diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 595c67c..665f2e4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -83,9 +83,13 @@ Web Server is available at http://localhost:1313/ (bind address 127.0.0.1)
 import hugo from "hugo-extended";
 import { execFile } from "child_process";
 
-execFile(hugo, ["version"], (error, stdout) => {
-  console.log(stdout);
-});
+(async () => {
+  const binPath = await hugo();
+
+  execFile(binPath, ["version"], (error, stdout) => {
+    console.log(stdout);
+  });
+})();
 ```
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index 73bc20a..e6d09c8 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 /// <reference types="node" />
 
 /**
- * @returns {string} Absolute path to the Hugo executable (`hugo.exe` on
- * Windows, simply `hugo` otherwise).
+ * @returns A promise of the absolute path to the Hugo executable (`hugo.exe` on
+ * Windows, simply `hugo` otherwise) once it's installed.
  */
-declare const hugo: string;
-export = hugo;
+export default function hugo(): Promise<string>;
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7a996e7..96cf54a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,15 +1,22 @@
-import path from "path";
-import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
-import { getBinFilename } from "./lib/utils.js";
+import logSymbols from "log-symbols";
+import install from "./lib/install.js";
+import { getBinPath, doesBinExist } from "./lib/utils.js";
 
-// https://gist.github.com/sindresorhus/a39789f98801d908bbc7ff3ecc99d99c#what-do-i-use-instead-of-__dirname-and-__filename
-const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const hugo = async () => {
+  const bin = getBinPath();
 
-const hugo = path.join(
-  __dirname,
-  "vendor",
-  getBinFilename(),
-);
+  // A fix for fleeting ENOENT errors, where Hugo seems to disappear. For now,
+  // just reinstall Hugo when it's missing and then continue normally like
+  // nothing happened.
+  // See: https://github.com/jakejarvis/hugo-extended/issues/81
+  if (!doesBinExist(bin)) {
+    // Hugo isn't there for some reason. Try re-installing.
+    console.info(`${logSymbols.info} Hugo is missing, reinstalling now...`);
+    await install();
+  }
+
+  return bin;
+};
 
 // The only thing this module really exports is the absolute path to Hugo:
 export default hugo;
diff --git a/lib/cli.js b/lib/cli.js
index a9279b6..82b8538 100755
--- a/lib/cli.js
+++ b/lib/cli.js
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@
 import { spawn } from "child_process";
 import hugo from "../index.js";
 
-const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+(async () => {
+  const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+  const bin = await hugo();
 
-spawn(hugo, args, { stdio: "inherit" })
-  .on("exit", (code) => {
-    // forward Hugo's exit code so this module itself reports success/failure
-    process.exit(code);
-  });
+  spawn(bin, args, { stdio: "inherit" })
+    .on("exit", (code) => {
+      // forward Hugo's exit code so this module itself reports success/failure
+      process.exit(code);
+    });
+})();
diff --git a/lib/install.js b/lib/install.js
index 8e00ca8..08c8c79 100644
--- a/lib/install.js
+++ b/lib/install.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import path from "path";
 import fs from "fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
 import downloader from "careful-downloader";
 import logSymbols from "log-symbols";
 import {
@@ -12,50 +13,50 @@ import {
   isExtended,
 } from "./utils.js";
 
-installHugo()
-  .then((bin) =>
-    // try querying hugo's version via CLI
-    getBinVersion(bin),
-  )
-  .then((version) => {
-    // print output of `hugo version` to console
-    console.log(`${logSymbols.success} Hugo installed successfully!`);
-    console.log(version);
-  })
-  .catch((error) => {
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
+async function install() {
+  try {
+    const version = getPkgVersion();
+    const releaseFile = getReleaseFilename(version);
+    const checksumFile = getChecksumFilename(version);
+    const binFile = getBinFilename();
+
+    // stop here if there's nothing we can download
+    if (!releaseFile) {
+      throw new Error(`Are you sure this platform is supported? See: https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/tag/v${version}`);
+    }
+
+    // warn if platform doesn't support Hugo Extended, proceed with vanilla Hugo
+    if (!isExtended(releaseFile)) {
+      console.warn(`${logSymbols.info} Hugo Extended isn't supported on this platform, downloading vanilla Hugo instead.`);
+    }
+
+    // download release from GitHub and verify its checksum
+    const download = await downloader(getReleaseUrl(version, releaseFile), {
