diff --git a/anaconda_anon_usage/install.py b/anaconda_anon_usage/install.py
index 66688e2..cac3421 100644
--- a/anaconda_anon_usage/install.py
+++ b/anaconda_anon_usage/install.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 import sys
 import sysconfig
 from os.path import basename, dirname, exists, join, relpath
-from traceback import format_exc
 
 from . import __version__
 
@@ -36,6 +35,8 @@ def configure_parser():
         "pre-unlink script. It is not useful in normal operation; to disable "
         "the telemetry, use conda config --set anaconda_anon_usage false.",
     )
+    # For testing only: exit with -1 if not enabled
+    g.add_argument("--expect", action="store_true", help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
     g.add_argument(
         "--status",
         action="store_true",
@@ -54,29 +55,6 @@ def configure_parser():
 verbose = True
 
 
-def error(what, fatal=False, warn=False):
-    global success
-    print("ERROR:", what)
-    tb = format_exc()
-    if not tb.startswith("NoneType"):
-        print("-----")
-        print(tb.rstrip())
-        print("-----")
-    if fatal:
-        print("cannot proceed; exiting.")
-        sys.exit(-1)
-    if not warn:
-        success = False
-
-
-def tryop(op, *args, **kwargs):
-    try:
-        op(*args, **kwargs)
-        return True
-    except Exception:
-        return False
-
-
 PATCH_NAME = b"anaconda_anon_usage"
 PATCH_TEXT = b"""
 # %s %s
@@ -147,6 +125,9 @@ def _patch(args, pfile, patch_text, patch_name):
     text, status = _read(pfile, patch_text, patch_name)
     if verbose:
         print(f"| status: {status}")
+    if args.expect and status != "ENABLED":
+        print("exiting due to unexpected status")
+        sys.exit(-1)
     if status == "NOT PRESENT":
         return
     elif status == "NEEDS UPDATE":
diff --git a/conda.recipe/bld.bat b/conda.recipe/bld.bat
index 3bc42a3..8c930ce 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/bld.bat
+++ b/conda.recipe/bld.bat
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
-echo on
 setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
 %PREFIX%\python.exe -m pip install --no-deps --ignore-installed -vv .
 if "%NEED_SCRIPTS%" neq "yes" del %SP_DIR%\anaconda_anon_usage\install.py
-if "%NEED_SCRIPTS%" equ "yes" del %SP_DIR%\anaconda_anon_usage\plugin.py
 if "%NEED_SCRIPTS%" neq "yes" exit
+del %SP_DIR%\anaconda_anon_usage\plugin.py
 if not exist %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d mkdir %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d
-if not exist %PREFIX%\python-scripts mkdir %PREFIX%\python-scripts
-copy scripts\activate.sh    %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d\%PKG_NAME%_activate.sh
-copy scripts\activate.bat   %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d\%PKG_NAME%_activate.bat
-copy scripts\post-link.sh   %PREFIX%\python-scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-post-link.sh
-copy scripts\post-link.bat  %PREFIX%\python-scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-post-link.bat
-copy scripts\pre-unlink.sh  %PREFIX%\python-scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-pre-unlink.sh
-copy scripts\pre-unlink.bat %PREFIX%\python-scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-pre-unlink.bat
+copy scripts\activate.sh %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d\%PKG_NAME%_activate.sh
+copy scripts\activate.bat %PREFIX%\etc\conda\activate.d\%PKG_NAME%_activate.bat
+if not exist %PREFIX%\Scripts mkdir %PREFIX%\Scripts
+copy scripts\post-link.bat %PREFIX%\Scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-post-link.bat
+copy scripts\pre-unlink.bat %PREFIX%\Scripts\.%PKG_NAME%-pre-unlink.bat
+if not exist %PREFIX%\bin mkdir %PREFIX%\bin
+copy scripts\post-link.sh %PREFIX%\bin\.%PKG_NAME%-post-link.sh
+copy scripts\pre-unlink.sh %PREFIX%\bin\.%PKG_NAME%-pre-unlink.sh
diff --git a/conda.recipe/build.sh b/conda.recipe/build.sh
index 69ad2d7..7434054 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/build.sh
+++ b/conda.recipe/build.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
 "${PREFIX}/bin/python" -m pip install --no-deps --ignore-installed -vv .
 if [ "$NEED_SCRIPTS" != yes ]; then
     rm ${SP_DIR}/anaconda_anon_usage/install.py
     exit 0
-else
-    rm ${SP_DIR}/anaconda_anon_usage/plugin.py
 fi
-mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d"
-mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/python-scripts"
-cp "scripts/activate.sh"    "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d/${PKG_NAME}_activate.sh"
-cp "scripts/activate.bat"   "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d/${PKG_NAME}_activate.bat"
-cp "scripts/post-link.sh"   "${PREFIX}/python-scripts/.${PKG_NAME}-post-link.sh"
-cp "scripts/pre-unlink.sh"  "${PREFIX}/python-scripts/.${PKG_NAME}-pre-unlink.sh"
-cp "scripts/post-link.bat"  "${PREFIX}/python-scripts/.${PKG_NAME}-post-link.bat"
-cp "scripts/pre-unlink.bat" "${PREFIX}/python-scripts/.${PKG_NAME}-pre-unlink.bat"
+rm ${SP_DIR}/anaconda_anon_usage/plugin.py
+if [ "$SUBDIR" = "noarch" ]; then sdir=python-scripts; else sdir=bin; fi
+mkdir -p "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d" "${PREFIX}/${sdir}"
+cp "scripts/activate.sh" "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d/${PKG_NAME}_activate.sh"
+cp "scripts/post-link.sh" "${PREFIX}/${sdir}/.${PKG_NAME}-post-link.sh"
+cp "scripts/pre-unlink.sh" "${PREFIX}/${sdir}/.${PKG_NAME}-pre-unlink.sh"
+if [ "$SUBDIR" = "noarch" ]; then
+    cp "scripts/activate.bat" "${PREFIX}/etc/conda/activate.d/${PKG_NAME}_activate.bat"
+    cp "scripts/post-link.bat" "${PREFIX}/${sdir}/.${PKG_NAME}-post-link.bat"
+    cp "scripts/pre-unlink.bat" "${PREFIX}/${sdir}/.${PKG_NAME}-pre-unlink.bat"
+fi
diff --git a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
index f2ed386..a08a40e 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {% set data = load_setup_py_data() %}
+{% set number = 0 %}
 
