diff --git a/disk-deactivate/disk-deactivate.jq b/disk-deactivate/disk-deactivate.jq
index 6e444039..cf6e9430 100644
--- a/disk-deactivate/disk-deactivate.jq
+++ b/disk-deactivate/disk-deactivate.jq
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # since lsblk lacks zfs support, we have to do it this way
 def remove:
   if .fstype == "zfs_member" then
-    "zpool destroy -f \(.label)"
+    "if type zpool >/dev/null; then zpool destroy -f \(.label); zpool labelclear -f \(.label); fi"
   elif .fstype == "LVM2_member" then
     [
       "vg=$(pvs \(.path) --noheadings --options vg_name | grep -o '[a-zA-Z0-9-]*')",
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ def remove:
     # maybe its zfs
     [
       # the next line has some horrible escaping
-      "zpool=$(zdb -l \(.path) | sed -nr $'s/ +name: \\'(.*)\\'/\\\\1/p')",
-      "if [[ -n \"${zpool}\" ]]; then zpool destroy -f \"$zpool\"; fi",
+      "zpool=$(if type zdb >/dev/null; then zdb -l \(.path) | sed -nr $'s/ +name: \\'(.*)\\'/\\\\1/p'; fi)",
+      "if [[ -n \"${zpool}\" ]]; then zpool destroy -f \"$zpool\"; zpool labelclear -f \"$zpool\"; fi",
       "unset zpool"
     ]
   else
diff --git a/lib/types/zpool.nix b/lib/types/zpool.nix
index 0510b940..df391f2b 100644
--- a/lib/types/zpool.nix
+++ b/lib/types/zpool.nix
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ in
         in
         ''
           readarray -t zfs_devices < <(cat "$disko_devices_dir"/zfs_${config.name})
+          if [ ''${#zfs_devices[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+            echo "no devices found for zpool ${config.name}. Did you misspell the pool name?" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
           # Try importing the pool without mounting anything if it exists.
           # This allows us to set mounpoints.
           if zpool import -N -f '${config.name}' || zpool list '${config.name}'; then