diff --git a/lib/buckets.ps1 b/lib/buckets.ps1
index 87bc02d287..c66a68b917 100644
--- a/lib/buckets.ps1
+++ b/lib/buckets.ps1
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Imports
+. "$PSScriptRoot/core.ps1" # "$scoopdir"
+
 $bucketsdir = "$scoopdir\buckets"
 
 function Find-BucketDirectory {
diff --git a/lib/core.ps1 b/lib/core.ps1
index c271ce8f94..369a85b971 100644
--- a/lib/core.ps1
+++ b/lib/core.ps1
@@ -544,6 +544,9 @@ function Test-HelperInstalled {
 }
 
 function app_status($app, $global) {
+    if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($app)) {
+        throw 'The value of $app may not be null, empty, or whitespace!'
+    }
     $status = @{}
     $status.installed = installed $app $global
     $status.version = Select-CurrentVersion -AppName $app -Global:$global
diff --git a/lib/download.ps1 b/lib/download.ps1
index 70641cca7f..572ee4dd25 100644
--- a/lib/download.ps1
+++ b/lib/download.ps1
@@ -457,9 +457,9 @@ function Invoke-CachedAria2Download ($app, $version, $manifest, $architecture, $
             warn "Download failed! (Error $lastexitcode) $(aria_exit_code $lastexitcode)"
             warn $urlstxt_content
             warn $aria2
-            warn $(new_issue_msg $app $bucket "download via aria2 failed")
+            warn $(new_issue_msg $app $bucket 'download via aria2 failed')
 
-            Write-Host "Fallback to default downloader ..."
+            Write-Host 'Fallback to default downloader ...'
 
             try {
                 foreach ($url in $urls) {
@@ -550,6 +550,9 @@ function Get-UserAgent() {
 
 function setup_proxy() {
     # note: '@' and ':' in password must be escaped, e.g. 'p@ssword' -> p\@ssword'
+    if (-not (Test-Path Function:/get_config)) {
+        . "$PSScriptRoot/core.ps1"
+    }
     $proxy = get_config PROXY
     if (!$proxy) {
         return
diff --git a/lib/manifest.ps1 b/lib/manifest.ps1
index 9ca618158b..61a6faa86a 100644
--- a/lib/manifest.ps1
+++ b/lib/manifest.ps1
@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@ function parse_json($path) {
 function url_manifest($url) {
     $str = $null
     try {
+        if (-not (Test-Path Function:/Get-UserAgent)) {
+            . "$PSScriptRoot/download.ps1"
+        }
         $wc = New-Object Net.Webclient
         $wc.Headers.Add('User-Agent', (Get-UserAgent))
         $data = $wc.DownloadData($url)
         $str = (Get-Encoding($wc)).GetString($data)
-    } catch [system.management.automation.methodinvocationexception] {
-        warn "error: $($_.exception.innerexception.message)"
-    } catch {
-        throw
+    } catch [System.Management.Automation.MethodInvocationException] {
+        warn "error: $($_.Exception.InnerException.Message)"
     }
     if (!$str) { return $null }
     try {
@@ -68,6 +69,9 @@ function Get-Manifest($app) {
 }
 
 function manifest($app, $bucket, $url) {
+    if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($app)) {
+        throw [System.ArgumentException]::new('The value of $app may not be null, empty, or whitespace!')
+    }
     if ($url) { return url_manifest $url }
     parse_json (manifest_path $app $bucket)
 }
diff --git a/libexec/scoop-status.ps1 b/libexec/scoop-status.ps1
index a62cad2dd1..dfa619da5b 100644
--- a/libexec/scoop-status.ps1
+++ b/libexec/scoop-status.ps1
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\manifest.ps1" # 'manifest' 'parse_json' "install_info"
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\versions.ps1" # 'Select-CurrentVersion'
+. "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\buckets.ps1" # 'Get-LocalBucket'
 
