diff --git a/bucket/gow.json b/bucket/gow.json
index 9388e02d22..74e9411e1b 100644
--- a/bucket/gow.json
+++ b/bucket/gow.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 		"url": "https://github.com/bmatzelle/gow/releases",
 		"re": "<a.*?>Gow ([0-9\\.]+)</a>"
 	},
-	"before_shims": "echo \"@cscript //NoLogo \"\"$dir\\bin\\gow.vbs\"\" %1\" > \"$dir\\bin\\gow.bat\" ",
+	"pre_install": "echo \"@cscript //NoLogo \"\"$dir\\bin\\gow.vbs\"\" %1\" > \"$dir\\bin\\gow.bat\" ",
 	"bin": [
 		"bin\\awk.exe",
 		"bin\\basename.exe",
diff --git a/lib/install.ps1 b/lib/install.ps1
index ca12b95d94..dfd9ead967 100644
--- a/lib/install.ps1
+++ b/lib/install.ps1
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ function install_app($app, $architecture, $global) {
 
 	$fname = dl_urls $app $version $manifest $architecture $dir
 	unpack_inno $fname $manifest $dir
+	pre_install $manifest
 	run_installer $fname $manifest $architecture $dir
 	ensure_install_dir_not_in_path $dir $global
-	before_create_shims $manifest
 	create_shims $manifest $dir $global
 	if($global) { ensure_scoop_in_path $global } # can assume local scoop is in path
 	env_add_path $manifest $dir $global
@@ -566,9 +566,9 @@ function env_rm($manifest, $global) {
 	}
 }
 
-function before_create_shims($manifest) {
-	$manifest.before_shims | ? { $_ } | % {
-		echo "running before_shims script..."
+function pre_install($manifest) {
+	$manifest.pre_install | ? { $_ } | % {
+		echo "running pre-install script..."
 		iex $_
 	}
 }
diff --git a/libexec/scoop-update.ps1 b/libexec/scoop-update.ps1
index e4db291b7d..a9e62aef64 100644
--- a/libexec/scoop-update.ps1
+++ b/libexec/scoop-update.ps1
@@ -107,9 +107,9 @@ function update($app, $global) {
 
 	$fname = dl_urls $app $version $manifest $architecture $dir
 	unpack_inno $fname $manifest $dir
+	pre_install $manifest
 	run_installer $fname $manifest $architecture $dir
 	ensure_install_dir_not_in_path $dir
-	before_create_shims $manifest
 	create_shims $manifest $dir $global
 	env_add_path $manifest $dir $global
 	env_set $manifest $dir $global