diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/battery b/usr/lib/byobu/battery
index be544596..9abb3c6b 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/battery
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/battery
@@ -21,14 +21,6 @@
 PKG="byobu"
 color 2>/dev/null || color() { true; }
 
-search () {
-	local str expr
-	str="$1"
-	expr="$2"
-	echo "$str" | sed -n "s/${expr}/\1/p"
-}
-
-
 if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	for bat in /proc/acpi/battery/*; do
 		cat "$bat/info"
@@ -37,46 +29,56 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-for bat in $BATTERY /proc/acpi/battery/*; do
-	# make sure that this battery is present
-	infofile=$(cat "$bat/info")
-	present=$(search "$infofile" "present: *\(.*\)")
-	[ "${present}" = "no" ] && continue
+battery_info() {
+	local bat line present sign state percent full rem color bcolor
+	for bat in $BATTERY /proc/acpi/battery/*; do
+		[ -f "$bat/info" ] || continue
 
-	# obtain full and remaining battery values
-	statefile=$(cat "$bat/state")
-	full=$(search "$infofile" "last full capacity: *\(.*\) m[AW]h")
-	rem=$(search "$statefile" "remaining capacity: *\(.*\) m[AW]h")
+		present=""; full=""; rem=""; state=""
+		while read line; do
+			set -- ${line}
+			case "$line" in
+				present:*)
+					# make sure that this battery is present
+					[ "$2" = "no" ] && continue 2
+					present="$2";;
+		   	last\ full\ capacity:*) full="$4";;
+			esac
+			[ -n "$present" -a -n "$full" ] && break
+		done < "${bat}/info"
 
-	percent=$( echo "$rem" "$full" | awk '{printf "%.0f",  100*$1/$2}')
-	if [ "$percent" -lt 33 ]; then
-		color="R k"
-		bcolor="b R k"
-	elif [ "$percent" -lt 67 ]; then
-		color="Y k"
-		bcolor="b Y k"
-	else
-		color="G k"
-		bcolor="b G k"
-	fi
-	percent="$percent%"
+		while read line; do
+			set -- ${line}
+			case "$line" in
+				remaining\ capacity:*) rem="$3";;
+				charging\ state:*) state="$3";;
+			esac
+			[ -n "$rem" -a -n "$state" ] && break
+		done < "$bat/state"
 
