diff --git a/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItem.ps1 b/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItem.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..939fac11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItem.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+function Get-VSChannelManifestItem
+{
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    Param
+    (
+        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [System.Collections.IDictionary] $Manifest,
+        [ValidateSet('Bootstrapper', 'Manifest')] [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $ChannelItemType
+    )
+
+    $result = $null
+    if ($Manifest -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $Manifest.ContainsKey('channelItems'))
+    {
+        $channelItems = $Manifest['channelItems']
+        if ($channelItems -is [array])
+        {
+            $channelItem = $channelItems | Where-Object { $_ -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $_.ContainsKey('type') -and $_['type'] -eq $ChannelItemType }
+            if (($channelItem | Measure-Object).Count -eq 1)
+            {
+                if ($channelItem -is [Collections.IDictionary])
+                {
+                    $result = $channelItem
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: channelItem is not IDictionary'
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: zero or more than one channelItem objects found'
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: channelItems is not an array'
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: manifest is not IDictionary or does not contain channelItems'
+    }
+
+    if ($result -ne $null)
+    {
+        Write-Debug "Located channel manifest item of type $ChannelItemType"
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        Write-Debug "Could not locate the channel manifest item of type $ChannelItemType"
+    }
+
+    return $result
+}
diff --git a/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItemUrl.ps1 b/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItemUrl.ps1
index 09896c20..d52d2f0a 100644
--- a/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItemUrl.ps1
+++ b/chocolatey-visualstudio.extension/extensions/Get-VSChannelManifestItemUrl.ps1
@@ -3,76 +3,54 @@ function Get-VSChannelManifestItemUrl
     [CmdletBinding()]
     Param
     (
-        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [hashtable] $Manifest,
+        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [System.Collections.IDictionary] $Manifest,
         [ValidateSet('Bootstrapper', 'Manifest')] [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)] [string] $ChannelItemType
     )
 
     $url = $null
     $checksum = $null
     $checksumType = $null
-    if ($Manifest -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $Manifest.ContainsKey('channelItems'))
+    $channelItem = Get-VSChannelManifestItem -Manifest $Manifest -ChannelItemType $ChannelItemType
+    if ($channelItem -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $channelItem.ContainsKey('payloads'))
     {
-        $channelItems = $Manifest['channelItems']
-        if ($channelItems -is [array])
+        $payloads = $channelItem['payloads']
+        if ($payloads -is [array])
         {
-            $channelItem = $channelItems | Where-Object { $_ -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $_.ContainsKey('type') -and $_['type'] -eq $ChannelItemType }
-            if (($channelItem | Measure-Object).Count -eq 1)
+            if (($payloads | Measure-Object).Count -eq 1)
             {
-                if ($channelItem -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $channelItem.ContainsKey('payloads'))
+                $payload = $payloads[0]
+                if ($payload -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $payload.ContainsKey('url'))
                 {
-                    $payloads = $channelItem['payloads']
-                    if ($payloads -is [array])
+                    $url = $payload['url']
+                    if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($url) -and $payload.ContainsKey('sha256'))
                     {
-                        if (($payloads | Measure-Object).Count -eq 1)
-                        {
-                            $payload = $payloads[0]
-                            if ($payload -is [Collections.IDictionary] -and $payload.ContainsKey('url'))
-                            {
-                                $url = $payload['url']
-                                if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($url) -and $payload.ContainsKey('sha256'))
-                                {
-                                    $checksum = $payload['sha256']
-                                    $checksumType = 'sha256'
-                                }
-                                else
-                                {
-                                    Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payload url is empty or payload does not contain sha256'
-                                    # url will still be returned; it might be useful even without the checksum
-                                }
-                            }
-                            else
-                            {
-                                Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payload is not IDictionary or does not contain url'
-                            }
-                        }
-                        else
-                        {
-                            Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: zero or more than one payload objects found'
-                        }
+                        $checksum = $payload['sha256']
+                        $checksumType = 'sha256'
                     }
                     else
                     {
-                        Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payloads is not an array'
+                        Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payload url is empty or payload does not contain sha256'
+                        # url will still be returned; it might be useful even without the checksum
                     }
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: channelItem is not IDictionary or does not contain payloads'
+                    Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payload is not IDictionary or does not contain url'
                 }
             }
             else
             {
-                Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: zero or more than one channelItem objects found'
+                Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: zero or more than one payload objects found'
             }
         }
         else
         {
-            Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: channelItems is not an array'
+            Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: payloads is not an array'
         }
     }
     else
     {
-        Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: manifest is not IDictionary or does not contain channelItems'
+        Write-Debug 'Manifest parsing error: channelItem is not IDictionary or does not contain payloads'
     }
 
     if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($url))