diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/types/rest_spec/epm.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/types/rest_spec/epm.ts
index 7ed2fed91aa93c..b7099ed1e49568 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/types/rest_spec/epm.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/types/rest_spec/epm.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ export interface InstallPackageResponse {
 export interface IBulkInstallPackageError {
   name: string;
   statusCode: number;
-  error: string | Error;
+  error: string;
 }
 
 export interface BulkInstallPackageInfo {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/services/epm/packages/install.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/services/epm/packages/install.ts
index d6ea8e339291b1..129b3aa1ed30d9 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/services/epm/packages/install.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/services/epm/packages/install.ts
@@ -91,12 +91,10 @@ export async function ensureInstalledDefaultPackages(
 
   for (const resp of bulkResponse) {
     if (isBulkInstallError(resp)) {
-      if (resp.error instanceof Error) {
-        throw resp.error;
-      } else {
-        throw new Error(resp.error);
-      }
+      throw new Error(resp.error);
     } else {
+      // getInstallation can return undefined so we'll tack on the name so when we throw an error in setup we can
+      // reference the name of the package that we failed to retrieve the installation information for
       const installation = getInstallationAndName(savedObjectsClient, resp.name);
       installations.push(installation);
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/index.js b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/index.js
index e509babc9828b6..0cb998b9b7c35e 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/index.js
+++ b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/index.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 export default function loadTests({ loadTestFile }) {
   describe('EPM Endpoints', () => {
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./list'));
+    loadTestFile(require.resolve('./setup'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./get'));
     loadTestFile(require.resolve('./file'));
     //loadTestFile(require.resolve('./template'));
diff --git a/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/setup.ts b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/setup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..da06f49dd61397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/epm/setup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License;
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
+ */
+
+import expect from '@kbn/expect';
+import { FtrProviderContext } from '../../../api_integration/ftr_provider_context';
+import { skipIfNoDockerRegistry } from '../../helpers';
+import { GetInfoResponse, Installed } from '../../../../plugins/ingest_manager/common';
+
+export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
+  const { getService } = providerContext;
+  const supertest = getService('supertest');
+  const log = getService('log');
+
+  describe('setup api', async () => {
+    skipIfNoDockerRegistry(providerContext);
+    describe('setup performs upgrades', async () => {
+      const oldEndpointVersion = '0.13.0';
+      beforeEach(async () => {
+        await supertest
+          .post(`/api/ingest_manager/epm/packages/endpoint-${oldEndpointVersion}`)
+          .set('kbn-xsrf', 'xxxx')
+          .send({ force: true })
+          .expect(200);
+      });
+      it('upgrades the endpoint package from 0.13.0 to the latest version available', async function () {
+        let { body }: { body: GetInfoResponse } = await supertest
+          .get(`/api/ingest_manager/epm/packages/endpoint-${oldEndpointVersion}`)
+          .expect(200);
+        const latestEndpointVersion = body.response.latestVersion;
+        log.info(`Endpoint package latest version: ${latestEndpointVersion}`);
+        // make sure we're actually doing an upgrade
+        expect(latestEndpointVersion).not.eql(oldEndpointVersion);
+        await supertest.post(`/api/ingest_manager/setup`).set('kbn-xsrf', 'xxxx').expect(200);
+
+        ({ body } = await supertest
+          .get(`/api/ingest_manager/epm/packages/endpoint-${latestEndpointVersion}`)
+          .expect(200));
+        expect(body.response).to.have.property('savedObject');
+        expect((body.response as Installed).savedObject.attributes.install_version).to.eql(
+          latestEndpointVersion
+        );
+      });
+    });
+  });
+}