-	state=$(search "$statefile" "charging state: *\(.*\)")
-	case $state in
-		charging)
-			sign="+"
-		;;
-		discharging)
-			sign="-"
-		;;
-		charged)
-			sign="="
-			percent=
-		;;
-		*)
-			sign="$state"
-		;;
-	esac
-	color $bcolor; printf "%s" "$percent"; color -; color $color; printf "|%s|" "$sign"; color --
-	break
-done
+		percent=$(((100*$rem)/$full))
+
+		if [ "$percent" -lt 33 ]; then
+			color="R k"
+			bcolor="b R k"
+		elif [ "$percent" -lt 67 ]; then
+			color="Y k"
+			bcolor="b Y k"
+		else
+			color="G k"
+			bcolor="b G k"
+		fi
+		percent="$percent%"
+
+		case $state in
+			charging) sign="+" ;;
+			discharging) sign="-" ;;
+			charged) sign="="; percent="" ;;
+			*) sign="$state" ;;
+		esac
+		color $bcolor; printf "%s" "$percent"; color -; color $color; printf "|%s|" "$sign"; color --
+		break
+	done
+}
+
+battery_info "$@"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
index 90cbae9e..2845b912 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ fi
 for i in $MONITORED_TEMP /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*/temp*_input /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal $DIR/*/temperature; do
 	case "$i" in
 		*temp*_input)
-			[ -s "$i" ] && t=$(awk '{printf "%0.f",$1/1000}' "$i")
+			[ -s "$i" ] && read t < "$i" && t=$(($t/1000))
 		;;
 		*)
 			[ -s "$i" ] && t=$(sed -e "s/^[^0-9]\+//" -e "s/\s.*$//" "$i")
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ for i in $MONITORED_TEMP /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*/temp*_input /proc/acpi/ibm/ther
 	if [ -n "$t" ]; then
 		unit="$ICON_C"
 		if [ "$TEMP" = "F" ]; then
-			t=$(echo "$t" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 *9/5 + 32}')
+			t=$(($t*9/5 + 32))
 			unit="$ICON_F"
 		fi
 		color b k Y; printf "%s" "$t"; color -; color k Y; printf "%s%s" "$ICON" "$unit"; color --
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/date b/usr/lib/byobu/date
index d5129afd..5d87ff54 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/date
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/date
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ case "$1" in
 		date +%Y-%m-%d
 	;;
 	*)
-		msg="$(echo SGFwcHkgQmlydGhkYXkgU2NyZWVuIC0tIGh0dHA6Ly9iaXQubHkvc2NyZWVuLWJkYXkK | base64 -di)"
-		[ "$(date +%d)" = "20" ] && [ "$(date +%m)" = "03" ] && screen -X -S "byobu" at "*" echo "[$msg]"
+		bd=$(date "+%m%d")
+		[ "$bd" = "0320" ] &&
+			msg="$(echo SGFwcHkgQmlydGhkYXkgU2NyZWVuIC0tIGh0dHA6Ly9iaXQubHkvc2NyZWVuLWJkYXkK | base64 -di)" &&
+			screen -X -S "byobu" at "*" echo "[$msg]"
 		printf "\005Y-\005m-\005d "
 	;;
 esac
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/disk b/usr/lib/byobu/disk
index d616614a..2150753d 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/disk
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/disk
@@ -28,9 +28,26 @@ fi
 # Default to /, but let users override
 [ -z "$MONITORED_DISK" ] && MP="/" || MP="$MONITORED_DISK"
 case $MP in
-	/dev/*) MP=$(grep "$MP" /proc/mounts | awk '{print $2}') ;;
+	/dev/*) MP=$(awk '$1 == m { print $2; exit(0); }' "m=$MP" /proc/mounts);;
 esac
 
-disk=$(df -h -P "$MP" 2>/dev/null || df -h "$MP")
-disk=$(echo "$disk" | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $2 " " $5}' | sed "s/\([^0-9\. ]\)/ \1/g" | awk '{printf "%d%sB,%d%%", $1, $2, $3}')
-printf "$(color M W)%s$(color -) " "$disk" | sed "s/\([0-9]\+\)/$(color -)$(color b M W)\1$(color -)$(color M W)/g"
+get_size_pct() {
+	# this could be done faster with 'stat --file-system --format'
+	# but then we'd have to do blocks -> human units ourselves
+	local out="" MP=$1 size="" pct="" unit=""
+	out=$({ df -h -P "$MP" 2>/dev/null || df -h "$MP"; } |
+		awk 'END { printf("%s %s", $2, $5); }')
+	set -- ${out}
+	size=${1}; pct=${2};
+
+	unit=${size#${size%?}} # get the unit (last char)
+	size=${size%?}; # take the unit off
+	pct=${pct%?}; # take off the '%'
+
+	_UNIT=${unit}; _SIZE=${size}; _PCT=${pct};
+}
+
+get_size_pct "${MP}"
+
+color b M W; echo -n "$_SIZE"; color -; color M W; echo -n "${_UNIT}B,"; color -;
+color b M W; echo -n "$_PCT";  color -; color M W; echo -n "%"        ; color -;
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/fan_speed b/usr/lib/byobu/fan_speed
index 94d767b1..fc6219bb 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/fan_speed
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/fan_speed
@@ -28,25 +28,35 @@ DIR="/sys/class/hwmon"
 
