diff --git a/command/agent/check.go b/command/agent/check.go
index 02c3bd16d7..cf38f30cd6 100644
--- a/command/agent/check.go
+++ b/command/agent/check.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/consul/structs"
 	"log"
 	"os/exec"
-	"runtime"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
@@ -106,18 +105,13 @@ func (c *CheckMonitor) run() {
 
 // check is invoked periodically to perform the script check
 func (c *CheckMonitor) check() {
-	// Determine the shell invocation based on OS
-	var shell, flag string
-	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		shell = "cmd"
-		flag = "/C"
-	} else {
-		shell = "/bin/sh"
-		flag = "-c"
-	}
-
 	// Create the command
-	cmd := exec.Command(shell, flag, c.Script)
+	cmd, err := ExecScript(c.Script)
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Logger.Printf("[ERR] agent: failed to setup invoke '%s': %s", c.Script, err)
+		c.Notify.UpdateCheck(c.CheckID, structs.HealthUnknown, err.Error())
+		return
+	}
 
 	// Collect the output
 	output, _ := circbuf.NewBuffer(CheckBufSize)
@@ -140,7 +134,7 @@ func (c *CheckMonitor) check() {
 		time.Sleep(30 * time.Second)
 		errCh <- fmt.Errorf("Timed out running check '%s'", c.Script)
 	}()
-	err := <-errCh
+	err = <-errCh
 
 	// Get the output, add a message about truncation
 	outputStr := string(output.Bytes())
diff --git a/command/agent/util.go b/command/agent/util.go
index 8f6103a804..16b3b01907 100644
--- a/command/agent/util.go
+++ b/command/agent/util.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package agent
 import (
 	"math"
 	"math/rand"
+	"os/exec"
+	"runtime"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -39,3 +41,17 @@ func strContains(l []string, s string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// ExecScript returns a command to execute a script
+func ExecScript(script string) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	var shell, flag string
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		shell = "cmd"
+		flag = "/C"
+	} else {
+		shell = "/bin/sh"
+		flag = "-c"
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command(shell, flag, script)
+	return cmd, nil
+}
diff --git a/command/agent/watch_handler.go b/command/agent/watch_handler.go
index ef9f8a9cf4..afc4fb94d2 100644
--- a/command/agent/watch_handler.go
+++ b/command/agent/watch_handler.go
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"os"
-	"os/exec"
-	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/armon/circbuf"
@@ -39,18 +37,12 @@ func makeWatchHandler(logOutput io.Writer, params interface{}) watch.HandlerFunc
 	script := params.(string)
 	logger := log.New(logOutput, "", log.LstdFlags)
 	fn := func(idx uint64, data interface{}) {
-		// Determine the shell invocation based on OS
-		var shell, flag string
-		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-			shell = "cmd"
-			flag = "/C"
-		} else {
-			shell = "/bin/sh"
-			flag = "-c"
-		}
-
 		// Create the command
-		cmd := exec.Command(shell, flag, script)
+		cmd, err := ExecScript(script)
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Printf("[ERR] agent: Failed to setup watch: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
 		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(),
 			"CONSUL_INDEX="+strconv.FormatUint(idx, 10),
 		)
diff --git a/command/agent/watch_handler_test.go b/command/agent/watch_handler_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28f1e425f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/agent/watch_handler_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestVerifyWatchHandler(t *testing.T) {
+	if err := verifyWatchHandler(nil); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should err")
+	}
+	if err := verifyWatchHandler(123); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should err")
+	}
+	if err := verifyWatchHandler([]string{"foo"}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should err")
+	}
+	if err := verifyWatchHandler("foo"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMakeWatchHandler(t *testing.T) {
+	defer os.Remove("handler_out")
+	defer os.Remove("handler_index_out")
+	script := "echo $CONSUL_INDEX >> handler_index_out && cat >> handler_out"
+	handler := makeWatchHandler(os.Stderr, script)
+	handler(100, []string{"foo", "bar", "baz"})
+	raw, err := ioutil.ReadFile("handler_out")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(raw) != "[\"foo\",\"bar\",\"baz\"]\n" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", raw)
+	}
+	raw, err = ioutil.ReadFile("handler_index_out")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(raw) != "100\n" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", raw)
+	}
+}