diff --git a/install_base.sh b/install_base.sh
index f450d57be77b022cdd48740507efb679d3fb630c..3b18da1ffefd92fe4542e707a567a1b30db34083 100755
--- a/install_base.sh
+++ b/install_base.sh
@@ -115,13 +115,21 @@ clone_alpine_chroot_install() {
 
 install_apt() {
     echo "Installing apt packages ..."
-    sudo apt-get update &&
-    sudo apt-get install -y "${apt_packages[@]}"
+    sudo apt-get update
+    if [[ $unsupported_distro == 1 ]]; then
+        for package in "${apt_packages[@]}"; do
+            if ! sudo apt-get install -y "$package"; then
+                echo "Failed to install $package on that distribution" >&2
+            fi
+        done
+    else
+        sudo apt-get install -y "${apt_packages[@]}" || exit $?
+    fi
 }
 
 install_pacman() {
     echo "Installing pacman packages ..."
-    sudo pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm "${pacman_packages[@]}"
+    sudo pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm "${pacman_packages[@]}" || exit $?
 }
 
 register_pip_extra_requirements() {
@@ -212,9 +220,12 @@ else
 fi
 
 if [[ ! -z "$package_manager" ]] && ! test_os_release NAME "$expected_distro"; then
+    unsupported_distro=1
     echo
     echo "INFO: the distribution seems based on $package_manager but is not $expected_distro, some package names might not be right"
     echo
+else
+    unsupported_distro=0
 fi
 
 usage() {