diff --git a/cli-plugins/manager/error.go b/cli-plugins/manager/error.go
index 2ffbf4ee7c..e8538ade3a 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/manager/error.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/manager/error.go
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@ func (e *pluginError) Error() string {
 	return e.cause.Error()
 }
 
-// Cause satisfies the errors.causer interface for pluginError.
+// Cause satisfies the github.com/pkg/errors.causer interface for pluginError.
+// TODO: remove this once all users switch away from github.com/pkg/errors.
 func (e *pluginError) Cause() error {
 	return e.cause
 }
 
-// Unwrap provides compatibility for Go 1.13 error chains.
+// Unwrap provides compatibility for Go 1.13+ error chains.
 func (e *pluginError) Unwrap() error {
 	return e.cause
 }
@@ -38,17 +39,8 @@ func (e *pluginError) MarshalText() (text []byte, err error) {
 	return []byte(e.cause.Error()), nil
 }
 
-// wrapAsPluginError wraps an error in a pluginError with an
-// additional message, analogous to errors.Wrapf.
-func wrapAsPluginError(err error, msg string) error {
-	if err == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return &pluginError{cause: fmt.Errorf(msg+": %w", err)}
-}
-
 // NewPluginError creates a new pluginError, analogous to
-// errors.Errorf.
+// [fmt.Errorf].
 func NewPluginError(msg string, args ...any) error {
 	return &pluginError{cause: fmt.Errorf(msg, args...)}
 }
diff --git a/cli-plugins/manager/error_test.go b/cli-plugins/manager/error_test.go
index c4cb19bd55..66f257722b 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/manager/error_test.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/manager/error_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ func TestPluginError(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Check(t, is.Error(err, "new error"))
 
 	inner := errors.New("testing")
-	err = wrapAsPluginError(inner, "wrapping")
+	err = NewPluginError("wrapping: %w", inner)
 	assert.Check(t, is.Error(err, "wrapping: testing"))
 	assert.Check(t, is.ErrorIs(err, inner))
 
diff --git a/cli-plugins/manager/plugin.go b/cli-plugins/manager/plugin.go
index 2c0ff43438..16a81520fd 100644
--- a/cli-plugins/manager/plugin.go
+++ b/cli-plugins/manager/plugin.go
@@ -86,12 +86,12 @@ func newPlugin(c Candidate, cmds []*cobra.Command) (Plugin, error) {
 	// We are supposed to check for relevant execute permissions here. Instead we rely on an attempt to execute.
 	meta, err := c.Metadata()
 	if err != nil {
-		p.Err = wrapAsPluginError(err, "failed to fetch metadata")
+		p.Err = NewPluginError("failed to fetch metadata: %w", err)
 		return p, nil
 	}
 
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(meta, &p.Metadata); err != nil {
-		p.Err = wrapAsPluginError(err, "invalid metadata")
+		p.Err = NewPluginError("invalid metadata: %w", err)
 		return p, nil
 	}
 	if p.Metadata.SchemaVersion != "0.1.0" {
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func newPlugin(c Candidate, cmds []*cobra.Command) (Plugin, error) {
 func (p *Plugin) RunHook(ctx context.Context, hookData HookPluginData) ([]byte, error) {
 	hDataBytes, err := json.Marshal(hookData)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, wrapAsPluginError(err, "failed to marshall hook data")
+		return nil, NewPluginError("failed to marshall hook data: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	pCmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, p.Path, p.Name, HookSubcommandName, string(hDataBytes))
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func (p *Plugin) RunHook(ctx context.Context, hookData HookPluginData) ([]byte,
 	pCmd.Env = append(pCmd.Env, ReexecEnvvar+"="+os.Args[0])
 	hookCmdOutput, err := pCmd.Output()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, wrapAsPluginError(err, "failed to execute plugin hook subcommand")
+		return nil, NewPluginError("failed to execute plugin hook subcommand: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return hookCmdOutput, nil