 # check if scoop needs updating
 $currentdir = versiondir 'scoop' 'current'
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ function Test-UpdateStatus($repopath) {
     if (Test-Path "$repopath\.git") {
         Invoke-Git -Path $repopath -ArgumentList @('fetch', '-q', 'origin')
         $script:network_failure = 128 -eq $LASTEXITCODE
-        $branch  = Invoke-Git -Path $repopath -ArgumentList @('branch', '--show-current')
+        $branch = Invoke-Git -Path $repopath -ArgumentList @('branch', '--show-current')
         $commits = Invoke-Git -Path $repopath -ArgumentList @('log', "HEAD..origin/$branch", '--oneline')
         if ($commits) { return $true }
         else { return $false }
@@ -55,19 +56,22 @@ $true, $false | ForEach-Object { # local and global apps
     $dir = appsdir $global
     if (!(Test-Path $dir)) { return }
 
-    Get-ChildItem $dir | Where-Object name -NE 'scoop' | ForEach-Object {
-        $app = $_.name
+    $appNames = @(Get-ChildItem $dir -Directory -Name -Exclude 'scoop' | Where-Object Length -GT 0)
+
+    if ($appNames.Length -eq 0) { return }
+
+    foreach ($app in $appNames) {
         $status = app_status $app $global
-        if (!$status.outdated -and !$status.failed -and !$status.removed -and !$status.missing_deps) { return }
+        if (-not ($status.outdated -or $status.failed -or $status.removed -or $status.missing_deps)) { continue }
 
         $item = [ordered]@{}
         $item.Name = $app
         $item.'Installed Version' = $status.version
-        $item.'Latest Version' = if ($status.outdated) { $status.latest_version } else { "" }
+        $item.'Latest Version' = if ($status.outdated) { $status.latest_version } else { '' }
         $item.'Missing Dependencies' = $status.missing_deps -Split ' ' -Join ' | '
         $info = @()
-        if ($status.failed)  { $info += 'Install failed' }
-        if ($status.hold)    { $info += 'Held package' }
+        if ($status.failed) { $info += 'Install failed' }
+        if ($status.hold) { $info += 'Held package' }
         if ($status.removed) { $info += 'Manifest removed' }
         $item.Info = $info -join ', '
         $list += [PSCustomObject]$item
diff --git a/test/Scoop-Status.Tests.ps1 b/test/Scoop-Status.Tests.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b41549068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Scoop-Status.Tests.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# todo
+Describe -Skip 'Show status and check for new app versions' -Tag 'Scoop' {
+    # scoop-status.ps1 is not structured in a way that makes this easy to test
+    # todo: refactor scoop-status.ps1's loop bodies to functions for easier testing
+    It 'throws when Global or User appdir is empty or does not exist' -Skip { }
+}
+
+# todo: add bucket fixtures for CI tests
+Describe 'Test-UpdateStatus' -Tag 'Scoop' -Skip:($env:CI -eq $true) {
+    BeforeAll {
+        . "$PSScriptRoot/../libexec/scoop-status.ps1"
+    }
+    # todo
+    It -Skip 'should return $true if $commits is falsy' {}
+    # todo
+    It -Skip 'should return $false if $commits is truthy' {}
+    It 'should return $true if "$repopath\.git`" does not exist' {
+        function makeTmpDir {
+            [OutputType([System.IO.DirectoryInfo])]
+            Param ()
+
+            [string] $tmpDirPath = Join-Path $env:TEMP $(New-Guid)
+
+            while (Test-Path $tmpDirPath) {
+                $tmpDirPath = Join-Path $env:TEMP $(New-Guid)
+            }
+
+            return (New-Item $tmpDirPath -ItemType Directory)
+        }
+        [System.IO.DirectoryInfo] $emptyDir = makeTmpDir
+        Test-UpdateStatus $emptyDir.FullName | Should -Be $true
+    }
+}