diff --git a/misc/ext.d/doc.sh.in b/misc/ext.d/doc.sh.in
index c296ca270..d8c465494 100644
--- a/misc/ext.d/doc.sh.in
+++ b/misc/ext.d/doc.sh.in
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ staroffice_console() {
 }
 
 get_ooffice_executable() {
-    if which loffice >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    if command -v loffice >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         echo "loffice"
-    elif which ooffice >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    elif command -v ooffice >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         echo "ooffice"
     else
         echo -n
@@ -52,35 +52,35 @@ do_view_action() {
         fi
         ;;
     msdoc)
-        if which wvHtml >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v wvHtml >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             tmp=`mktemp -d ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/%p.XXXXXX`
             wvHtml "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" --targetdir="$tmp" page.html
             elinks -dump "$tmp/page.html"
             rm -rf "$tmp"
-        elif which antiword >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        elif command -v antiword >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             antiword -t "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
-        elif which catdoc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        elif command -v catdoc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             catdoc -w "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
-        elif which word2x >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        elif command -v word2x >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             word2x -f text "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" -
         else
             strings "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         fi
         ;;
     msxls)
-        if which xlhtml >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v xlhtml >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             tmp=`mktemp -d ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/%p.XXXXXX`
             xlhtml -a "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" > "$tmp/page.html"
             elinks -dump "$tmp/page.html"
             rm -rf "$tmp"
-        elif which xls2csv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        elif command -v xls2csv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             xls2csv "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         else
             strings "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         fi
         ;;
     dvi)
-        which dvi2tty >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
+        command -v dvi2tty >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
             dvi2tty "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" || \
             catdvi "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         ;;
diff --git a/misc/ext.d/image.sh b/misc/ext.d/image.sh
index c191225c8..46751c625 100755
--- a/misc/ext.d/image.sh
+++ b/misc/ext.d/image.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 action=$1
 filetype=$2
 
-[ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
+    [ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+fi
 
 do_view_action() {
     filetype=$1
@@ -16,13 +18,13 @@ do_view_action() {
         [ -n "$DISPLAY" ] && sxpm "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         ;;
     *)
-        if which exif >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v exif >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             exif "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" 2>/dev/null
             E=$?
         else
             E=1
         fi
-        if [ $E != 0 ] && which exiftool >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if [ $E != 0 ] && command -v exiftool >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             exiftool "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" 2>/dev/null
         fi
         identify "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
@@ -45,15 +47,21 @@ do_open_action() {
         ;;
     *)
         if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
-            if which geeqie >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            if command -v geeqie >/dev/null 2>&1; then
                 (geeqie "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &)
             else
                 (gqview "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &)
             fi
-        elif which see >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        # no backgrounding for console viewers
+        elif command -v fim >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            fim "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
+        elif command -v fbi >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            fbi "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
+        elif command -v zgv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            zgv "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
+        # run-mailcap as a last resort
+        elif command -v see >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             (see "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &)
-        else
-            (zgv "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &)
         fi
         ;;
     esac
diff --git a/misc/ext.d/misc.sh.in b/misc/ext.d/misc.sh.in
index 822cf2bf6..df590d6af 100644
--- a/misc/ext.d/misc.sh.in
+++ b/misc/ext.d/misc.sh.in
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ do_view_action() {
 
     case "${filetype}" in
     iso9660)
-         if which isoinfo > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+         if command -v isoinfo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
              isoinfo -d -i "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" && isoinfo -l -R -J -i "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
          else
              7za l "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ do_open_action() {
         sqlite3 "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         ;;
     glade)
-        if which glade-3 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v glade-3 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             (glade-3 "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1 &)
         else
             (glade-2 "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1 &)
diff --git a/misc/ext.d/sound.sh b/misc/ext.d/sound.sh
index 60a3cdd52..943aae493 100755
--- a/misc/ext.d/sound.sh
+++ b/misc/ext.d/sound.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 action=$1
 filetype=$2
 
-[ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
+    [ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+fi
 
 do_view_action() {
     filetype=$1
diff --git a/misc/ext.d/text.sh.in b/misc/ext.d/text.sh.in
index 357f9e11d..38d64c40e 100644
--- a/misc/ext.d/text.sh.in
+++ b/misc/ext.d/text.sh.in
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ do_open_action() {
         ;;
     chm)
         if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
-            which kchmviewer > /dev/null 2>&1 \
+            command -v kchmviewer >/dev/null 2>&1 \
                 && (kchmviewer "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &) \
                 || (xchm "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" &)
         else
diff --git a/misc/ext.d/video.sh b/misc/ext.d/video.sh
index 9cba21020..1584be9d7 100755
--- a/misc/ext.d/video.sh
+++ b/misc/ext.d/video.sh
@@ -6,17 +6,19 @@
 action=$1
 filetype=$2
 