+      checksumUrl: getReleaseUrl(version, checksumFile),
+      filename: releaseFile,
+      destDir: path.join(__dirname, "..", "vendor"),
+      algorithm: "sha256",
+      extract: true,
+    });
+
+    // full path to the binary
+    const installedToPath = path.join(download, binFile);
+
+    // ensure hugo[.exe] is executable
+    fs.chmodSync(installedToPath, 0o755);
+
+    console.info(`${logSymbols.success} Hugo installed successfully!`);
+    console.info(getBinVersion(installedToPath));
+
+    // return the full path to our Hugo binary
+    return installedToPath;
+  } catch (error) {
     // pass whatever error occured along the way to console
     console.error(`${logSymbols.error} Hugo installation failed. :(`);
     throw error;
-  });
-
-async function installHugo() {
-  const version = getPkgVersion();
-  const releaseFile = getReleaseFilename(version);
-  const checksumFile = getChecksumFilename(version);
-  const binFile = getBinFilename();
-
-  // stop here if there's nothing we can download
-  if (!releaseFile) {
-    throw new Error(`Are you sure this platform is supported? See: https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/tag/v${version}`);
   }
-
-  // warn if platform doesn't support Hugo Extended, proceed with vanilla Hugo
-  if (!isExtended(releaseFile)) {
-    console.warn(`${logSymbols.info} Hugo Extended isn't supported on this platform, downloading vanilla Hugo instead.`);
-  }
-
-  // download release from GitHub and verify its checksum
-  const download = await downloader(getReleaseUrl(version, releaseFile), {
-    checksumUrl: getReleaseUrl(version, checksumFile),
-    filename: releaseFile,
-    destDir: "vendor",
-    algorithm: "sha256",
-    extract: true,
-  });
-
-  // ensure hugo[.exe] is executable
-  fs.chmodSync(path.join(download, binFile), 0o755);
-
-  // return the full path to our Hugo binary
-  return path.join(download, binFile);
 }
+
+export default install;
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index cf70bf8..b2c152f 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
+import path from "path";
+import fs from "fs";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
 import { execFileSync } from "child_process";
 import { readPackageUpSync } from "read-pkg-up";
 
+const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
 // This package's version number (should) always match the Hugo release we want.
 // We check for a `hugoVersion` field in package.json just in case it doesn't
 // match in the future (from pushing an emergency package update, etc.).
 export function getPkgVersion() {
-  const { packageJson } = readPackageUpSync();
+  const { packageJson } = readPackageUpSync({ cwd: __dirname });
   return packageJson.hugoVersion || packageJson.version;
 }
 
@@ -19,6 +24,16 @@ export function getBinFilename() {
   return process.platform === "win32" ? "hugo.exe" : "hugo";
 }
 
+// Simple shortcut to ./vendor/hugo[.exe] from package root.
+export function getBinPath() {
+  return path.join(
+    __dirname,
+    "..",
+    "vendor",
+    getBinFilename(),
+  );
+}
+
 // Returns the output of the `hugo version` command, i.e.:
 //   "hugo v0.88.1-5BC54738+extended darwin/arm64 BuildDate=..."
 export function getBinVersion(bin) {
@@ -26,6 +41,22 @@ export function getBinVersion(bin) {
   return stdout.toString().trim();
 }
 
+// Simply detect if the given file exists.
+export function doesBinExist(bin) {
+  try {
+    if (fs.existsSync(bin)) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    // something bad happened besides Hugo not existing
+    if (error.code !== "ENOENT") {
+      throw error;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 // Hugo Extended supports: macOS x64, macOS ARM64, Linux x64, Windows x64.
 // all other combos fall back to vanilla Hugo. There are surely much better ways
 // to do this but this is easy to read/update. :)
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b07d98d..10ae8e9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   "files": [
     "index.js",
     "index.d.ts",
+    "postinstall.js",
     "lib"
   ],
   "bin": {
@@ -33,11 +34,12 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@jakejarvis/eslint-config": "*",
+    "del": "^6.0.0",
     "eslint": "^8.1.0",
     "mocha": "^9.1.3"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "postinstall": "node lib/install.js",
+    "postinstall": "node postinstall.js",
     "test": "eslint . && mocha"
   },
   "engines": {
diff --git a/postinstall.js b/postinstall.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d6b7cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postinstall.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import install from "./lib/install.js";
+
+// Install Hugo right off the bat.
