diff --git a/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp b/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp
index 20089987..b3777f7d 100644
--- a/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp
+++ b/bench/benchctxswitch.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 *******************************************************************************/
 
+#include <err.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -39,11 +40,13 @@ static int uptime(uintmax_t* usecs)
 int main(int /*argc*/, char* /*argv*/[])
 {
 	pid_t slavepid = fork();
-	if ( slavepid < 0 ) { perror("fork"); return 1; }
+	if ( slavepid < 0 )
+		err(1, "fork");
 	if ( slavepid == 0 ) { while ( true ) { usleep(0); } exit(0); }
 
 	uintmax_t start;
-	if ( uptime(&start) ) { perror("uptime"); return 1; }
+	if ( uptime(&start) )
+		err(1, "uptime");
 	uintmax_t end = start + 1ULL * 1000ULL * 1000ULL; // 1 second
 	size_t count = 0;
 	uintmax_t now;
diff --git a/bench/benchsyscall.cpp b/bench/benchsyscall.cpp
index df95d1d9..274ae117 100644
--- a/bench/benchsyscall.cpp
+++ b/bench/benchsyscall.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 *******************************************************************************/
 
+#include <err.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <time.h>
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ static int uptime(uintmax_t* usecs)
 int main(int /*argc*/, char* /*argv*/[])
 {
 	uintmax_t start;
-	if ( uptime(&start) ) { perror("uptime"); return 1; }
+	if ( uptime(&start) )
+		err(1, "uptime");
 	uintmax_t end = start + 1ULL * 1000ULL * 1000ULL; // 1 second
 	size_t count = 0;
 	uintmax_t now;
diff --git a/utils/find.cpp b/utils/find.cpp
index 58792184..d06813eb 100644
--- a/utils/find.cpp
+++ b/utils/find.cpp
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ bool Find(int dirfd, const char* relpath, const char* path, int types)
 		if ( types & TYPE_DIR )
 			printf("%s\n", path);
 		DIR* dir = fdopendir(fd);
-		if ( !dir ) { perror("fdopendir"); close(fd); return false; }
+		if ( !dir ) { error(0, errno, "fdopendir"); close(fd); return false; }
 		struct dirent* entry;
 		while ( (entry = readdir(dir)) )
 		{
diff --git a/utils/kernelinfo.cpp b/utils/kernelinfo.cpp
index be9bb657..66f2811a 100644
--- a/utils/kernelinfo.cpp
+++ b/utils/kernelinfo.cpp
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	}
 	size_t bufsize = 32;
 	char* buf = (char*) malloc(bufsize);
-	if ( !buf ) { perror("malloc"); return 1; }
+	if ( !buf )
+		error(1, errno, "malloc");
 	for ( int i = 1; i < argc; i++ )
 	{
 retry:
@@ -80,7 +81,8 @@ retry:
 		if ( ret )
 		{
 			buf = (char*) realloc(buf, ret);
-			if ( !buf ) { perror("realloc"); return 1; }
+			if ( !buf )
+				error(1, errno, "realloc");
 			bufsize = ret;
 			goto retry;
 		}
diff --git a/utils/ls.cpp b/utils/ls.cpp
index a8389e93..5b54dd9b 100644
--- a/utils/ls.cpp
+++ b/utils/ls.cpp
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ int ls(const char* path)
 	{
 		if ( errno == ENOTDIR )
 			return handle_entry_internal(path, path, DT_UNKNOWN);
-		perror(path);
+		error(0, errno, "%s", path);
 		ret = 2;
 		goto cleanup_entries;
 	}
diff --git a/utils/memstat.cpp b/utils/memstat.cpp
index be092740..1d8de9b6 100644
--- a/utils/memstat.cpp
+++ b/utils/memstat.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 *******************************************************************************/
 
+#include <err.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -66,7 +67,8 @@ int main(int /*argc*/, char* /*argv*/[])
 {
 	size_t memused = 0;
 	size_t memtotal = 0;
-	if ( memstat(&memused, &memtotal) ) { perror("memstat"); return 1; }
+	if ( memstat(&memused, &memtotal) )
+		err(1, "memstat");
 
 	printf("memory usage: ");
 	printbytes(memused);