diff --git a/recipes/asset-canister/recipe.hbs b/recipes/asset-canister/recipe.hbs
index 012a4e5..fc392eb 100644
--- a/recipes/asset-canister/recipe.hbs
+++ b/recipes/asset-canister/recipe.hbs
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ build:
 
   steps:
 
+    {{#if metadata}}
+    - type: script
+      commands:
+        - sh -c 'command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }'
+    {{/if}}
+
     {{#if build}}
     {{! Execute frontend build command(s) first }}
     - type: script
@@ -28,7 +34,6 @@ build:
     - type: script
       commands:
         {{#each metadata}}
-        - sh -c 'command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }'
         - sh -c 'ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "{{ name }}" -d "{{ value }}" --keep-name-section'
         {{/each}}
     {{/if}}
diff --git a/recipes/motoko/recipe.hbs b/recipes/motoko/recipe.hbs
index 7ab4ee7..9508fac 100644
--- a/recipes/motoko/recipe.hbs
+++ b/recipes/motoko/recipe.hbs
@@ -8,14 +8,21 @@
 
 build:
   steps:
+    # Check that required commands exist
     - type: script
       commands:
         - sh -c 'command -v mops >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "'mops' not found on path. To install Mops, see https://mops.one/docs/install.\n"; exit 1; }'
+        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{#if compress }}
+        - command -v gzip >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "gzip not found. Please install gzip to compress build output. \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{/if}}
+
+    - type: script
+      commands:
         - sh -c '$(mops toolchain bin moc) "{{ main }}" {{#if args}}{{ args }} {{/if}}{{#if candid}}--omit-metadata{{else}}--public-metadata{{/if}} candid:service $(mops sources) -o "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH"'
 
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
         - sh -c 'ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "moc:version" -d "$($(mops toolchain bin moc) --version)" --keep-name-section'
 
     - type: script
@@ -33,14 +40,12 @@ build:
     {{#if shrink}}
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" shrink --keep-name-section
     {{/if}}
 
     {{#if compress }}
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v gzip >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "gzip not found. Please install gzip to compress build output. \n"; exit 1; }
         - gzip --no-name "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH"
         - mv "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}.gz" "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH"
     {{/if}}
diff --git a/recipes/prebuilt/recipe.hbs b/recipes/prebuilt/recipe.hbs
index 2aca2dd..2cd44e7 100644
--- a/recipes/prebuilt/recipe.hbs
+++ b/recipes/prebuilt/recipe.hbs
@@ -9,6 +9,19 @@ build:
 
   steps:
 
+    - type: script
+      commands:
+        - echo "Checking pre-requisites"
+        {{#if metadata}}
+        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{/if}}
+        {{#if shrink}}
+        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{/if}}
+        {{#if compress}}
+        - command -v gzip >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "gzip not found. Please install gzip to compress build output. \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{/if}}
+
     - type: pre-built
       path: {{ path }}
       {{#if sha256 }}
@@ -19,7 +32,6 @@ build:
     - type: script
       commands:
         {{#each metadata}}
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "{{ name }}" -d "{{ value }}" --keep-name-section
         {{/each}}
     {{/if}}
@@ -27,14 +39,12 @@ build:
     {{#if shrink}}
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" shrink --keep-name-section
     {{/if}}
 
     {{#if compress}}
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v gzip >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "gzip not found. Please install gzip to compress build output. \n"; exit 1; }
         - gzip --no-name "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH"
         - mv "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}.gz" "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH"
     {{/if}}
diff --git a/recipes/rust/recipe.hbs b/recipes/rust/recipe.hbs
index 51552c3..d5f36e4 100644
--- a/recipes/rust/recipe.hbs
+++ b/recipes/rust/recipe.hbs
@@ -7,6 +7,16 @@
 
 build:
   steps:
+    - type: script
+      commands:
+        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 'ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n'; exit 1; }
+        {{#unless candid}}
+        - command -v candid-extractor >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 'candid-extractor not found. Run `cargo install candid-extractor` to install it.'; exit 1; }
+        {{/unless}}
+        {{#if compress }}
+        - command -v gzip >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "gzip not found. Please install gzip to compress build output. \n"; exit 1; }
+        {{/if}}
+
     - type: script
       commands:
         - cargo build --package {{ package }} --target wasm32-unknown-unknown --release
@@ -14,13 +24,11 @@ build:
 
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 'ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n'; exit 1; }
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "cargo:version" -d "$(cargo --version)" --keep-name-section
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "template:type" -d "rust" --keep-name-section
         {{#if candid}}
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "candid:service" -f '{{ candid }}' -v public --keep-name-section
         {{else}}
-        - command -v candid-extractor >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 'candid-extractor not found. Run `cargo install candid-extractor` to install it.'; exit 1; }
         - did="$(mktemp)"; candid-extractor "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" >"$did" && ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" metadata "candid:service" -f "$did" -v public --keep-name-section
         {{/if}}
         {{#if metadata}}
@@ -32,7 +40,6 @@ build:
     {{#if shrink}}
     - type: script
       commands:
-        - command -v ic-wasm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ic-wasm not found. To install ic-wasm, see https://github.com/dfinity/ic-wasm \n"; exit 1; }
         - ic-wasm "$ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH" -o "${ICP_WASM_OUTPUT_PATH}" shrink --keep-name-section
     {{/if}}