diff --git a/retriever/lib/download.py b/retriever/lib/download.py
index ce9463883..f81c66b15 100644
--- a/retriever/lib/download.py
+++ b/retriever/lib/download.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 from __future__ import print_function
 
+import os
+
 from retriever.engines import choose_engine
+from retriever.lib.defaults import DATA_DIR, SCRIPT_WRITE_PATH
 from retriever.lib.scripts import SCRIPT_LIST
 from retriever.lib.tools import name_matches
-
-script_list = SCRIPT_LIST()
+from retriever.lib.repository import check_for_updates
 
 
 def download(dataset, path='./', quiet=False, subdir=False, debug=False):
@@ -18,7 +20,10 @@ def download(dataset, path='./', quiet=False, subdir=False, debug=False):
         'quiet': quiet
     }
     engine = choose_engine(args)
-
+    script_list = SCRIPT_LIST()
+    if not script_list or not os.listdir(SCRIPT_WRITE_PATH):
+        check_for_updates()
+        script_list = SCRIPT_LIST(force_compile=False)
     scripts = name_matches(script_list, args['dataset'])
     if scripts:
         for script in scripts:
diff --git a/retriever/lib/install.py b/retriever/lib/install.py
index 742266626..14bc8f7aa 100644
--- a/retriever/lib/install.py
+++ b/retriever/lib/install.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import os
 
 from retriever.engines import choose_engine
-from retriever.lib.defaults import DATA_DIR
+from retriever.lib.defaults import DATA_DIR, SCRIPT_WRITE_PATH
 from retriever.lib.scripts import SCRIPT_LIST
 from retriever.lib.tools import name_matches
 from retriever.lib.repository import check_for_updates
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ def _install(args, use_cache, debug):
     engine.use_cache = use_cache
 
     script_list = SCRIPT_LIST()
-    if not script_list:
+    if not script_list or not os.listdir(SCRIPT_WRITE_PATH):
         check_for_updates()
-        script_list = SCRIPT_LIST()
+        script_list = SCRIPT_LIST(force_compile=False)
     data_sets_scripts = name_matches(script_list, args['dataset'])
     if data_sets_scripts:
         for data_sets_script in data_sets_scripts: