diff --git a/include/rom.sh b/include/rom.sh
index a4080a5..cf90df0 100644
--- a/include/rom.sh
+++ b/include/rom.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,16 @@ mkpayload_grub()
 	    $err "$tree: cannot build grub.elf"; return 0
 }
 
+mkvendorfiles()
+{
+	if [ "$_f" = "-d" ]; then
+		check_coreboot_utils "$tree"
+	elif [ "$_f" = "-b" ]; then
+		printf "%s\n" "${version%%-*}" > "$cdir/.coreboot-version" || \
+		    $err "!mk $cdir .coreboot-version"
+	fi
+}
+
 check_coreboot_utils()
 {
 	for util in cbfstool ifdtool; do
@@ -57,15 +67,6 @@ check_coreboot_utils()
 	done; return 0
 }
 
-mkvendorfiles()
-{
-	if [ "$_f" = "-d" ]; then
-		check_coreboot_utils "$tree"
-	elif [ "$_f" = "-b" ]; then
-		printf "%s\n" "${version%%-*}" > "$cdir/.coreboot-version"
-	fi
-}
-
 mkcorebootbin()
 {
 	[ "$_f" = "-d" ] && return 0 # dry run