diff --git a/forgejo-release.sh b/forgejo-release.sh
index 7cd2e4f..0731e1e 100755
--- a/forgejo-release.sh
+++ b/forgejo-release.sh
@@ -43,16 +43,14 @@ get_arch() {
 }
 
 check_dependencies() {
-    # Always required for API parsing and downloads
-    deps="curl jq"
-
-    # Append any extra arguments to the list of dependencies to check
-    if [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
-        deps="$deps $*"
+    # Expect dependencies to be passed as arguments
+    if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo "check_dependencies: Please make sure to pass in at least one dependency when calling." >&2
+        return 1
     fi
 
     missing=""
-    for cmd in $deps; do
+    for cmd in "$@"; do
         if ! command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             missing="$missing $cmd"
         fi
@@ -74,7 +72,7 @@ check_dependencies() {
 }
 
 setup_tea() {
-    check_dependencies
+    check_dependencies curl
     if command -v tea >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         TEA_BIN=$(command -v tea)
     elif ! [ -f "$TEA_BIN" ]; then
@@ -215,7 +213,7 @@ upload() {
 
 setup_api() {
     # Retained for future expansion, but dependency checking now handled globally
-    check_dependencies
+    check_dependencies curl jq
 }
 
 api() {