 # Let's check a few different probes for fan speed
 
-# This seems to cover most of them:
-for i in $(find $DIR/*/*/ -type f -name "fan1_input"); do
-	speed=$(cat "$i")
-	if [ "$speed" -gt 0 ]; then
-	        color bold1; printf "%s" "$speed"; color -; color none; printf "rpm"; color --
-		exit 0
-	fi
-done
-
-# But others (e.g. Dell Inspirons) seem to be here:
-if [ -r /proc/i8k ]; then
-	for speed in $(awk '{ print $7, $8 }' /proc/i8k); do
+fan_speed_info() {
+	local i="" speed=0
+	# This seems to cover most of them:
+	for i in /sys/class/hwmon/*/*/fan1_input; do
+		[ -f "$i" ] || continue
+		read speed < "$i"
 		if [ "$speed" -gt 0 ]; then
-			# I8K_FAN_MULT defaults to 30 (buggy BIOS workaround?),
-			# use `modprobe i8k fan_mult=1` to disable if unneeded,
-			# resulting in nonsensical speeds
-			[ "$speed" -gt 10000 ] && speed=$((${speed} / 30))
 			color bold1; printf "%s" "$speed"; color -; color none; printf "rpm"; color --
-			exit 0
+			return 0
 		fi
 	done
-fi
+
+	# But others (e.g. Dell Inspirons) seem to be here:
+	if [ -r /proc/i8k ]; then
+		local line=""
+		read line < /proc/i8k
+		set -- $line
+		for speed in $7 $8; do
+			if [ "$speed" -gt 0 ]; then
+				# I8K_FAN_MULT defaults to 30 (buggy BIOS workaround?),
+				# use `modprobe i8k fan_mult=1` to disable if unneeded,
+				# resulting in nonsensical speeds
+				[ "$speed" -gt 10000 ] && speed=$((${speed} / 30))
+				color bold1; printf "%s" "$speed"; color -; color none; printf "rpm"; color --
+				return 0
+			fi
+		done
+	fi
+}
+
+fan_speed_info "$@"
+
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address b/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
index 659ac84f..c8388095 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/ip_address
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ if [ -n "$MONITORED_NETWORK" ]; then
 	interface="$MONITORED_NETWORK"
 else
 	case "$IPV6" in
-		1|true|yes) interface=$(grep -v "\Wlo$" /proc/net/ipv6_route | tail -n1 | awk '{print $10}') ;;
-		*) interface=$(tail -n1 /proc/net/route  | awk '{print $1}') ;;
+		1|true|yes)
+			interface=$(awk '$10 != "lo" { iface=$10 ; }; END { print iface; }' \
+				/proc/net/ipv6_route);;
+		*) interface=$(awk 'END {print $1}' /proc/net/route);;
 	esac
 fi
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/mem_available b/usr/lib/byobu/mem_available
index f71ad79a..970680a1 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/mem_available
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/mem_available
@@ -26,19 +26,26 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-. "$DATA/status"
-[ "$mem_used" = "1" ] && comma="," || whitespace=" "
+mem_available_info() {
+	local mem_used comma whitespace unit mem name
+	. "$DATA/status"
+	[ "$mem_used" = "1" ] && comma="," || whitespace=" "
 
-mem=`head -n1 /proc/meminfo  | awk '{print $2}'`
-if [ $mem -ge 1048576 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.1f", $1 / 1048576 }')
-	unit="GB"
-elif [ $mem -ge 1024 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.0f", $1 / 1024 }')
-	unit="MB"
-else
-	mem="$mem"
-	unit="KB"
-fi
+	read name mem unit < /proc/meminfo
+	if [ $mem -ge 1048576 ]; then
+		fpdiv "$mem" 1048567 1
+		mem=${_RET}
+		unit="GB"
+	elif [ $mem -ge 1024 ]; then
+		mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.0f", $1 / 1024 }')
+		fpdiv "$mem" 1024 1
+		mem=${_RET}
+		unit="MB"
+	else
+		mem="$mem"
+		unit="KB"
+	fi
+	color b g W; printf "%s" "$mem"; color -; color g W; printf "%s%s" "$unit" "$comma"; color -; printf "%s" "$whitespace"
+}
 
