diff --git a/updater.sh b/updater.sh
index 48c2e87..a8b5b0f 100755
--- a/updater.sh
+++ b/updater.sh
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ Optional Arguments:
 download_file () {   # expects URL as argument ($1)
   declare -r tf=$(mktemp)
 
-  $DOWNLOAD_METHOD "${tf}" "$1" && echo "$tf" || return 1 # return the temp-filename or return error code 1
+  $DOWNLOAD_METHOD "${tf}" "$1" && echo "$tf" || echo '' # return the temp-filename or empty string on error
 }
 
 open_file () { #expects one argument: file_path
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ update_updater () {
   fi
 
   declare -r tmpfile=$(download_file 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/master/updater.sh')
+  [ -z "${tmpfile}" ] && echo -e "${RED}Error! Could not download updater.sh${NC}" && return 1 # check if download failed
 
   if [[ $(get_updater_version "${SCRIPT_DIR}/updater.sh") < $(get_updater_version "${tmpfile}") ]]; then
     if [ $UPDATE = 'check' ]; then
@@ -249,8 +250,8 @@ remove_comments () { # expects 2 arguments: from-file and to-file
 
 # Applies latest version of user.js and any custom overrides
 update_userjs () {
-  declare -r newfile="$(download_file 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/master/user.js')" ret="$?"
-  [ "$ret" -ne 0 ] && echo -e "${RED}Error! Could not download user.js${NC}" && return 1
+  declare -r newfile="$(download_file 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/master/user.js')"
+  [ -z "${newfile}" ] && echo -e "${RED}Error! Could not download user.js${NC}" && return 1 # check if download failed
 
   echo -e "Please observe the following information:
     Firefox profile:  ${ORANGE}$(pwd)${NC}
@@ -370,6 +371,7 @@ if [ $# != 0 ]; then
           ;;
         r)
           tfile=$(download_file 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/master/user.js')
+          [ -z "${tfile}" ] && echo -e "${RED}Error! Could not download user.js${NC}" && exit 1 # check if download failed
           mv $tfile "${tfile}.js"
           echo -e "${ORANGE}Warning: user.js was saved to temporary file ${tfile}.js${NC}"
           open_file "${tfile}.js"