diff --git a/conf/explorer/hostname b/conf/explorer/hostname
index a3ae4e15..2ae23759 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/hostname
+++ b/conf/explorer/hostname
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 #
 # 2010-2011 Nico Schottelius (nico-cdist at schottelius.org)
+# 2012 Steven Armstrong (steven-cdist at armstrong.cc)
 #
 # This file is part of cdist.
 #
@@ -19,4 +20,6 @@
 #
 #
 
-hostname
+if command -v hostname; then
+   hostname
+fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/interfaces b/conf/explorer/interfaces
index 76ff32bb..6804f2db 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/interfaces
+++ b/conf/explorer/interfaces
@@ -24,11 +24,16 @@
 #
 
 # Use ip, if available
-if which ip >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+if command -v ip; then
     ip -o link show | sed -n 's/^[0-9]\+: \(.\+\): <.*/\1/p'
     exit 0
 fi
 
+if ! command -v ifconfig; then
+   # no ifconfig, nothing we could do
+   exit 0
+fi
+
 uname_s="$(uname -s)"
 REGEXP='s/^(.*)(:[[:space:]]*flags=|Link encap).*/\1/p'
 
diff --git a/conf/explorer/lsb_codename b/conf/explorer/lsb_codename
index 22b6d51e..eebd3e0f 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/lsb_codename
+++ b/conf/explorer/lsb_codename
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ case "$($__explorer/os)" in
       (. /etc/openwrt_release && echo "$DISTRIB_CODENAME")
    ;;
    *)
-      lsb_release=$(which lsb_release 2>/dev/null)
+      lsb_release=$(command -v lsb_release)
       if [ -x "$lsb_release" ]; then
          $lsb_release --short --codename
       fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/lsb_description b/conf/explorer/lsb_description
index 48aff30d..23f45421 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/lsb_description
+++ b/conf/explorer/lsb_description
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ case "$($__explorer/os)" in
       (. /etc/openwrt_release && echo "$DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION")
    ;;
    *)
-      lsb_release=$(which lsb_release 2>/dev/null)
+      lsb_release=$(command -v lsb_release)
       if [ -x "$lsb_release" ]; then
          $lsb_release --short --description
       fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/lsb_id b/conf/explorer/lsb_id
index 0dd0f9f4..9754eb63 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/lsb_id
+++ b/conf/explorer/lsb_id
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ case "$($__explorer/os)" in
       (. /etc/openwrt_release && echo "$DISTRIB_ID")
    ;;
    *)
-      lsb_release=$(which lsb_release 2>/dev/null)
+      lsb_release=$(command -v lsb_release)
       if [ -x "$lsb_release" ]; then
          $lsb_release --short --id
       fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/lsb_release b/conf/explorer/lsb_release
index 8266171a..35b5547c 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/lsb_release
+++ b/conf/explorer/lsb_release
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ case "$($__explorer/os)" in
       (. /etc/openwrt_release && echo "$DISTRIB_RELEASE")
    ;;
    *)
-      lsb_release=$(which lsb_release 2>/dev/null)
+      lsb_release=$(command -v lsb_release)
       if [ -x "$lsb_release" ]; then
          $lsb_release --short --release
       fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/machine b/conf/explorer/machine
index 25fc76a9..bb6e0beb 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/machine
+++ b/conf/explorer/machine
@@ -22,4 +22,6 @@
 #
 #
 
-uname -m
+if command -v uname; then
+   uname -m
+fi
diff --git a/conf/explorer/runlevel b/conf/explorer/runlevel
index 7cdd81ef..02d3a245 100755
--- a/conf/explorer/runlevel
+++ b/conf/explorer/runlevel
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 #
 
 set +e
-executable=$(which runlevel 2>/dev/null)
+executable=$(command -v runlevel)
 if [ -x "$executable" ]; then
    "$executable" | awk '{ print $2 }'
 fi