+(async () => await install())();
diff --git a/test/index.spec.js b/test/index.spec.js
index 5614573..2ba57ee 100644
--- a/test/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/index.spec.js
@@ -1,12 +1,33 @@
 /* eslint-env node, mocha */
+import path from "path";
 import { execFile } from "child_process";
 import assert from "assert";
+import del from "del";
 import hugo from "../index.js";
+import { getBinPath } from "../lib/utils.js";
 
 it("Hugo exists and runs?", async function () {
   this.timeout(30000); // increase timeout to an excessive 30 seconds for CI
 
-  assert(execFile(hugo, ["env"], function (error, stdout) {
+  const hugoPath = await hugo();
+
+  assert(execFile(hugoPath, ["env"], function (error, stdout) {
+    if (error) {
+      throw error;
+    }
+    console.log(stdout);
+  }));
+});
+
+it("Hugo doesn't exist, install it instead of throwing an error", async function () {
+  this.timeout(30000); // increase timeout to an excessive 30 seconds for CI
+
+  // delete binary to ensure it's auto-reinstalled
+  await del(path.dirname(getBinPath()));
+
+  const hugoPath = await hugo();
+
+  assert(execFile(hugoPath, ["version"], function (error, stdout) {
     if (error) {
       throw error;
     }
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index d0663a9..1ba4eb9 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3,23 +3,23 @@
 
 
 "@babel/code-frame@^7.0.0":
-  version "7.15.8"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@babel/code-frame/-/code-frame-7.15.8.tgz#45990c47adadb00c03677baa89221f7cc23d2503"
-  integrity sha512-2IAnmn8zbvC/jKYhq5Ki9I+DwjlrtMPUCH/CpHvqI4dNnlwHwsxoIhlc8WcYY5LSYknXQtAlFYuHfqAFCvQ4Wg==
+  version "7.16.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@babel/code-frame/-/code-frame-7.16.0.tgz#0dfc80309beec8411e65e706461c408b0bb9b431"
+  integrity sha512-IF4EOMEV+bfYwOmNxGzSnjR2EmQod7f1UXOpZM3l4i4o4QNwzjtJAu/HxdjHq0aYBvdqMuQEY1eg0nqW9ZPORA==
   dependencies:
-    "@babel/highlight" "^7.14.5"
+    "@babel/highlight" "^7.16.0"
 
-"@babel/helper-validator-identifier@^7.14.5":
+"@babel/helper-validator-identifier@^7.15.7":
   version "7.15.7"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@babel/helper-validator-identifier/-/helper-validator-identifier-7.15.7.tgz#220df993bfe904a4a6b02ab4f3385a5ebf6e2389"
   integrity sha512-K4JvCtQqad9OY2+yTU8w+E82ywk/fe+ELNlt1G8z3bVGlZfn/hOcQQsUhGhW/N+tb3fxK800wLtKOE/aM0m72w==
 
-"@babel/highlight@^7.14.5":
-  version "7.14.5"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@babel/highlight/-/highlight-7.14.5.tgz#6861a52f03966405001f6aa534a01a24d99e8cd9"
-  integrity sha512-qf9u2WFWVV0MppaL877j2dBtQIDgmidgjGk5VIMw3OadXvYaXn66U1BFlH2t4+t3i+8PhedppRv+i40ABzd+gg==
+"@babel/highlight@^7.16.0":
+  version "7.16.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@babel/highlight/-/highlight-7.16.0.tgz#6ceb32b2ca4b8f5f361fb7fd821e3fddf4a1725a"
+  integrity sha512-t8MH41kUQylBtu2+4IQA3atqevA2lRgqA2wyVB/YiWmsDSuylZZuXOUy9ric30hfzauEFfdsuk/eXTRrGrfd0g==
   dependencies:
-    "@babel/helper-validator-identifier" "^7.14.5"
+    "@babel/helper-validator-identifier" "^7.15.7"
     chalk "^2.0.0"
     js-tokens "^4.0.0"
 
@@ -113,9 +113,9 @@
     "@types/node" "*"
 
