__object:?}/explorer/link" )"
+        echo "update-alternatives --install '$link' '$name' '$path_should' 1000"
+    elif [ -z "${__cdist_dry_run+dry run}" ]
+    then
+        # NOTE: ignore error for dry-runs because a package providing the link
+        #       to be installed might be managed by another cdist object (which
+        #       wasn't executed, because dry run…).
         echo "$path_should is not in $name alternatives." >&2
         echo 'Please install missing packages or use --install to add path to alternatives.' >&2
         exit 1
     fi
-
-    link="$( cat "$__object/explorer/link" )"
-
-    echo "update-alternatives --install '$link' '$name' '$path_should' 1000"
 fi
 
 echo "update-alternatives --set '$name' '$path_should'"