-color b g W; printf "%s" "$mem"; color -; color g W; printf "%s%s" "$unit" "$comma"; color -; printf "%s" "$whitespace"
+mem_available_info "$@"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/mem_used b/usr/lib/byobu/mem_used
index add4f150..a45dd116 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/mem_used
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/mem_used
@@ -25,5 +25,41 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-f=$(free | awk '/buffers\/cache:/ {printf "%.0f", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}')
+meminfo_used() {
+	# originally, this script did:
+	# f=$(free | awk '/buffers\/cache:/ {printf "%.0f", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}')
+	# this method is more dependent on /proc/meminfo, but uses the same formula
+	# for deriving the output of 'free' that is used in procps 'free.c'
+
+	# kb_main_free, kb_main_total, kb_main_buffers, kb_main_cached
+	local free="" total="" buffers="" cached=""
+	local kb_main_used=0 buffers_plus_cached=0 fo_buffers=0 fo_cached=0
+	while read tok val unit; do
+		case "$tok" in
+			MemTotal:) total=${val};;
+			MemFree:) free=${val};;
+			Buffers:) buffers=${val};;
+			Cached:) cached=${val};;
+		esac
+		[ -n "${free}" -a -n "${total}" -a -n "${buffers}" -a -n "${cached}" ] && break;
+	done < /proc/meminfo
+
+	kb_main_used=$(($total-$free))
+	buffers_plus_cached=$(($buffers+$cached))
+
+	# "free output" buffers and cache (output from 'free')
+	fo_buffers=$(($kb_main_used - $buffers_plus_cached))
+	fo_cached=$(($kb_main_free + $buffers_plus_cached))
+
+	#fpdiv $((100*${fo_buffers})) "${total}" 0; _RET=${_RET%.}; return
+	_RET=$(((100*${fo_buffers}) / ${total}))
+}
+
+if [ -r /proc/meminfo ]; then
+	meminfo_used
+	f=${_RET}
+else
+	f=$(free | awk '/buffers\/cache:/ {printf "%.0f", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}')
+fi
+
 color b g W; printf "%s" "$f"; color -; color g W; printf "%%"; color --
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/raid b/usr/lib/byobu/raid
index 9f0fde45..79a0c6cf 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/raid
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/raid
@@ -29,16 +29,18 @@ case $1 in
 	;;
 esac
 
-if grep -qs " blocks .*\[.*_.*\]$" /proc/mdstat; then
+pct="%"
+while read line; do
 	# Errors in your raid
-	msg="RAID"
-fi
-
-if grep -qs \% /proc/mdstat; then
-	p=$(grep -m1 \% /proc/mdstat | sed -e "s/\%.*/%/" -e "s/.* //")
-	[ -z "$msg" ] && msg="RAID"
-	msg="$msg,$p"
-fi
+	case "$line" in
+		*\ blocks\ *\[*_*\]$)
+			[ -z "${msg}" ] && msg="RAID";;
+		*%*)
+			p="${line%%${pct}*}${pct}"; p=${p##* };
+			[ -z "$msg" ] && msg="RAID"
+			msg="$msg,$p";;
+	esac
+done < /proc/mdstat
 
