diff --git a/src/cron.js b/src/cron.js
index b738f3607..377452b07 100644
--- a/src/cron.js
+++ b/src/cron.js
@@ -40,9 +40,8 @@ var appHealthMonitor = require('./apphealthmonitor.js'),
 var gJobs = {
     appAutoUpdater: null,
     boxAutoUpdater: null,
-    appUpdateChecker: null,
     backup: null,
-    boxUpdateChecker: null,
+    updateChecker: null,
     systemChecks: null,
     diskSpaceChecker: null,
     certificateRenew: null,
@@ -68,7 +67,7 @@ var NOOP_CALLBACK = function (error) { if (error) debug(error); };
 function startJobs(callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    const randomMinute = Math.floor(60*Math.random());
+    const randomTick = Math.floor(60*Math.random());
     gJobs.systemChecks = new CronJob({
         cronTime: '00 30 2 * * *', // once a day. if you change this interval, change the notification messages with correct duration
         onTick: () => cloudron.runSystemChecks(NOOP_CALLBACK),
@@ -81,16 +80,10 @@ function startJobs(callback) {
         start: true
     });
 
-    gJobs.boxUpdateCheckerJob = new CronJob({
-        cronTime: '00 ' + randomMinute + ' 1,3,5,21,23 * * *', // 5 times
-        onTick: () => updateChecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: true }, NOOP_CALLBACK),
-        start: true
-    });
-
     // this is run separately from the update itself so that the user can disable automatic updates but can still get a notification
-    gJobs.appUpdateChecker = new CronJob({
-        cronTime: '00 ' + randomMinute + ' 2,4,6,20,22 * * *', // 5 times
-        onTick: () => updateChecker.checkAppUpdates({ automatic: true }, NOOP_CALLBACK),
+    gJobs.updateCheckerJob = new CronJob({
+        cronTime: `${randomTick} ${randomTick} 1,5,9,13,17,21,23 * * *`,
+        onTick: () => updateChecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: true }, NOOP_CALLBACK),
         start: true
     });
 
diff --git a/src/routes/cloudron.js b/src/routes/cloudron.js
index dada88e37..b9ebe2672 100644
--- a/src/routes/cloudron.js
+++ b/src/routes/cloudron.js
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 };
 
 let assert = require('assert'),
-    async = require('async'),
     auditSource = require('../auditsource.js'),
     BoxError = require('../boxerror.js'),
     cloudron = require('../cloudron.js'),
@@ -204,10 +203,7 @@ function checkForUpdates(req, res, next) {
     // it can take a while sometimes to get all the app updates one by one
     req.clearTimeout();
 
-    async.series([
-        (done) => updateChecker.checkAppUpdates({ automatic: false }, done),
-        (done) => updateChecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, done),
-    ], function () {
+    updateChecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function () {
         next(new HttpSuccess(200, { update: updateChecker.getUpdateInfo() }));
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/test/updatechecker-test.js b/src/test/updatechecker-test.js
index 2854a6cbd..19b460fb9 100644
--- a/src/test/updatechecker-test.js
+++ b/src/test/updatechecker-test.js
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ describe('updatechecker - box - manual (email)', function () {
             .query({ boxVersion: constants.VERSION, accessToken: 'atoken', automatic: false })
             .reply(204, { } );
 
-        updatechecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
+        updatechecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
             expect(!error).to.be.ok();
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box).to.be(null);
             expect(scope.isDone()).to.be.ok();
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ describe('updatechecker - box - manual (email)', function () {
             .query({ boxVersion: constants.VERSION, accessToken: 'atoken', automatic: false })
             .reply(200, { version: UPDATE_VERSION, changelog: [''], sourceTarballUrl: 'box.tar.gz', sourceTarballSigUrl: 'box.tar.gz.sig', boxVersionsUrl: 'box.versions', boxVersionsSigUrl: 'box.versions.sig' } );
 
-        updatechecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
+        updatechecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
             expect(!error).to.be.ok();
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box.version).to.be(UPDATE_VERSION);
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box.sourceTarballUrl).to.be('box.tar.gz');
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ describe('updatechecker - box - manual (email)', function () {
             .query({ boxVersion: constants.VERSION, accessToken: 'atoken', automatic: false })
             .reply(404, { version: '2.0.0-pre.0', changelog: [''], sourceTarballUrl: 'box-pre.tar.gz' } );
 
-        updatechecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
+        updatechecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
             expect(error).to.be.ok();
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box).to.be(null);
             expect(scope.isDone()).to.be.ok();
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ describe('updatechecker - box - automatic (no email)', function () {
             .query({ boxVersion: constants.VERSION, accessToken: 'atoken', automatic: false })
             .reply(200, { version: UPDATE_VERSION, changelog: [''], sourceTarballUrl: 'box.tar.gz', sourceTarballSigUrl: 'box.tar.gz.sig', boxVersionsUrl: 'box.versions', boxVersionsSigUrl: 'box.versions.sig' } );
 
-        updatechecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
+        updatechecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
             expect(!error).to.be.ok();
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box.version).to.be(UPDATE_VERSION);
             expect(scope.isDone()).to.be.ok();
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ describe('updatechecker - box - automatic free (email)', function () {
             .query({ boxVersion: constants.VERSION, accessToken: 'atoken', automatic: false })
             .reply(200, { version: UPDATE_VERSION, changelog: [''], sourceTarballUrl: 'box.tar.gz', sourceTarballSigUrl: 'box.tar.gz.sig', boxVersionsUrl: 'box.versions', boxVersionsSigUrl: 'box.versions.sig' } );
 
-        updatechecker.checkBoxUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
+        updatechecker.checkForUpdates({ automatic: false }, function (error) {
             expect(!error).to.be.ok();
             expect(updatechecker.getUpdateInfo().box.version).to.be(UPDATE_VERSION);
             expect(scope.isDone()).to.be.ok();
diff --git a/src/updatechecker.js b/src/updatechecker.js
index a291f4cb7..97cac6f31 100644
--- a/src/updatechecker.js
+++ b/src/updatechecker.js
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 'use strict';
 
 exports = module.exports = {
-    checkAppUpdates: checkAppUpdates,
-    checkBoxUpdates: checkBoxUpdates,
+    checkForUpdates,
 
-    getUpdateInfo: getUpdateInfo,
-    resetUpdateInfo: resetUpdateInfo,
-    resetAppUpdateInfo: resetAppUpdateInfo,
+    getUpdateInfo,
+    resetUpdateInfo,
+    resetAppUpdateInfo,
 
     _setUpdateInfo: setUpdateInfo
 };
@@ -171,3 +170,19 @@ function checkBoxUpdates(options, callback) {
         });
     });
 }
+
+function checkForUpdates(options, callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof options, 'object');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    checkBoxUpdates(options, function (error) {
+        if (error) debug('checkForUpdates: error checking for box updates:', error);
+
+        checkAppUpdates(options, function (error) {
+            if (error) debug('checkForUpdates: error checking for app updates:', error);
+
+            callback();
+        });
+    });
+
+}