diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 8af06a0..fe94d1f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 For more information, please refer to the repository (https://github.com/developomp/setup).
 """
 
-from os import system, geteuid, popen
+from os import system, geteuid
 from os.path import exists
 from shutil import rmtree
 import sys
@@ -22,12 +22,8 @@ tmp_dir = "/tmp/com.developomp.setup"
 #
 
 
-def run_and_return(command: str) -> list[str]:
-    return popen(command).readlines()
-
-
 def command_exists(command: str) -> bool:
-    return len(run_and_return(f"command -v {command}")) == 1
+    return system(f"command -v {command} &> /dev/null") == 0
 
 
 def cleanup() -> None:
diff --git a/src/util.py b/src/util.py
index f75247d..aa5f239 100644
--- a/src/util.py
+++ b/src/util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from importlib.machinery import SourceFileLoader
-from os import system, makedirs, popen, remove
+from os import system, makedirs, remove
 from os.path import dirname, exists
 from tqdm.auto import tqdm
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -12,14 +12,6 @@ from src.log import error, log
 import src.constants
 
 
-def run_and_return(command: str) -> list[str]:
-    """Runs command in system shell and return the result.
-    This is a blocking function.
-    Use this if you want to get the output of the command."""
-
-    return popen(command).readlines()
-
-
 def paru_install(packages: str | list[str]) -> None:
     """
     Download arch linux packages (including AUR).
@@ -58,7 +50,7 @@ def appimage_install(file_url: str, file_name: str) -> None:
     download_path = f"{Path.home()}/Applications/{file_name}.AppImage"
 
     # install AppImageLauncher if it's not installed already
-    if system("command -v AppImageLauncher &> /dev/null"):
+    if not command_exists("AppImageLauncher"):
         paru_install("appimagelauncher")
 
     log(f"  Downloading AppImage file to {download_path}")
@@ -188,4 +180,4 @@ def command_exists(command: str) -> bool:
     """Check if a command can be found in the current default shell.
     A copy of this function also exists in `setup.py`."""
 
-    return len(run_and_return(f"command -v {command}")) == 1
+    return system(f"command -v {command} &> /dev/null") == 0