 "@types/node@*":
-  version "16.11.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/node/-/node-16.11.1.tgz#2e50a649a50fc403433a14f829eface1a3443e97"
-  integrity sha512-PYGcJHL9mwl1Ek3PLiYgyEKtwTMmkMw4vbiyz/ps3pfdRYLVv+SN7qHVAImrjdAXxgluDEw6Ph4lyv+m9UpRmA==
+  version "16.11.6"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/node/-/node-16.11.6.tgz#6bef7a2a0ad684cf6e90fcfe31cecabd9ce0a3ae"
+  integrity sha512-ua7PgUoeQFjmWPcoo9khiPum3Pd60k4/2ZGXt18sm2Slk0W0xZTqt5Y0Ny1NyBiN1EVQ/+FaF9NcY4Qe6rwk5w==
 
 "@types/normalize-package-data@^2.4.1":
   version "2.4.1"
@@ -687,9 +687,9 @@ esrecurse@^4.3.0:
     estraverse "^5.2.0"
 
 estraverse@^5.1.0, estraverse@^5.2.0:
-  version "5.2.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/estraverse/-/estraverse-5.2.0.tgz#307df42547e6cc7324d3cf03c155d5cdb8c53880"
-  integrity sha512-BxbNGGNm0RyRYvUdHpIwv9IWzeM9XClbOxwoATuFdOE7ZE6wHL+HQ5T8hoPM+zHvmKzzsEqhgy0GrQ5X13afiQ==
+  version "5.3.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/estraverse/-/estraverse-5.3.0.tgz#2eea5290702f26ab8fe5370370ff86c965d21123"
+  integrity sha512-MMdARuVEQziNTeJD8DgMqmhwR11BRQ/cBP+pLtYdSTnf3MIO8fFeiINEbX36ZdNlfU/7A9f3gUw49B3oQsvwBA==
 
 esutils@^2.0.2:
   version "2.0.3"
@@ -892,9 +892,9 @@ glob@^7.1.3:
     path-is-absolute "^1.0.0"
 
 globals@^13.6.0, globals@^13.9.0:
-  version "13.11.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/globals/-/globals-13.11.0.tgz#40ef678da117fe7bd2e28f1fab24951bd0255be7"
-  integrity sha512-08/xrJ7wQjK9kkkRoI3OFUBbLx4f+6x3SGwcPvQ0QH6goFDrOU2oyAWrmh3dJezu65buo+HBMzAMQy6rovVC3g==
+  version "13.12.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/globals/-/globals-13.12.0.tgz#4d733760304230a0082ed96e21e5c565f898089e"
+  integrity sha512-uS8X6lSKN2JumVoXrbUz+uG4BYG+eiawqm3qFcT7ammfbUHeCBoJMlHcec/S3krSk73/AE/f0szYFmgAA3kYZg==
   dependencies:
     type-fest "^0.20.2"
 
@@ -1171,9 +1171,9 @@ jsonfile@^6.0.1:
     graceful-fs "^4.1.6"
 
 keyv@^4.0.0:
-  version "4.0.3"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/keyv/-/keyv-4.0.3.tgz#4f3aa98de254803cafcd2896734108daa35e4254"
-  integrity sha512-zdGa2TOpSZPq5mU6iowDARnMBZgtCqJ11dJROFi6tg6kTn4nuUdU09lFyLFSaHrWqpIJ+EBq4E8/Dc0Vx5vLdA==
+  version "4.0.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/keyv/-/keyv-4.0.4.tgz#f040b236ea2b06ed15ed86fbef8407e1a1c8e376"
+  integrity sha512-vqNHbAc8BBsxk+7QBYLW0Y219rWcClspR6WSeoHYKG5mnsSoOH+BL1pWq02DDCVdvvuUny5rkBlzMRzoqc+GIg==
   dependencies:
     json-buffer "3.0.1"
 
@@ -1816,9 +1816,9 @@ type-fest@^1.0.1:
   integrity sha512-yGSza74xk0UG8k+pLh5oeoYirvIiWo5t0/o3zHHAO2tRDiZcxWP7fywNlXhqb6/r6sWvwi+RsyQMWhVLe4BVuA==
 
 type-fest@^2.0.0, type-fest@^2.5.0:
-  version "2.5.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/type-fest/-/type-fest-2.5.1.tgz#17ba4f36a6abfabf0a92005d045dca77564607b0"
-  integrity sha512-JDcsxbLR6Z6OcL7TnGAAAGQrY4g7Q4EEALMT4Kp6FQuIc0JLQvOF3l7ejFvx8o5GmLlfMseTWUL++sYFP+o8kw==
+  version "2.5.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/type-fest/-/type-fest-2.5.2.tgz#d6a5247b8019716b300d9023fa7b1b02016dd864"
+  integrity sha512-WMbytmAs5PUTqwGJRE+WoRrD2S0bYFtHX8k4Y/1l18CG5kqA3keJud9pPQ/r30FE9n8XRFCXF9BbccHIZzRYJw==
 
 unbzip2-stream@^1.0.9:
   version "1.4.3"