diff --git a/src/rebar_app_utils.erl b/src/rebar_app_utils.erl
index dbd085e..7f48ffd 100644
--- a/src/rebar_app_utils.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_app_utils.erl
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@
 -module(rebar_app_utils).
 
 -export([is_app_dir/0, is_app_dir/1,
-         load_app_file/1]).
+         app_name/1,
+         app_applications/1,
+         app_vsn/1]).
+
+-export([load_app_file/1]). % TEMPORARY
 
 -include("rebar.hrl").
 
@@ -47,14 +51,45 @@ is_app_dir(Dir) ->
             false
     end.
 
+app_name(AppFile) ->
+    case load_app_file(AppFile) of
+        {ok, AppName, _} ->
+            AppName;
+        {error, Reason} ->
+            ?ABORT("Failed to extract name from ~s: ~p\n",
+                   [AppFile, Reason])
+    end.
+
+app_applications(AppFile) ->
+    case load_app_file(AppFile) of
+        {ok, _, AppInfo} ->
+            proplists:get_value(applications, AppInfo);
+        {error, Reason} ->
+            ?ABORT("Failed to extract applications from ~s: ~p\n",
+                   [AppFile, Reason])
+    end.
+
+app_vsn(AppFile) ->
+    case load_app_file(AppFile) of
+        {ok, _, AppInfo} ->
+            proplists:get_value(vsn, AppInfo);
+        {error, Reason} ->
+            ?ABORT("Failed to extract vsn from ~s: ~p\n",
+                   [AppFile, Reason])
+    end.
+
+
+
+%% ===================================================================
+%% Internal functions
+%% ===================================================================
+
 load_app_file(Filename) ->
     case file:consult(Filename) of
         {ok, [{application, AppName, AppData}]} ->
             {ok, AppName, AppData};
         {error, Reason} ->
-            ?ERROR("Failed to load app file from ~s: ~p\n", [Filename, Reason]),
-            ?FAIL;
+            {error, Reason};
         Other ->
-            ?ERROR("Unexpected terms from app file ~s: ~p\n", [Filename, Other]),
-            ?FAIL
+            {error, {unexpected_terms, Other}}
     end.
diff --git a/src/rebar_deps.erl b/src/rebar_deps.erl
index 0ccd7ce..ec74e27 100644
--- a/src/rebar_deps.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_deps.erl
@@ -195,9 +195,9 @@ is_app_available(App, VsnRegex) ->
 is_app_available(App, VsnRegex, Path) ->
     case rebar_app_utils:is_app_dir(Path) of
         {true, AppFile} ->
-            case rebar_app_utils:load_app_file(AppFile) of
-                {ok, App, AppData} ->
-                    {vsn, Vsn} = lists:keyfind(vsn, 1, AppData),
+            case rebar_app_utils:app_name(AppFile) of
+                App ->
+                    Vsn = rebar_app_utils:app_vsn(AppFile),
                     ?INFO("Looking for ~s-~s ; found ~s-~s at ~s\n",
                           [App, VsnRegex, App, Vsn, Path]),
                     case re:run(Vsn, VsnRegex, [{capture, none}]) of
@@ -208,11 +208,9 @@ is_app_available(App, VsnRegex, Path) ->
                                   [AppFile, Vsn, VsnRegex]),
                             false
                     end;
-                {ok, OtherApp, _} ->
+                OtherApp ->
                     ?WARN("~s has application id ~p; expected ~p\n", [AppFile, OtherApp, App]),
-                    false;
-                {error, Reason} ->
-                    ?ABORT("Failed to parse ~s: ~p\n", [AppFile, Reason])
+                    false
             end;
         false ->
             ?WARN("Expected ~s to be an app dir (containing ebin/*.app), but no .app found.\n",
diff --git a/src/rebar_dialyzer.erl b/src/rebar_dialyzer.erl
index 35bb201..49edfb6 100644
--- a/src/rebar_dialyzer.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_dialyzer.erl
@@ -85,9 +85,8 @@ analyze(Config, File) ->
 build_plt(Config, File) ->
     Plt = plt_path(Config, File),
 
-    {ok, _AppName, AppData} = rebar_app_utils:load_app_file(File),
-    Apps = proplists:get_value(applications, AppData),
-    
+    Apps = rebar_app_utils:app_applications(File),
+
     Warnings = dialyzer:run([{analysis_type, plt_build},
                              {files_rec, app_dirs(Apps)},
                              {output_plt, Plt}]),
@@ -140,7 +139,7 @@ output_warnings(Warnings) ->
 %% @spec plt_path(Config::#config{}, File::string()) -> string()
 -spec(plt_path(Config::#config{}, File::string()) -> string()).
 plt_path(Config, File) ->
-    {ok, AppName, _AppData} = rebar_app_utils:load_app_file(File),
+    AppName = rebar_app_utils:app_name(File),
     DialyzerOpts = rebar_config:get(Config, dialyzer_opts, []),
     case proplists:get_value(plt, DialyzerOpts) of
         undefined ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_escripter.erl b/src/rebar_escripter.erl
index 19101b6..84747c1 100644
--- a/src/rebar_escripter.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_escripter.erl
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 escriptize(_Config, AppFile) ->
     %% Extract the application name from the archive -- this will be be what
     %% we call the output script
-    {ok, AppName, _AppData} = rebar_app_utils:load_app_file(AppFile),
+    AppName = rebar_app_utils:app_name(AppFile),
 
     %% Construct the archive of everything in ebin/ dir -- put it on the
     %% top-level of the zip file so that code loading works properly.
diff --git a/src/rebar_port_compiler.erl b/src/rebar_port_compiler.erl
index dace112..14f88a9 100644
--- a/src/rebar_port_compiler.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_port_compiler.erl
@@ -325,12 +325,9 @@ so_name(Config, AppFile) ->
                    undefined ->
                        %% Get the app name, which we'll use to
                        %% generate the linked port driver name
-                       case rebar_app_utils:load_app_file(AppFile) of
-                           {ok, AppName, _} ->
-                               lists:concat([AppName, "_drv.so"]);
-                           error ->
-                               ?FAIL
-                       end;
+                       AppName = rebar_app_utils:app_name(AppFile),
+                       lists:concat([AppName, "_drv.so"]);
+
                    Soname ->
                        Soname
                end,