diff --git a/Annex/Path.hs b/Annex/Path.hs
index 70564058f4..26baf908ab 100644
--- a/Annex/Path.hs
+++ b/Annex/Path.hs
@@ -32,24 +32,14 @@ programPath = go =<< getEnv "GIT_ANNEX_PROGRAMPATH"
 		exe <- getExecutablePath
 		p <- if isAbsolute exe
 			then return exe
-			else readProgramFile
+			else fromMaybe exe <$> readProgramFile
 		maybe cannotFindProgram return =<< searchPath p
 
 {- Returns the path for git-annex that is recorded in the programFile. -}
-readProgramFile :: IO FilePath
+readProgramFile :: IO (Maybe FilePath)
 readProgramFile = do
 	programfile <- programFile
-	p <- catchDefaultIO cmd $ 
-		fromMaybe cmd . headMaybe . lines <$> readFile programfile
-	ifM (inPath p)
-		( return p
-		, ifM (inPath cmd)
-			( return cmd
-			, cannotFindProgram
-			)
-		)
-  where
-	cmd = "git-annex"
+	headMaybe . lines <$> readFile programfile
 
 cannotFindProgram :: IO a
 cannotFindProgram = do
diff --git a/Assistant/Upgrade.hs b/Assistant/Upgrade.hs
index a8a6778abe..a0645100ee 100644
--- a/Assistant/Upgrade.hs
+++ b/Assistant/Upgrade.hs
@@ -225,20 +225,22 @@ upgradeToDistribution newdir cleanup distributionfile = do
 
 {- Finds where the old version was installed. -}
 oldVersionLocation :: IO FilePath
-oldVersionLocation = do
-	pdir <- parentDir <$> readProgramFile
+oldVersionLocation = readProgramFile >>= \case
+	Nothing -> error "Cannot find old distribution bundle; not upgrading."
+	Just pf -> do
+		let pdir = parentDir pf
 #ifdef darwin_HOST_OS
-	let dirs = splitDirectories pdir
-	{- It will probably be deep inside a git-annex.app directory. -}
-	let olddir = case findIndex ("git-annex.app" `isPrefixOf`) dirs of
-		Nothing -> pdir
-		Just i -> joinPath (take (i + 1) dirs)
+		let dirs = splitDirectories pdir
+		{- It will probably be deep inside a git-annex.app directory. -}
+		let olddir = case findIndex ("git-annex.app" `isPrefixOf`) dirs of
+			Nothing -> pdir
+			Just i -> joinPath (take (i + 1) dirs)
 #else
-	let olddir = pdir
+		let olddir = pdir
 #endif
-	when (null olddir) $
-		error $ "Cannot find old distribution bundle; not upgrading. (Looked in " ++ pdir ++ ")"
-	return olddir
+		when (null olddir) $
+			error $ "Cannot find old distribution bundle; not upgrading. (Looked in " ++ pdir ++ ")"
+		return olddir
 
 {- Finds a place to install the new version.
  - Generally, put it in the parent directory of where the old version was
@@ -344,10 +346,9 @@ distributionInfoSigUrl = distributionInfoUrl ++ ".sig"
  - trustedkeys.gpg, next to the git-annex program.
  -}
 verifyDistributionSig :: GpgCmd -> FilePath -> IO Bool
-verifyDistributionSig gpgcmd sig = do
-	p <- readProgramFile
-	if isAbsolute p
-		then withUmask 0o0077 $ withTmpDir "git-annex-gpg.tmp" $ \gpgtmp -> do
+verifyDistributionSig gpgcmd sig = readProgramFile >>= \case
+	Just p | isAbsolute p ->
+		withUmask 0o0077 $ withTmpDir "git-annex-gpg.tmp" $ \gpgtmp -> do
 			let trustedkeys = takeDirectory p </> "trustedkeys.gpg"
 			boolGpgCmd gpgcmd
 				[ Param "--no-default-keyring"
@@ -360,4 +361,4 @@ verifyDistributionSig gpgcmd sig = do
 				, Param "--verify"
 				, File sig
 				]
-		else return False
+	_ -> return False