diff --git a/client/birdc.c b/client/birdc.c
index ccf758be..8aa01c17 100644
--- a/client/birdc.c
+++ b/client/birdc.c
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ input_init(void)
 
   // readline library does strange things when stdin is nonblocking.
   // if (fcntl(0, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) < 0)
-  //   die("fcntl: %m");
+  //   DIE("fcntl");
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/client/birdcl.c b/client/birdcl.c
index 2d5e1067..7b567a9f 100644
--- a/client/birdcl.c
+++ b/client/birdcl.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <termios.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include <signal.h>
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ more_begin(void)
   tty.c_lflag &= (~ICANON);
 
   if (tcsetattr (0, TCSANOW, &tty) < 0)
-    die("tcsetattr: %m");
+    DIE("tcsetattr");
 
   more_active = 1;
 }
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ more_end(void)
   more_active = 0;
 
   if (tcsetattr (0, TCSANOW, &stored_tty) < 0)
-    die("tcsetattr: %m");
+    DIE("tcsetattr");
 }
 
 static void
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ input_init(void)
     return;
 
   if (tcgetattr(0, &stored_tty) < 0)
-    die("tcgetattr: %m");
+    DIE("tcgetattr");
 
   if (signal(SIGINT, sig_handler) == SIG_IGN)
     signal(SIGINT, SIG_IGN);
diff --git a/client/client.c b/client/client.c
index 4075b9e6..0d4bdf3e 100644
--- a/client/client.c
+++ b/client/client.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ server_connect(void)
 
   server_fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
   if (server_fd < 0)
-    die("Cannot create socket: %m");
+    DIE("Cannot create socket");
 
   if (strlen(server_path) >= sizeof(sa.sun_path))
     die("server_connect: path too long");
@@ -257,9 +257,9 @@ server_connect(void)
   sa.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
   strcpy(sa.sun_path, server_path);
   if (connect(server_fd, (struct sockaddr *) &sa, SUN_LEN(&sa)) < 0)
-    die("Unable to connect to server control socket (%s): %m", server_path);
+    DIE("Unable to connect to server control socket (%s)", server_path);
   if (fcntl(server_fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) < 0)
-    die("fcntl: %m");
+    DIE("fcntl");
 }
 
 
@@ -309,13 +309,13 @@ server_read(void)
  redo:
   c = read(server_fd, server_read_pos, server_read_buf + sizeof(server_read_buf) - server_read_pos);
   if (!c)
-    die("Connection closed by server.");
+    die("Connection closed by server");
   if (c < 0)
     {
       if (errno == EINTR)
 	goto redo;
       else
-	die("Server read error: %m");
+	DIE("Server read error");
     }
 
   start = server_read_buf;
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ select_loop(void)
 	  if (errno == EINTR)
 	    continue;
 	  else
-	    die("select: %m");
+	    DIE("select");
 	}
 
       if (FD_ISSET(0, &select_fds))
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ wait_for_write(int fd)
 	  if (errno == EINTR)
 	    continue;
 	  else
-	    die("select: %m");
+	    DIE("select");
 	}
 
       if (FD_ISSET(server_fd, &set))
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ server_send(char *cmd)
 	  else if (errno == EINTR)
 	    continue;
 	  else
-	    die("Server write error: %m");
+	    DIE("Server write error");
 	}
       else
 	{
@@ -436,19 +436,6 @@ server_send(char *cmd)
     }
 }
 
-
-/* XXXX
-
-      get_term_size();
-
-      if (tcgetattr(0, &tty_save) != 0)
-        {
-          perror("tcgetattr error");
-          return(EXIT_FAILURE);
-        }
-    }
-
- */
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
diff --git a/client/client.h b/client/client.h
index b194a772..f9693def 100644
--- a/client/client.h
+++ b/client/client.h
@@ -34,3 +34,6 @@ char *cmd_expand(char *cmd);
 /* client.c */
 
 void submit_command(char *cmd_raw);
+
+/* die() with system error messages */
+#define DIE(x, y...) die(x ": %s", ##y, strerror(errno))
diff --git a/client/commands.c b/client/commands.c
index 226ae048..2dae23e1 100644
--- a/client/commands.c
+++ b/client/commands.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ cmd_build_tree(void)
 	  if (!new)
 	    {
 	      int size = sizeof(struct cmd_node) + c-d;
-	      new = xmalloc(size);
+	      new = malloc(size);
 	      bzero(new, size);
 	      *old->plastson = new;
 	      old->plastson = &new->sibling;
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ cmd_expand(char *cmd)
       puts("No such command. Press `?' for help.");
       return NULL;
     }
-  b = xmalloc(strlen(n->cmd->command) + strlen(args) + 1);
+  b = malloc(strlen(n->cmd->command) + strlen(args) + 1);
   sprintf(b, "%s%s", n->cmd->command, args);
   return b;
 }
diff --git a/client/util.c b/client/util.c
index 050224b9..c35cf8f4 100644
--- a/client/util.c
+++ b/client/util.c
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ vlog(const char *msg, va_list args)
 {
   char buf[1024];
 
-  if (bvsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf)-1, msg, args) < 0)
-    bsprintf(buf + sizeof(buf) - 100, " ... <too long>");
+  int n = vsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), msg, args);
+  if (n < 0)
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "???");
+  if (n >= sizeof(buf))
+    snprintf(buf + sizeof(buf) - 100, 100, " ... <too long>");
   fputs(buf, stderr);
   fputc('\n', stderr);
 }