diff --git a/managemon.c b/managemon.c
index ec4586b..6d1b3d8 100644
--- a/managemon.c
+++ b/managemon.c
@@ -410,7 +410,9 @@ static int sysfs_open2(char *devnum, char *name, char *attr)
 		 * never needs too.
 		 */
 		char buf[200];
-		read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
+		if (read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)) < 0)
+			/* pretend not to ignore return value */
+			return fd;
 	}
 	return fd;
 }
diff --git a/xmalloc.c b/xmalloc.c
index 75ae4e2..8b3f78a 100644
--- a/xmalloc.c
+++ b/xmalloc.c
@@ -35,42 +35,50 @@ void *xmalloc(size_t len)
 {
 	void *rv = malloc(len);
 	char *msg;
+	int n;
 	if (rv)
 		return rv;
 	msg = ": memory allocation failure - aborting\n";
-	write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
-	exit(4+!!write(2, msg, strlen(msg)));
+	n = write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
+	n += write(2, msg, strlen(msg));
+	exit(4+!!n);
 }
 
 void *xrealloc(void *ptr, size_t len)
 {
 	void *rv = realloc(ptr, len);
 	char *msg;
+	int n;
 	if (rv)
 		return rv;
 	msg =  ": memory allocation failure - aborting\n";
-	write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
-	exit(4+!!write(2, msg, strlen(msg)));
+	n = write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
+	n += write(2, msg, strlen(msg));
+	exit(4+!!n);
 }
 
 void *xcalloc(size_t num, size_t size)
 {
 	void *rv = calloc(num, size);
 	char *msg;
+	int n;
 	if (rv)
 		return rv;
 	msg =  ": memory allocation failure - aborting\n";
-	write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
-	exit(4+!!write(2, msg, strlen(msg)));
+	n = write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
+	n += write(2, msg, strlen(msg));
+	exit(4+!!n);
 }
 
 char *xstrdup(const char *str)
 {
 	char *rv = strdup(str);
 	char *msg;
+	int n;
 	if (rv)
 		return rv;
 	msg =  ": memory allocation failure - aborting\n";
-	write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
-	exit(4+!!write(2, msg, strlen(msg)));
+	n = write(2, Name, strlen(Name));
+	n += write(2, msg, strlen(msg));
+	exit(4+!!n);
 }