diff --git a/zyklonb.c b/zyklonb.c
index cd40254..c74af84 100644
--- a/zyklonb.c
+++ b/zyklonb.c
@@ -310,8 +310,7 @@ irc_get_boolean_from_config
 	if (set_boolean_if_valid (value, str))
 		return true;
 
-	error_set (e, "invalid configuration value for `%s'", name);
-	return false;
+	FAIL ("invalid configuration value for `%s'", name);
 }
 
 static bool
@@ -443,8 +442,7 @@ error_ssl_1:
 	//   multiple errors on the OpenSSL stack.
 	if (!error_info)
 		error_info = ERR_error_string (ERR_get_error (), NULL);
-	error_set (e, "%s: %s", "could not initialize TLS", error_info);
-	return false;
+	FAIL ("%s: %s", "could not initialize TLS", error_info);
 }
 
 static bool
@@ -457,11 +455,8 @@ irc_establish_connection (struct bot_context *ctx,
 
 	int err = getaddrinfo (host, port, &gai_hints, &gai_result);
 	if (err)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "%s: %s: %s",
-			"connection failed", "getaddrinfo", gai_strerror (err));
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("%s: %s: %s", "connection failed",
+			"getaddrinfo", gai_strerror (err));
 
 	int sockfd;
 	for (gai_iter = gai_result; gai_iter; gai_iter = gai_iter->ai_next)
@@ -502,10 +497,7 @@ irc_establish_connection (struct bot_context *ctx,
 	freeaddrinfo (gai_result);
 
 	if (!gai_iter)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "connection failed");
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("connection failed");
 
 	ctx->irc_fd = sockfd;
 	return true;
@@ -1034,37 +1026,21 @@ plugin_load (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *name, struct error **e)
 {
 	const char *plugin_dir = str_map_find (&ctx->config, "plugin_dir");
 	if (!plugin_dir)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "plugin directory not set");
-		return false;
-	}
-
+		FAIL ("plugin directory not set");
 	if (!is_valid_plugin_name (name))
-	{
-		error_set (e, "invalid plugin name");
-		return false;
-	}
-
+		FAIL ("invalid plugin name");
 	if (str_map_find (&ctx->plugins_by_name, name))
-	{
-		error_set (e, "the plugin has already been loaded");
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("the plugin has already been loaded");
 
 	int stdin_pipe[2];
 	if (pipe (stdin_pipe) == -1)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "%s: %s: %s",
-			"failed to load the plugin", "pipe", strerror (errno));
-		goto fail_1;
-	}
+		FAIL ("%s: %s", "pipe", strerror (errno));
 
 	int stdout_pipe[2];
 	if (pipe (stdout_pipe) == -1)
 	{
-		error_set (e, "%s: %s: %s",
-			"failed to load the plugin", "pipe", strerror (errno));
-		goto fail_2;
+		error_set (e, "%s: %s", "pipe", strerror (errno));
+		goto fail_1;
 	}
 
 	set_cloexec (stdin_pipe[1]);
@@ -1073,9 +1049,8 @@ plugin_load (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *name, struct error **e)
 	pid_t pid = fork ();
 	if (pid == -1)
 	{
-		error_set (e, "%s: %s: %s",
-			"failed to load the plugin", "fork", strerror (errno));
-		goto fail_3;
+		error_set (e, "%s: %s", "fork", strerror (errno));
+		goto fail_2;
 	}
 
 	if (pid == 0)
@@ -1133,13 +1108,12 @@ plugin_load (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *name, struct error **e)
 	poller_fd_set (&plugin->read_event, POLLIN);
 	return true;
 
-fail_3:
+fail_2:
 	xclose (stdout_pipe[0]);
 	xclose (stdout_pipe[1]);
-fail_2:
+fail_1:
 	xclose (stdin_pipe[0]);
 	xclose (stdin_pipe[1]);
-fail_1:
 	return false;
 }
 
@@ -1149,10 +1123,7 @@ plugin_unload (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *name, struct error **e)
 	struct plugin *plugin = str_map_find (&ctx->plugins_by_name, name);
 
 	if (!plugin)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "no such plugin is loaded");
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("no such plugin is loaded");
 
 	plugin_zombify (plugin);
 
@@ -1781,10 +1752,7 @@ irc_connect (struct bot_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 	// TODO: again, get rid of `struct error' in here.  The question is: how
 	//   do we tell our caller that he should not try to reconnect?
 	if (!irc_host)
-	{
-		error_set (e, "no hostname specified in configuration");
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("no hostname specified in configuration");
 
 	bool use_tls;
 	if (!irc_get_boolean_from_config (ctx, "tls", &use_tls, e))
@@ -1829,11 +1797,7 @@ parse_config (struct bot_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 	const char *delay_str = str_map_find (&ctx->config, "reconnect_delay");
 	hard_assert (delay_str != NULL);  // We have a default value for this
 	if (!xstrtoul (&ctx->reconnect_delay, delay_str, 10))
-	{
-		error_set (e, "invalid configuration value for `%s'",
-			"reconnect_delay");
-		return false;
-	}
+		FAIL ("invalid configuration value for `%s'", "reconnect_delay");
 
 	hard_assert (!ctx->admin_re);
 	const char *admin = str_map_find (&ctx->config, "admin");