diff --git a/env/DAMASK.sh b/env/DAMASK.sh
index 599226033..8a987c4dc 100644
--- a/env/DAMASK.sh
+++ b/env/DAMASK.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ function canonicalPath {
   python -c "import os,sys; print(os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser(sys.argv[1])))" $1
 }
 
-
 if [ "$OSTYPE" == "linux-gnu" ] || [ "$OSTYPE" == 'linux' ]; then
   DAMASK_ROOT=$(dirname $BASH_SOURCE)
 else
diff --git a/env/DAMASK.zsh b/env/DAMASK.zsh
index 5f510dabb..e00ea8bdc 100644
--- a/env/DAMASK.zsh
+++ b/env/DAMASK.zsh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # sets up an environment for DAMASK on zsh
 # usage:  source DAMASK.zsh
 
+function canonicalPath {
+  python -c "import os,sys; print(os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser(sys.argv[1])))" $1
+}
+
 # transition compatibility (renamed $DAMASK_ROOT/DAMASK_env.zsh to $DAMASK_ROOT/env/DAMASK.zsh)
 if [ ${0:t:r} = 'DAMASK' ]; then
   DAMASK_ROOT=${0:a:h}'/..'
@@ -21,15 +25,14 @@ unset -f set
 # add DAMASK_BIN if present
 [ "x$DAMASK_BIN" != "x" ] && PATH=$DAMASK_BIN:$PATH
 
-SOLVER=`which DAMASK_spectral || True 2>/dev/null`
+SOLVER=$(type -p DAMASK_spectral || true 2>/dev/null)
 [ "x$SOLVER" == "x" ] && SOLVER='Not found!'
 
-PROCESSING=`which postResults || True 2>/dev/null`
+PROCESSING=$(type -p postResults || true 2>/dev/null)
 [ "x$PROCESSING" == "x" ] && PROCESSING='Not found!'
 
-[ "x$DAMASK_NUM_THREADS" = "x" ] && DAMASK_NUM_THREADS=1
+[ "x$DAMASK_NUM_THREADS" == "x" ] && DAMASK_NUM_THREADS=1
 
-# according to http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/topic/501500
 # currently, there is no information that unlimited causes problems
 # still,  http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/topic/501500 suggest to fix it
 # http://superuser.com/questions/220059/what-parameters-has-ulimit             
@@ -52,8 +55,8 @@ if [ ! -z "$PS1" ]; then
   echo "Multithreading     DAMASK_NUM_THREADS=$DAMASK_NUM_THREADS"
   if [ "x$PETSC_DIR"   != "x" ]; then
     echo "PETSc location     $PETSC_DIR"
-    [[ $(python -c "import os,sys; print(os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser(sys.argv[1])))" "$PETSC_DIR") == $PETSC_DIR ]] \
-    || echo "               ~~> "$(python -c "import os,sys; print(os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser(sys.argv[1])))" "$PETSC_DIR")
+    [[ $(canonicalPath "$PETSC_DIR") == $PETSC_DIR ]] \
+    || echo "               ~~> "$(canonicalPath "$PETSC_DIR")
   fi
   [[ "x$PETSC_ARCH"  == "x" ]] \
   || echo "PETSc architecture $PETSC_ARCH"
@@ -80,7 +83,7 @@ fi
 export DAMASK_NUM_THREADS
 export PYTHONPATH=$DAMASK_ROOT/lib:$PYTHONPATH
 
-for var in BASE STAT SOLVER PROCESSING FREE DAMASK_BIN MATCH; do
+for var in BASE STAT SOLVER PROCESSING FREE DAMASK_BIN; do
   unset "${var}"
 done
 for var in DAMASK MSC; do