-[ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
+    [ -n "${MC_XDG_OPEN}" ] || MC_XDG_OPEN="xdg-open"
+fi
 
 do_view_action() {
     filetype=$1
 
     case "${filetype}" in
     *)
-        if which mplayer >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if command -v mplayer >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             mplayer -identify -vo null -ao null -frames 0 "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" 2>&1 | \
                 sed -n 's/^ID_//p'
-        elif which mpv_identify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        elif command -v mpv_identify.sh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             mpv_identify.sh "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
         else
             echo "Please install either mplayer or mpv to get information for this file"
@@ -28,24 +30,17 @@ do_view_action() {
 do_open_action() {
     filetype=$1
 
-    if which mpv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        PLAYER=mpv
-    elif which mplayer >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        PLAYER=mplayer
+    if command -v mpv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        PLAYER="mpv --really-quiet"
     else
-        echo "Please install either mplayer or mpv to play this file"
-        return
+        PLAYER="mplayer -really-quiet"
     fi
 
-    case "${filetype}" in
-    *)
-        if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
-            ($PLAYER "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1 &)
-        else
-            $PLAYER -vo null "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
-        fi
-        ;;
-    esac
+    if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
+        ($PLAYER "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}" >/dev/null 2>&1 &)
+    else
+        $PLAYER -vo null "${MC_EXT_FILENAME}"
+    fi
 }
 
 case "${action}" in
diff --git a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/iso9660.in b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/iso9660.in
index a4519dc3c..61b0b1357 100644
--- a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/iso9660.in
+++ b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/iso9660.in
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 #*** file scope functions **********************************************
 
-XORRISO=$(which xorriso 2>/dev/null)
+XORRISO=$(command -v xorriso >/dev/null 2>&1)
 
 # This snippet is used to undo xorriso's Text_shellsafe(). Pseudocode for the
 # function:
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ xorriso_rm() {
 
 # tested to comply with isoinfo 2.0's output
 test_iso () {
-    ISOINFO=$(which isoinfo 2>/dev/null)
+    ISOINFO=$(command -v isoinfo >/dev/null 2>&1)
     if test -z "$ISOINFO"; then
         echo "isoinfo not found" >&2
         return 1
diff --git a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/u7z b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/u7z
index d59d92f3e..6d3a4ccfa 100755
--- a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/u7z
+++ b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/u7z
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-P7ZIP=`which 7z 2>/dev/null` \
-    || P7ZIP=`which 7zz 2>/dev/null` \
-    || P7ZIP=`which 7za 2>/dev/null` \
-    || P7ZIP=`which 7zr 2>/dev/null` \
+P7ZIP=`command -v 7z >/dev/null 2>&1` \
+    || P7ZIP=`command -v 7zz >/dev/null 2>&1` \
+    || P7ZIP=`command -v 7za >/dev/null 2>&1` \
+    || P7ZIP=`command -v 7zr >/dev/null 2>&1` \
     || P7ZIP=""
 
 # Let the test framework hook in:
diff --git a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/urar.in b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/urar.in
index 71a4e82ad..d589ece17 100644
--- a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/urar.in
+++ b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/urar.in
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 RAR=rar
 
 # Prefer unrar (freeware).
-UNRAR=`which unrar 2>/dev/null`
+UNRAR=`command -v unrar >/dev/null 2>&1`
 
 [ -z $UNRAR ] && UNRAR=$RAR
 [ ! -x $UNRAR -a -x $RAR ] && UNRAR=$RAR
diff --git a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/uwim.in b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/uwim.in
index 76197f720..bb8fa34c2 100644
--- a/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/uwim.in
+++ b/src/vfs/extfs/helpers/uwim.in
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 # On Debian/Ubuntu wimtools can be installed via:
 # apt install wimtools
 
-which wimlib-imagex 2>/dev/null > /dev/null || exit 1
-WIM=`which wimlib-imagex`
+command -v wimlib-imagex >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 1
+WIM=`command -v wimlib-imagex >/dev/null 2>&1`
 AWK=@AWK@
 
 [ -n "$2" ] || exit 1