 if [ -n "$msg" ]; then
 	color B w r; printf "%s" "$msg"; color --
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/release b/usr/lib/byobu/release
index 06181abb..6e0d7fdd 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/release
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/release
@@ -25,45 +25,54 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-if [ -n "$DISTRO" ]; then
-	# user defined
-	true
-elif [ -r "/etc/issue" ]; then
-	# lsb_release is *really* slow;  try to use /etc/issue first
-	issue=$(grep -m1 "^[A-Za-z]" /etc/issue)
-	case "$issue" in
-		Ubuntu*)
-			DISTRO=$(head -n1 /etc/issue | awk '{print $1 " " $2}')
-		;;
-		Debian*)
-			DISTRO="Debian $(cat /etc/debian_version)"
-		;;
-		*)
-			DISTRO=$(echo "$issue" | sed "s/ [^0-9]* / /" | awk '{print $1 " " $2}')
-		;;
-	esac
-elif which lsb_release >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
-		lsb_release -a 2>/dev/null
-		exit 0
+release_info() {
+	local DISTRO="${DISTRO}" issue ver r i
+	if [ -n "$DISTRO" ]; then
+		# user defined
+		true
+	elif [ -r "/etc/issue" ]; then
+		# lsb_release is *really* slow;  try to use /etc/issue first
+		read issue < /etc/issue
+		case "$issue" in
+			Ubuntu*)
+				set -- $issue;
+				DISTRO="$1 $2";
+			;;
+			Debian*)
+				read ver < /etc/debian_version
+				DISTRO="Debian $ver"
+			;;
+			*)
+				# assume first 2 fields are what we want
+				set -- $issue;
+				DISTRO="$1 $2";
+			;;
+		esac
+	elif command -v lsb_release >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
+			lsb_release -a 2>/dev/null
+			exit 0
+		fi
+		# If lsb_release is available, use it
+		r=$(lsb_release -s -d)
+		case "$r" in
+			Ubuntu*.*.*)
+				# Use the -d if an Ubuntu LTS
+				DISTRO="$r"
+			;;
+			*)
+				# But for other distros the description
+				# is too long, so build from -i and -r
+				i=$(lsb_release -s -i)
+				r=$(lsb_release -s -r)
+				DISTRO="$i $r"
+			;;
+		esac
+	else
+		DISTRO="Byobu"
 	fi
-	# If lsb_release is available, use it
-	r=$(lsb_release -s -d)
-	case "$r" in
-		Ubuntu*.*.*)
-			# Use the -d if an Ubuntu LTS
-			DISTRO="$r"
-		;;
-		*)
-			# But for other distros the description
-			# is too long, so build from -i and -r
-			i=$(lsb_release -s -i)
-			r=$(lsb_release -s -r)
-			DISTRO="$i $r"
-		;;
-	esac
-else
-	DISTRO="Byobu"
-fi
 
-color bold2; printf "%s" "$DISTRO"; color --
+	color bold2; printf "%s" "$DISTRO"; color --
+}
+
+release_info "$@"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/swap b/usr/lib/byobu/swap
index b2732e77..e0a38361 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/swap
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/swap
@@ -25,19 +25,40 @@ if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
-f=$(free | awk '/Swap:/ {printf "%.0f", 100*$3/($3 + $4)}' 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
-mem=$(free | awk '/Swap:/ {print $2}')
-if [ $mem -ge 1048576 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.1f", $1 / 1048576 }')
-	unit="GB"
-elif [ $mem -ge 1024 ]; then
-	mem=$(echo "$mem" | awk '{ printf "%.0f", $1 / 1024 }')
-	unit="MB"
-else
-	mem="$mem"
-	unit="KB"
-fi
+swap_info() {
+	local stotal="" sfree="" name val unit mem f;
+   while read name val unit; do
+		if [ "$name" = "SwapTotal:" ]; then
+			stotal="$val"
+		elif [ "$name" = "SwapFree:" ]; then
+			sfree="$val"
+		else
+			continue
+		fi
+		[ -n "$stotal" -a -n "$sfree" ] && break;
+	done < /proc/meminfo
 
