diff --git a/pkg/pkgmgmt/client/runner.go b/pkg/pkgmgmt/client/runner.go
index 76e6c3efb..1f6d571e4 100644
--- a/pkg/pkgmgmt/client/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/pkgmgmt/client/runner.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 	"get.porter.sh/porter/pkg/portercontext"
 	"get.porter.sh/porter/pkg/tracing"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
-	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
 type Runner struct {
@@ -76,10 +75,6 @@ func (r *Runner) Run(ctx context.Context, commandOpts pkgmgmt.CommandOptions) er
 		cmd.Args = append(cmd.Args, "-f", commandOpts.File)
 	}
 
-	if span.ShouldLog(zapcore.DebugLevel) {
-		cmd.Args = append(cmd.Args, "--debug")
-	}
-
 	if commandOpts.Input != "" {
 		stdin, err := cmd.StdinPipe()
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/porter/plugins.go b/pkg/porter/plugins.go
index 5a8d5261d..3ce653a22 100644
--- a/pkg/porter/plugins.go
+++ b/pkg/porter/plugins.go
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ func (p *Porter) InstallPlugin(ctx context.Context, opts plugins.InstallOptions)
 
 	plugin, err := p.Plugins.GetMetadata(ctx, opts.Name)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get plugin metadata: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	v := plugin.GetVersionInfo()