diff --git a/src/cli/package-install.js b/src/cli/package-install.js
index 4f391c18c1..caad43162a 100644
--- a/src/cli/package-install.js
+++ b/src/cli/package-install.js
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ function installAll() {
 			}
 		}
 	} catch (e) {
-		// ignore
+		console.error(e);
 	}
 	try {
 		cproc.execSync(command + (prod ? ' --production' : ''), {
diff --git a/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js b/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
index 8ec46f7a62..2359bcc767 100644
--- a/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
+++ b/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 'use strict';
 
-const async = require('async');
 const prompt = require('prompt');
 const request = require('request');
 const cproc = require('child_process');
@@ -8,6 +7,7 @@ const semver = require('semver');
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const nconf = require('nconf');
+const util = require('util');
 
 const { paths, pluginNamePattern } = require('../constants');
 
@@ -22,190 +22,147 @@ if (process.platform === 'win32') {
 	packageManagerExecutable += '.cmd';
 }
 
-function getModuleVersions(modules, callback) {
+async function getModuleVersions(modules) {
 	const versionHash = {};
-
-	async.eachLimit(modules, 50, (module, next) => {
-		fs.readFile(path.join(paths.nodeModules, module, 'package.json'), { encoding: 'utf-8' }, (err, pkg) => {
-			if (err) {
-				return next(err);
-			}
-
-			try {
-				pkg = JSON.parse(pkg);
-				versionHash[module] = pkg.version;
-				next();
-			} catch (err) {
-				next(err);
-			}
-		});
-	}, (err) => {
-		callback(err, versionHash);
+	const batch = require('../batch');
+	await batch.processArray(modules, async (moduleNames) => {
+		await Promise.all(moduleNames.map(async (module) => {
+			let pkg = await fs.promises.readFile(
+				path.join(paths.nodeModules, module, 'package.json'), { encoding: 'utf-8' }
+			);
+			pkg = JSON.parse(pkg);
+			versionHash[module] = pkg.version;
+		}));
+	}, {
+		batch: 50,
 	});
+
+	return versionHash;
 }
 
-function getInstalledPlugins(callback) {
-	async.parallel({
-		files: async.apply(fs.readdir, paths.nodeModules),
-		deps: async.apply(fs.readFile, paths.currentPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' }),
-		bundled: async.apply(fs.readFile, paths.installPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' }),
-	}, (err, payload) => {
-		if (err) {
-			return callback(err);
-		}
+async function getInstalledPlugins() {
+	let [deps, bundled] = await Promise.all([
+		fs.promises.readFile(paths.currentPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' }),
+		fs.promises.readFile(paths.installPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' }),
+	]);
+
+	deps = Object.keys(JSON.parse(deps).dependencies)
+		.filter(pkgName => pluginNamePattern.test(pkgName));
+	bundled = Object.keys(JSON.parse(bundled).dependencies)
+		.filter(pkgName => pluginNamePattern.test(pkgName));
+
 
-		payload.files = payload.files.filter(file => pluginNamePattern.test(file));
+	// Whittle down deps to send back only extraneously installed plugins/themes/etc
+	const checklist = deps.filter((pkgName) => {
+		if (bundled.includes(pkgName)) {
+			return false;
+		}
 
+		// Ignore git repositories
 		try {
-			payload.deps = Object.keys(JSON.parse(payload.deps).dependencies);
-			payload.bundled = Object.keys(JSON.parse(payload.bundled).dependencies);
-		} catch (err) {
-			return callback(err);
+			fs.accessSync(path.join(paths.nodeModules, pkgName, '.git'));
+			return false;
+		} catch (e) {
+			return true;
 		}
+	});
 
-		payload.bundled = payload.bundled.filter(pkgName => pluginNamePattern.test(pkgName));
-		payload.deps = payload.deps.filter(pkgName => pluginNamePattern.test(pkgName));
-
-		// Whittle down deps to send back only extraneously installed plugins/themes/etc
-		const checklist = payload.deps.filter((pkgName) => {
-			if (payload.bundled.includes(pkgName)) {
-				return false;
-			}
-
-			// Ignore git repositories
-			try {
-				fs.accessSync(path.join(paths.nodeModules, pkgName, '.git'));
-				return false;
-			} catch (e) {
-				return true;
-			}
-		});
+	return await getModuleVersions(checklist);
+}
 
-		getModuleVersions(checklist, callback);
-	});
+async function getCurrentVersion() {
+	let pkg = await fs.promises.readFile(paths.installPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+	pkg = JSON.parse(pkg);
+	return pkg.version;
 }
 
