diff --git a/common.c b/common.c
index 4bbebd9..347e82b 100644
--- a/common.c
+++ b/common.c
@@ -34,13 +34,6 @@
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include <netinet/tcp.h>
 
-/// Shorthand to set an error and return failure from the function
-#define FAIL(...)                                                              \
-	BLOCK_START                                                                \
-		error_set (e, __VA_ARGS__);                                            \
-		return 0;                                                              \
-	BLOCK_END
-
 // --- To be moved to liberty --------------------------------------------------
 
 static ssize_t
diff --git a/zyklonb.c b/zyklonb.c
index 53cb6f3..5f73105 100644
--- a/zyklonb.c
+++ b/zyklonb.c
@@ -1028,11 +1028,17 @@ plugin_launch (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *name, struct error **e)
 {
 	const char *plugin_dir = str_map_find (&ctx->config, "plugin_dir");
 	if (!plugin_dir)
-		FAIL ("plugin directory not set");
+	{
+		error_set (e, "plugin directory not set");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	int stdin_pipe[2];
 	if (pipe (stdin_pipe) == -1)
-		FAIL ("%s: %s", "pipe", strerror (errno));
+	{
+		error_set (e, "%s: %s", "pipe", strerror (errno));
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	int stdout_pipe[2];
 	if (pipe (stdout_pipe) == -1)