Packages only working "once" after install

I'm trying to get git-gutter-fringe+ working under emacs 24.5.5 on OS X, but I'm having some trouble. In general, it works fine upon install, but on subsequent restarts the package is not loaded.

I'm using req-package to manage package installation and init, and my config for git-gutter-fringe+ is (currently) as follows:

(require 'package) (add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.milkbox.net/packages/") t) (add-to-list 'package-archives '("marmalade" . "https://marmalade-repo.org/packages/") t) (add-to-list 'package-archives '("gnu" . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/") t) (package-initialize) (unless (package-installed-p 'el-get) (package-install 'el-get)) (unless (package-installed-p 'req-package) (package-install 'req-package)) (package-initialize) (require 'req-package) ;; ...other packages and config... (req-package git-gutter-fringe+ :requires (fringe-helper) :init (progn (global-git-gutter-mode) (git-gutter-fr+-minimal) (setq-default left-fringe-width 16) (setq-default right-fringe-width 16) )) 

I've tried variations on this, including simply:

(req-package git-gutter-fringe+ :init (git-gutter-fr+-minimal)) 

...but after the initial install and load, it fails to work.

I've had a look at the package's files under ~/.emacs.d/elpa/ and I can see that the git-gutter-fringe+-autoloads.el file looks mostly commented out:

;;; git-gutter-fringe+-autoloads.el --- automatically extracted autoloads ;; ;;; Code: (add-to-list 'load-path (or (file-name-directory #$) (car load-path))) ;;;### (autoloads nil nil ("git-gutter-fringe+.el") (22118 3236 355828 ;;;;;; 0)) 

Is this to be expected? How can I diagnose the issue?

As an aside, I've had the same issue previously with the alchemist package, though since uninstalling/reinstalling a few times, it's since been pretty stable.