diff --git a/script/include/helper_functions.inc.sh b/script/include/helper_functions.inc.sh
index 0df1323a..9f5de990 100644
--- a/script/include/helper_functions.inc.sh
+++ b/script/include/helper_functions.inc.sh
@@ -40,9 +40,7 @@ reset_db() {
   local database_name="${1}"
 
   # If the DB exists, drop it
-  set +e
-  dropdb "${database_name}"
-  set -e
+  dropdb --if-exists "${database_name}"
 
   # Create a fresh DB
   createdb "${database_name}"
diff --git a/script/include/setup_functions.inc.sh b/script/include/setup_functions.inc.sh
index 92c5dfa5..97ab9e4b 100644
--- a/script/include/setup_functions.inc.sh
+++ b/script/include/setup_functions.inc.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ check_for_existing_virtual_environment() {
   local target_python_version_regex="^Python ${python_version}"
 
   # Check for existing venv, and if one exists, save the Python version string
-  existing_venv_version=$($(pipenv --py) --version)
+  existing_venv_version=$($(pipenv --py 2> /dev/null) --version 2> /dev/null)
   if [ "$?" = "0" ]; then
     # Existing venv; see if the Python version matches
     if [[ "${existing_venv_version}" =~ ${target_python_version_regex} ]]; then
diff --git a/script/setup b/script/setup
index 2e2dbcc6..a79c7be4 100755
--- a/script/setup
+++ b/script/setup
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 source "$(dirname "${0}")"/../script/include/global_header.inc.sh
 
 # create upload directory for app
-mkdir uploads | true
+mkdir -p uploads
 
 # Enable database resetting
 RESET_DB="true"