-[ "$f" = "0" ] && exit 0
+	[ "${stotal:-0}" = "0" ] && return 0
 
-color b G W; printf "s%s" "$mem"; color -; color G W; printf "%s," "$unit"; color -; color b G W; printf "%s" "$f"; color -; color G W; printf "%%"; color --
+	mem=${stotal}
+	f=$(((100*($stotal-$sfree))/$stotal))
+	[ "$f" = "0" ] && return 0
+	if [ $mem -ge 1048576 ]; then
+	fpdiv "${mem}" 1048576 1
+		mem=${_RET}
+		unit="GB"
+	elif [ $mem -ge 1024 ]; then
+		fpdiv "${mem}" 1024 0
+		mem=${_RET%.}
+		unit="MB"
+	else
+		mem="$mem"
+		unit="KB"
+	fi
+
+	color b G W; printf "s%s" "$mem"; color -; color G W; printf "%s," "$unit"; color -;
+	color b G W; printf "%s" "$f"; color -; color G W; printf "%%"; color --
+	return
+}
+
+swap_info "$@"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/updates_available b/usr/lib/byobu/updates_available
index 7181d4cc..4e7f3e76 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/updates_available
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/updates_available
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ DATA="$HOME/.$PKG"
 color 2>/dev/null || color() { true; }
 
 if [ "$1" = "--detail" -o "$1" = "--short" ]; then
-	if which apt-get >/dev/null; then
+	if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
 		detail=`apt-get -s -o Debug::NoLocking=true upgrade`
 		if [ "$1" = "--detail" ]; then
 			printf "$detail"
 		else
-			short=`printf "$detail" | grep -c ^Inst`
+			short=`printf "%s" "$detail" | grep -c ^Inst`
 			printf "$short"
 		fi
 	fi
@@ -61,18 +61,18 @@ update_cache() {
 	# and let the next cache check pick up the results.
 	if [ -x /usr/lib/update-notifier/apt-check ]; then
 		# If apt-check binary exists, use it
-		/usr/lib/update-notifier/apt-check 2>&1 | tail -n 1 | sed "s/;/ /" > $mycache &
-	elif which apt-get >/dev/null; then
+		/usr/lib/update-notifier/apt-check 2>&1 | awk '-F;' 'END { print $1, $2 }' > "$mycache" &
+	elif command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
 		# If apt-get exists, use it
 		apt-get -s -o Debug::NoLocking=true upgrade | grep -c ^Inst > $mycache &
-	elif which zypper >/dev/null; then
+	elif command -v zypper >/dev/null; then
 		# If zypper exists, use it
 		zypper --no-refresh lu --best-effort | grep -c 'v |' > $mycache &
-	elif which yum >/dev/null; then
+	elif command -v yum >/dev/null; then
 		# If yum exists, use it
 		# TODO: We need a better way of counting updates available from a RH expert
 		yum list updates -q | grep -vc "Updated Packages" > $mycache &
-	elif which pacman >/dev/null; then
+	elif command -v pacman >/dev/null; then
 		# If pacman (Archlinux) exists, use it
 		LC_ALL=C pacman -Sup | grep -vc "^\(::\| \)" > $mycache &
 	fi
@@ -84,11 +84,11 @@ update_needed() {
 	mycache=$1
 	# The cache doesn't exist: create it
 	[ ! -e "$mycache" ] && return 0
-	if which apt-get >/dev/null; then
+	if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
 		# Debian/ubuntu
 		[ "/var/lib/apt" -nt "$mycache" ] || [ "/var/lib/apt/lists" -nt "$mycache" ]
 		return $?
-	elif which pacman >/dev/null; then
+	elif command -v pacman >/dev/null; then
 		# Archlinux
 		for db in /var/lib/pacman/sync/*.db; do
 			[ "$db" -nt "$mycache" ] && return 0
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ update_needed() {
 mycache="$DIR/$PKG.updates-available"
 
 # If mycache is present, use it
-[ -r $mycache ] && print_updates `grep "^[0-9]" $mycache | sed "s/ .*$//"`
+[ -r $mycache ] && print_updates `sed -n '/[^0-9]/s/ .*$//p' $mycache`
 
 # If we really need to do so (mycache doesn't exist, or the package database has changed),
 # background an update now