diff --git a/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js b/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js
index a73525744..778144e1d 100644
--- a/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js
+++ b/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ class PluginCommand {
           }
           let npmInstall = ['npm', 'install', '--save'];
           npmInstall = npmInstall.concat(cmdArray.slice(2));
+          let npmPackage = npmInstall[3];
+          self.embark.logger.info(`Installing npm package ${npmPackage} ...`);
           async.waterfall([
             function npmInstallAsync(cb) {
               utils.runCmd(npmInstall.join(' '), {silent: false, exitOnError: false}, (err) => {
@@ -35,16 +37,15 @@ class PluginCommand {
               // get the installed package from package.json
               let packageFile = fs.readJSONSync(self.config.packageFile);
               let dependencies = Object.keys(packageFile.dependencies);
-              let npmPackage = npmInstall[3];
               let installedPackage = dependencies.filter((dep) => npmPackage.indexOf(dep) >=0);
               self.embarkConfig.plugins[installedPackage[0]] = {};
               fs.writeFile(self.config.embarkConfigFile, JSON.stringify(self.embarkConfig, null, 2), cb);
             }
           ], (err) => {
             if(err) {
-              return callback(err);
+              return callback(`Error installing npm package ${npmPackage}. Please visit https://embark.status.im/plugins/ for more info`);
             }
-            callback(null, 'npm package successfully installed as a plugin');
+            callback(null, `npm package ${npmPackage} successfully installed as a plugin`);
           });
         }
       };
diff --git a/lib/utils/utils.js b/lib/utils/utils.js
index dc11127d2..8eaf99a46 100644
--- a/lib/utils/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/utils.js
@@ -131,24 +131,35 @@ function pingEndpoint(host, port, type, protocol, origin, callback) {
 
 function runCmd(cmd, options, callback) {
   const shelljs = require('shelljs');
-  options = Object.assign({silent: true, exitOnError: true}, options || {});
-  let result = shelljs.exec(cmd);
-  if (result.code !== 0) {
-    console.log("error doing.. " + cmd);
-    console.log(result.output);
-    if (result.stderr !== undefined) {
-      console.log(result.stderr);
+  options = Object.assign({silent: true,exitOnError: true, async: true}, options || {});
+  const outputToConsole = !options.silent;
+  options.silent = true;
+  let result = shelljs.exec(cmd, options, function (code, stdout) {
+    if(code !==0) {
+      if (options.exitOnError) {
+        return exit();
+      }
+      if(typeof callback === 'function') {
+        callback(`shell returned code ${code}`);
+      }
+    } else {
+      if(typeof callback === 'function') {
+        return callback(null, stdout);
+      }
     }
-    if (typeof callback === 'function') {
-      return callback(result, null);
+  });
+
+  result.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
+    if(outputToConsole) {
+      console.log(data);
     }
-    if (options.exitOnError) {
-      return exit();
+  });
+
+  result.stderr.on('data', function(data) {
+    if (outputToConsole) {
+      console.log(data);
     }
-  }
-  if(typeof callback === 'function') {
-    return callback(null, result);
-  }
+  });
 }
 
 function cd(folder) {