-function getCurrentVersion(callback) {
-	fs.readFile(paths.installPackage, { encoding: 'utf-8' }, (err, pkg) => {
+const getSuggestedModules = util.promisify((nbbVersion, toCheck, cb) => {
+	request({
+		method: 'GET',
+		url: `https://packages.nodebb.org/api/v1/suggest?version=${nbbVersion}&package[]=${toCheck.join('&package[]=')}`,
+		json: true,
+	}, (err, res, body) => {
 		if (err) {
-			return callback(err);
+			process.stdout.write('error'.red + ''.reset);
+			return cb(err);
 		}
-
-		try {
-			pkg = JSON.parse(pkg);
-		} catch (err) {
-			return callback(err);
+		if (!Array.isArray(body) && toCheck.length === 1) {
+			body = [body];
 		}
-		callback(null, pkg.version);
+		cb(null, body);
 	});
-}
-
-function checkPlugins(standalone, callback) {
-	if (standalone) {
-		process.stdout.write('Checking installed plugins and themes for updates... ');
+});
+
+async function checkPlugins() {
+	process.stdout.write('Checking installed plugins and themes for updates... ');
+	const [plugins, nbbVersion] = await Promise.all([
+		getInstalledPlugins,
+		getCurrentVersion,
+	]);
+
+	const toCheck = Object.keys(plugins);
+	if (!toCheck.length) {
+		process.stdout.write('  OK'.green + ''.reset);
+		return [];	// no extraneous plugins installed
 	}
+	const suggestedModules = await getSuggestedModules(nbbVersion, toCheck);
+	process.stdout.write('  OK'.green + ''.reset);
+
+	let current;
+	let suggested;
+	const upgradable = suggestedModules.map((suggestObj) => {
+		current = plugins[suggestObj.package];
+		suggested = suggestObj.version;
+
+		if (suggestObj.code === 'match-found' && semver.gt(suggested, current)) {
+			return {
+				name: suggestObj.package,
+				current: current,
+				suggested: suggested,
+			};
+		}
+		return null;
+	}).filter(Boolean);
 
-	async.waterfall([
-		async.apply(async.parallel, {
-			plugins: getInstalledPlugins,
-			version: getCurrentVersion,
-		}),
-		function (payload, next) {
-			const toCheck = Object.keys(payload.plugins);
-
-			if (!toCheck.length) {
-				process.stdout.write('  OK'.green + ''.reset);
-				return next(null, []);	// no extraneous plugins installed
-			}
-
-			request({
-				method: 'GET',
-				url: `https://packages.nodebb.org/api/v1/suggest?version=${payload.version}&package[]=${toCheck.join('&package[]=')}`,
-				json: true,
-			}, (err, res, body) => {
-				if (err) {
-					process.stdout.write('error'.red + ''.reset);
-					return next(err);
-				}
-				process.stdout.write('  OK'.green + ''.reset);
-
-				if (!Array.isArray(body) && toCheck.length === 1) {
-					body = [body];
-				}
-
-				let current;
-				let suggested;
-				const upgradable = body.map((suggestObj) => {
-					current = payload.plugins[suggestObj.package];
-					suggested = suggestObj.version;
-
-					if (suggestObj.code === 'match-found' && semver.gt(suggested, current)) {
-						return {
-							name: suggestObj.package,
-							current: current,
-							suggested: suggested,
-						};
-					}
-					return null;
-				}).filter(Boolean);
-
-				next(null, upgradable);
-			});
-		},
-	], callback);
+	return upgradable;
 }
 
-function upgradePlugins(callback) {
-	let standalone = false;
-	if (typeof callback !== 'function') {
-		callback = function () {};
-		standalone = true;
-	}
-
-	checkPlugins(standalone, (err, found) => {
-		if (err) {
-			console.log('Warning'.yellow + ': An unexpected error occured when attempting to verify plugin upgradability'.reset);
-			return callback(err);
-		}
-
+async function upgradePlugins() {
+	try {
+		const found = await checkPlugins();
 		if (found && found.length) {
 			process.stdout.write(`\n\nA total of ${String(found.length).bold} package(s) can be upgraded:\n\n`);
 			found.forEach((suggestObj) => {
 				process.stdout.write(`${'  * '.yellow + suggestObj.name.reset} (${suggestObj.current.yellow}${' -> '.reset}${suggestObj.suggested.green}${')\n'.reset}`);
 			});
 		} else {
-			if (standalone) {
-				console.log('\nAll packages up-to-date!'.green + ''.reset);
-			}
-			return callback();
+			console.log('\nAll packages up-to-date!'.green + ''.reset);
+			return;
 		}
 
 		prompt.message = '';
 		prompt.delimiter = '';
 
+		const promptGet = util.promisify((schema, callback) => prompt.get(schema, callback));
 		prompt.start();
-		prompt.get({
+		const result = await promptGet({
 			name: 'upgrade',
 			description: '\nProceed with upgrade (y|n)?'.reset,
 			type: 'string',
-		}, (err, result) => {
-			if (err) {
-				return callback(err);
-			}
-
-			if (['y', 'Y', 'yes', 'YES'].includes(result.upgrade)) {
-				console.log('\nUpgrading packages...');
-				const args = packageManagerInstallArgs.concat(found.map(suggestObj => `${suggestObj.name}@${suggestObj.suggested}`));
-
-				cproc.execFile(packageManagerExecutable, args, { stdio: 'ignore' }, (err) => {
-					callback(err, false);
-				});
-			} else {
-				console.log('Package upgrades skipped'.yellow + '. Check for upgrades at any time by running "'.reset + './nodebb upgrade -p'.green + '".'.reset);
-				callback();
-			}
 		});
-	});
+
+		if (['y', 'Y', 'yes', 'YES'].includes(result.upgrade)) {
+			console.log('\nUpgrading packages...');
+			const args = packageManagerInstallArgs.concat(found.map(suggestObj => `${suggestObj.name}@${suggestObj.suggested}`));
+
+			cproc.execFileSync(packageManagerExecutable, args, { stdio: 'ignore' });
+		} else {
+			console.log('Package upgrades skipped'.yellow + '. Check for upgrades at any time by running "'.reset + './nodebb upgrade -p'.green + '".'.reset);
+		}
+	} catch (err) {
+		console.log('Warning'.yellow + ': An unexpected error occured when attempting to verify plugin upgradability'.reset);
+		throw err;
+	}
 }
 
