diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-fio b/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-fio
index f28b04453b..c9875ecbae 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-fio
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-fio
@@ -527,8 +527,7 @@ function fio_pre_check() {
 	fi
 	if [[ ${do_local_pre_check} -eq 1 ]]; then
 		debug_log "Running pre-check locally"
-		local_pre_check "${devs}" "${ver}" "${match}"
-		rc=${?}
+		local_pre_check "${devs}" "${ver}" "${match}" || rc=${?}
 	fi
 	if [[ ${rc} -ne 0 ]]; then
 		error_log "pre-check(s) failed, exiting"
diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-uperf b/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-uperf
index fd9384e77b..7289fa22fa 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-uperf
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/pbench-uperf
@@ -197,11 +197,11 @@ function local_pre_check {
 	local _ver="${1}"
 	local _match="${2}"
 
-    resolve_benchmark_bin_err="$(resolve_benchmark_bin "${benchmark}" 2>&1)"
-    if [[ ${?} -ne 0 ]]; then
-        error_log "${script_name}: ${benchmark} executable not found, '${resolve_benchmark_bin_err}'"
-        exit 1
-    fi
+	resolve_benchmark_bin_err="$(resolve_benchmark_bin "${benchmark}" 2>&1)"
+	if [[ ${?} -ne 0 ]]; then
+		error_log "${script_name}: ${benchmark} executable not found, '${resolve_benchmark_bin_err}'"
+		exit 1
+	fi
 
 	local ver_installed=$(${benchmark} -V | awk 'NR==1 {print $3}')
 	vercmp "${benchmark}" "${_match}" "${_ver}" "${ver_installed}"
diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/fio b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/fio
index 257ca8b14b..d12aee42cd 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/fio
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/fio
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ echo "$0 $*" >> $_testlog
 # Mock fio command behaviors.
 if [[ "${1%%=*}" == "--client" ]]; then 
 	client_file=${1##*=}
-	for line in $(cat ${client_file}); do
+	for line in $(< ${client_file}); do
 		ip_name="${line%%,*}"
 		client="${ip_name#*:}"
 		if [[ "${client%%.*}" == "hist" ]]; then 
diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/mock-cmd b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/mock-cmd
index 100952d126..5a6ff11154 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/mock-cmd
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/mock-cmd
@@ -8,13 +8,6 @@ fi
 
 prog="$(basename "${0}")"
 args=( "${@}" )
-lastidx=$((${#args[@]} - 1))
-# avoid "bad array subscript" error
-if [[ "${lastidx}" -lt 0 ]] ;then
-    exit 0
-fi
-
-last=${args[${lastidx}]}
 if [[ "${prog}" == "pbench-tool-meister-start" ]]; then
     echo [pbench] > ${benchmark_run_dir}/metadata.log
 elif [[ "${prog}" == "cat" && "${args[0]}" == "/proc/cmdline" ]]; then
diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/which b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/which
index ebfbdf170e..c6bdd0cb37 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/which
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/test-bin/which
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-args=( "${@}" )
-lastidx=$((${#args[@]} - 1))
-# avoid "bad array subscript" error
-if [[ "${lastidx}" -lt 0 ]] ;then
-    exit 0
+# Mock the operation of `which` so that the value of `PATH` is never emitted
+# during the test runs, thus avoiding it landing in a gold file.
+
+if [[ $# -eq 0 ]] ;then
+    echo "$0 requires at least one argument" >&2
+    exit 255
 fi
-last=${args[${lastidx}]}
+args=( "${@}" )
+last=${args[-1]}
 
 stdout=$(/usr/bin/which ${last} 2> /dev/null)
 res=${?}
diff --git a/agent/bench-scripts/unittests b/agent/bench-scripts/unittests
index f2e3a991cb..8d31185820 100755
--- a/agent/bench-scripts/unittests
+++ b/agent/bench-scripts/unittests
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ function _dump_logs {
             for f in $(find . -name results.html 2> /dev/null | sort); do
                 _dump_file ${rundir} ${f:2}
             done
-            for f in $(find . \( -name '*--client_start.sh' -o -name '*--server_start.sh' \) 2> /dev/null | sort); do
+            for f in $(find . -name '*--client_start.sh' -o -name '*--server_start.sh' 2> /dev/null | sort); do
                 _dump_file ${rundir} ${f:2}
             done
         fi