diff --git a/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/post-refresh b/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/post-refresh
index e15e7b54b..9ba00a2eb 100644
--- a/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/post-refresh
+++ b/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/post-refresh
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@
 cb_installed="$(snapctl get cb-installed)"
 
 if [ -z "$cb_installed" ]; then
-    echo "cb_installed not set, not doing version comparison check"
+    echo "cb_installed not set, not doing version comparison check" > "$SNAP_DATA/debuglog"
     exit 0
 fi
 
 # get required certbot version for plugin
 cb_required=$(grep -oP "certbot>=\K.*(?=')" $SNAP/setup.py)
+echo "cb_required: $cb_required" > "$SNAP_DATA/debuglog"
 
 if [ "$cb_installed" -lt "$cb_required" ]; then
     echo "Certbot is version $cb_installed but needs to be at least $cb_required before \
diff --git a/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/pre-refresh b/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/pre-refresh
index 85ad48922..fbc4c3986 100644
--- a/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/pre-refresh
+++ b/certbot-dns-dnsimple/snap/hooks/pre-refresh
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 first_install="$(snapctl get first-install)"
 if [ -z "$first_install" ]; then
     snapctl set first-install="false"
-    echo "first install, not doing any version comparison checks"
+    echo "first install, not doing any version comparison checks" > "$SNAP_DATA/debuglog"
     exit 0
 fi
 
-echo "ls $SNAP/certbot-shared:"
+echo "ls $SNAP/certbot-shared:" > "$SNAP_DATA/debuglog"
 ls $SNAP/certbot-shared
-cb_installed=$(grep -oP "__requires__ = 'certbot==\K.*(?=')" $SNAP/certbot-shared)
-echo "cb_installed: $cb_installed"
+cb_installed=$(grep -oP "__requires__ = 'certbot==\K.*(?=')" $SNAP/certbot-shared/__init__.py)
+echo "cb_installed: $cb_installed" > "$SNAP_DATA/debuglog"
 snapctl set cb-installed="$cb_installed"