 exports.upgradePlugins = upgradePlugins;
diff --git a/src/cli/upgrade.js b/src/cli/upgrade.js
index 1210c23ef2..2198203b53 100644
--- a/src/cli/upgrade.js
+++ b/src/cli/upgrade.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 'use strict';
 
-const async = require('async');
 const nconf = require('nconf');
 
 const packageInstall = require('./package-install');
@@ -9,61 +8,52 @@ const { upgradePlugins } = require('./upgrade-plugins');
 const steps = {
 	package: {
 		message: 'Updating package.json file with defaults...',
-		handler: function (next) {
+		handler: function () {
 			packageInstall.updatePackageFile();
 			packageInstall.preserveExtraneousPlugins();
 			process.stdout.write('  OK\n'.green);
-			next();
 		},
 	},
 	install: {
 		message: 'Bringing base dependencies up to date...',
-		handler: function (next) {
+		handler: function () {
 			process.stdout.write('  started\n'.green);
 			packageInstall.installAll();
-			next();
 		},
 	},
 	plugins: {
 		message: 'Checking installed plugins for updates...',
-		handler: function (next) {
-			async.series([
-				require('../database').init,
-				upgradePlugins,
-			], next);
+		handler: async function () {
+			await require('../database').init();
+			await upgradePlugins();
 		},
 	},
 	schema: {
 		message: 'Updating NodeBB data store schema...',
-		handler: function (next) {
-			async.series([
-				require('../database').init,
-				require('../meta').configs.init,
-				require('../upgrade').run,
-			], next);
+		handler: async function () {
+			await require('../database').init();
+			await require('../meta').configs.init();
+			await require('../upgrade').run();
 		},
 	},
 	build: {
 		message: 'Rebuilding assets...',
-		handler: require('../meta/build').buildAll,
+		handler: async function () {
+			await require('../meta/build').buildAll();
+		},
 	},
 };
 
-function runSteps(tasks) {
-	tasks = tasks.map((key, i) => function (next) {
-		process.stdout.write(`\n${(`${i + 1}. `).bold}${steps[key].message.yellow}`);
-		return steps[key].handler((err) => {
-			if (err) { return next(err); }
-			next();
-		});
-	});
-
-	async.series(tasks, (err) => {
-		if (err) {
-			console.error(`Error occurred during upgrade: ${err.stack}`);
-			throw err;
+async function runSteps(tasks) {
+	try {
+		for (let i = 0; i < tasks.length; i++) {
+			const step = steps[tasks[i]];
+			if (step && step.message && step.handler) {
+				process.stdout.write(`\n${(`${i + 1}. `).bold}${step.message.yellow}`);
+				/* eslint-disable-next-line */
+				await step.handler();
+			}
 		}
-
 		const message = 'NodeBB Upgrade Complete!';
 		// some consoles will return undefined/zero columns,
 		// so just use 2 spaces in upgrade script if we can't get our column count
@@ -73,10 +63,13 @@ function runSteps(tasks) {
 		console.log(`\n\n${spaces}${message.green.bold}${'\n'.reset}`);
 
 		process.exit();
-	});
+	} catch (err) {
+		console.error(`Error occurred during upgrade: ${err.stack}`);
+		throw err;
+	}
 }
 
-function runUpgrade(upgrades, options) {
+async function runUpgrade(upgrades, options) {
 	console.log('\nUpdating NodeBB...'.cyan);
 	options = options || {};
 	// disable mongo timeouts during upgrade
@@ -88,23 +81,14 @@ function runUpgrade(upgrades, options) {
 				options.plugins || options.schema || options.build) {
 			tasks = tasks.filter(key => options[key]);
 		}
-		runSteps(tasks);
+		await runSteps(tasks);
 		return;
 	}
 
-	async.series([
-		require('../database').init,
-		require('../meta').configs.init,
-		async function () {
-			await require('../upgrade').runParticular(upgrades);
-		},
-	], (err) => {
-		if (err) {
-			throw err;
-		}
-
-		process.exit(0);
-	});
+	await require('../database').init();
+	await require('../meta').configs.init();
+	await require('../upgrade').runParticular(upgrades);
+	process.exit(0);
 }
 
 exports.upgrade = runUpgrade;