diff --git a/pkg/plugin/discovery/discovery.go b/pkg/plugin/discovery/discovery.go
index 4cd82a07..f077e9a5 100644
--- a/pkg/plugin/discovery/discovery.go
+++ b/pkg/plugin/discovery/discovery.go
@@ -124,10 +124,15 @@ func (d *Discovery) FindPluginsWithBatchResolver(resolverName string, pInfos []*
 		pInfo.BinPath = binPath
 	}
 
+	// no plugins need to be downloaded
 	if len(missingPlugins) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if len(missingPlugins) == 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("no batch prefetching possible for a single plugin")
+	}
+
 	batchResolver := d.resolvers[resolverName].(resolver.BatchResolver)
 	batchDownloadInfo, err := batchResolver.BatchResolvePlugins(missingPlugins)
 	if err != nil {