diff --git a/install.js b/install.js
index 8b9244bbe..c45f04bab 100644
--- a/install.js
+++ b/install.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ var checkPhantomjsVersion = util.checkPhantomjsVersion
 var getTargetPlatform = util.getTargetPlatform
 var getTargetArch = util.getTargetArch
 var getDownloadSpec = util.getDownloadSpec
-var maybeLinkLibModule = util.maybeLinkLibModule
+var findValidPhantomJsBinary = util.findValidPhantomJsBinary
 var verifyChecksum = util.verifyChecksum
 var writeLocationFile = util.writeLocationFile
 
@@ -322,9 +322,12 @@ function copyIntoPlace(extractedPath, targetPath) {
  */
 function tryPhantomjsInLib() {
   return kew.fcall(function () {
-    return maybeLinkLibModule(path.resolve(__dirname, './lib/location.js'))
-  }).then(function (success) {
-    if (success) exit(0)
+    return findValidPhantomJsBinary(path.resolve(__dirname, './lib/location.js'))
+  }).then(function (binaryLocation) {
+    if (binaryLocation) {
+      console.log('PhantomJS is previously installed at', binaryLocation)
+      exit(0)
+    }
   }).fail(function () {
     // silently swallow any errors
   })
@@ -356,9 +359,14 @@ function tryPhantomjsOnPath() {
     if (/NPM_INSTALL_MARKER/.test(contents)) {
       console.log('Looks like an `npm install -g`')
 
-      return maybeLinkLibModule(path.resolve(fs.realpathSync(phantomPath), '../../lib/location'))
-      .then(function (success) {
-        if (success) exit(0)
+      var phantomLibPath = path.resolve(fs.realpathSync(phantomPath), '../../lib/location')
+      return findValidPhantomJsBinary(phantomLibPath)
+      .then(function (binaryLocation) {
+        if (binaryLocation) {
+          writeLocationFile(binaryLocation)
+          console.log('PhantomJS linked at', phantomLibPath)
+          exit(0)
+        }
         console.log('Could not link global install, skipping...')
       })
     } else {
diff --git a/lib/util.js b/lib/util.js
index 568ef1769..3cf515a6d 100644
--- a/lib/util.js
+++ b/lib/util.js
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ var libPath = __dirname
 
 /**
  * Given a lib/location file of a PhantomJS previously installed with NPM,
- * try to link the binary to this lib/location.
- * @return {Promise<boolean>} True on success
+ * is there a valid PhantomJS binary at this lib/location.
+ * @return {Promise<string>} resolved location of phantomjs binary on success
  */
-function maybeLinkLibModule(libPath) {
+function findValidPhantomJsBinary(libPath) {
   return kew.fcall(function () {
     var libModule = require(libPath)
     if (libModule.location &&
@@ -29,9 +29,7 @@ function maybeLinkLibModule(libPath) {
       if (fs.statSync(resolvedLocation)) {
         return checkPhantomjsVersion(resolvedLocation).then(function (matches) {
           if (matches) {
-            writeLocationFile(resolvedLocation)
-            console.log('PhantomJS linked at', resolvedLocation)
-            return kew.resolve(true)
+            return kew.resolve(resolvedLocation)
           }
         })
       }
@@ -157,7 +155,7 @@ module.exports = {
   getDownloadSpec: getDownloadSpec,
   getTargetPlatform: getTargetPlatform,
   getTargetArch: getTargetArch,
-  maybeLinkLibModule: maybeLinkLibModule,
+  findValidPhantomJsBinary: findValidPhantomJsBinary,
   verifyChecksum: verifyChecksum,
   writeLocationFile: writeLocationFile
 }
diff --git a/test/tests.js b/test/tests.js
index 0f229d6ad..a0fd95d01 100644
--- a/test/tests.js
+++ b/test/tests.js
@@ -67,17 +67,17 @@ exports.testCleanPath = function (test) {
 }
 
 exports.testBogusReinstallLocation = function (test) {
-  util.maybeLinkLibModule('./blargh')
-  .then(function (success) {
-    test.ok(!success, 'Expected link to fail')
+  util.findValidPhantomJsBinary('./blargh')
+  .then(function (binaryLocation) {
+    test.ok(!binaryLocation, 'Expected link to fail')
     test.done()
   })
 }
 
 exports.testSuccessfulReinstallLocation = function (test) {
-  util.maybeLinkLibModule(path.resolve(__dirname, '../lib/location'))
-  .then(function (success) {
-    test.ok(success, 'Expected link to succeed')
+  util.findValidPhantomJsBinary(path.resolve(__dirname, '../lib/location'))
+  .then(function (binaryLocation) {
+    test.ok(binaryLocation, 'Expected link to succeed')
     test.done()
   })
 }