diff --git a/lib/helpers.bash b/lib/helpers.bash
index 9c4c4dbc..c5ae9cd1 100644
--- a/lib/helpers.bash
+++ b/lib/helpers.bash
@@ -361,3 +361,21 @@ all_groups ()
     cat $file | sort | uniq
     rm $file
 }
+
+if ! type pathmunge > /dev/null 2>&1
+then
+  function pathmunge () {
+    _about 'prevent duplicate directories in you PATH variable'
+    _group 'lib helpers'
+    _example 'pathmunge /path/to/dir is equivalent to PATH=/path/to/dir:$PATH'
+    _example 'pathmunge /path/to/dir after is equivalent to PATH=$PATH:/path/to/dir'
+
+    if ! [[ $PATH =~ (^|:)$1($|:) ]] ; then
+      if [ "$2" = "after" ] ; then
+        export PATH=$PATH:$1
+      else
+        export PATH=$1:$PATH
+      fi
+    fi
+  }
+fi
diff --git a/plugins/available/nginx.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/nginx.plugin.bash
index 8e8b7346..c540a23a 100644
--- a/plugins/available/nginx.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/nginx.plugin.bash
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'manage your nginx service'
 
-# Set the path nginx
 export NGINX_PATH='/opt/nginx'
-
-# Add nginx to the path
-export PATH=$PATH:$NGINX_PATH/sbin
+pathmunge $NGINX_PATH/sbin after
 
 function nginx_reload() {
   about 'reload your nginx config'
diff --git a/plugins/available/node.plugin.bash b/plugins/available/node.plugin.bash
index 06b158e7..f0467cef 100644
--- a/plugins/available/node.plugin.bash
+++ b/plugins/available/node.plugin.bash
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 cite about-plugin
 about-plugin 'Node.js helper functions'
 
-export PATH=./node_modules/.bin:$PATH
+pathmunge ./node_modules/.bin
 
 # Make sure the global npm prefix is on the path
-[[ `which npm` ]] && export PATH=$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH
-
-
+[[ `which npm` ]] && pathmunge $(npm config get prefix)/bin