 package:
   name: anaconda-anon-usage
@@ -8,6 +9,11 @@ source:
   path: ..
 
 build:
+  # Use a build number difference to ensure that the plugin
+  # variant is slightly preferred by conda's solver.
+  number: {{ number + 100 }}  # [variant=="plugin"]
+  number: {{ number }}        # [variant=="patch"]
+  string: py_{{ PKG_BUILDNUM }}
   noarch: python  # [not win]
   script_env:
    - NEED_SCRIPTS=no   # [variant=="plugin"]
diff --git a/scripts/activate.bat b/scripts/activate.bat
index e9cfb16..a388098 100644
--- a/scripts/activate.bat
+++ b/scripts/activate.bat
@@ -1 +1 @@
-@python -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet
+@"%CONDA_PREFIX%\python.exe" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet
diff --git a/scripts/activate.sh b/scripts/activate.sh
index 719fb0e..a5af7d7 100644
--- a/scripts/activate.sh
+++ b/scripts/activate.sh
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-python -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet
+pbin="${CONDA_PREFIX}/python.exe"
+[ -f "${pbin}" ] || pbin="${CONDA_PREFIX}/bin/python"
+"${pbin}" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet || :
diff --git a/scripts/post-link.bat b/scripts/post-link.bat
index 16c84a2..65450b0 100644
--- a/scripts/post-link.bat
+++ b/scripts/post-link.bat
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 @echo off
-if "%CONDA_PREFIX%"=="" (set "pfx=%PREFIX%") else (set "pfx=%CONDA_PREFIX%")
-python -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet >>"%pfx%\.messages.txt" 2>&1 && if errorlevel 1 exit 1
+if "%CONDA_PREFIX%"=="" (set pfx="%PREFIX%") else (set pfx="%CONDA_PREFIX%")
+"%pfx%\python.exe" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet >>"%pfx%\.messages.txt" 2>&1
diff --git a/scripts/post-link.sh b/scripts/post-link.sh
index 8b94042..b447b9e 100644
--- a/scripts/post-link.sh
+++ b/scripts/post-link.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-pfx=${CONDA_PREFIX:-${PREFIX:-}}
-pbin=${pfx}/python.exe
-[ -f ${pbin} ] || pbin=${pfx}/bin/python
-${pbin} -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet >>"${pfx}/.messages.txt" 2>&1
+#!/bin/sh
+
+pfx="${CONDA_PREFIX:-${PREFIX:-}}"
+pbin="${pfx}/python.exe"
+[ -f "${pbin}" ] || pbin="${pfx}/bin/python"
+"${pbin}" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --enable --quiet >>"${pfx}/.messages.txt" 2>&1 || :
diff --git a/scripts/pre-unlink.bat b/scripts/pre-unlink.bat
index 3aaf5a0..0e6872e 100644
--- a/scripts/pre-unlink.bat
+++ b/scripts/pre-unlink.bat
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 @echo off
-if "%CONDA_PREFIX%"=="" (set "pfx=%PREFIX%") else (set "pfx=%CONDA_PREFIX%")
-python -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --disable --quiet >>"%pfx%\.messages.txt" 2>&1 && if errorlevel 1 exit 1
+if "%CONDA_PREFIX%"=="" (set pfx="%PREFIX%") else (set "pfx=%CONDA_PREFIX%")
+"%pfx%\python.exe" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --disable --quiet >>"%pfx%\.messages.txt" 2>&1
diff --git a/scripts/pre-unlink.sh b/scripts/pre-unlink.sh
index c1fcee9..104db3e 100644
--- a/scripts/pre-unlink.sh
+++ b/scripts/pre-unlink.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-pfx=${CONDA_PREFIX:-${PREFIX:-}}
-pbin=${pfx}/python.exe
-[ -f ${pbin} ] || pbin=${pfx}/bin/python
-${pbin} -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --disable --quiet >>"${pfx}/.messages.txt" 2>&1
+#!/bin/sh
+
+pfx="${CONDA_PREFIX:-${PREFIX:-}}"
+pbin="${pfx}/python.exe"
+[ -f "${pbin}" ] || pbin="${pfx}/bin/python"
+"${pbin}" -m anaconda_anon_usage.install --disable --quiet >>"${pfx}/.messages.txt" 2>&1 || :