diff --git a/eeshow/cro.c b/eeshow/cro.c
index 6070287..84effae 100644
--- a/eeshow/cro.c
+++ b/eeshow/cro.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <cairo/cairo-pdf.h>
 
 #include "util.h"
+#include "diag.h"
 #include "style.h"
 #include "text.h"
 #include "gfx.h"
@@ -344,7 +345,7 @@ static cairo_status_t stream_to_stdout(void *closure,
 	wrote = write(1, data, length);
 	if (wrote == (ssize_t) length)
 		return CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS;
-	perror("stdout");
+	diag_perror("stdout");
 	return CAIRO_STATUS_WRITE_ERROR;
 }
 
@@ -373,10 +374,8 @@ static void cr_pdf_new_sheet(void *ctx)
 
 	cc->n_sheets++;
 	cc->sheets = realloc(cc->sheets, sizeof(struct record) * cc->n_sheets);
-	if (!cc->sheets) {
-		perror("realloc");
-		exit(1);
-	}
+	if (!cc->sheets)
+		diag_pfatal("realloc");
 	cc->sheets[cc->n_sheets - 1] = cc->record;
 	record_wipe(&cc->record);
 }
diff --git a/eeshow/diag.c b/eeshow/diag.c
index d9bb5a5..46cc49f 100644
--- a/eeshow/diag.c
+++ b/eeshow/diag.c
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 
 #include "diag.h"
@@ -22,6 +24,23 @@
 unsigned verbose = 0;
 
 
+/* ----- Specialized diagnostic functions ---------------------------------- */
+
+
+void diag_pfatal(const char *s)
+{
+	fatal("%s: %s\n", s, strerror(errno));
+}
+
+
+void diag_perror(const char *s)
+{
+	error("%s: %s\n", s, strerror(errno));
+}
+
+
+/* ----- General diagnostic functions -------------------------------------- */
+
 void fatal(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list ap;
diff --git a/eeshow/diag.h b/eeshow/diag.h
index be152b1..bf6ee75 100644
--- a/eeshow/diag.h
+++ b/eeshow/diag.h
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@
 extern unsigned verbose;
 
 
+/* ----- Specialized diagnostic functions ---------------------------------- */
+
+
+/* perror, based on "fatal" or "error" */
+
+void diag_pfatal(const char *s);
+void diag_perror(const char *s);
+
+
+/* ----- General diagnostic functions -------------------------------------- */
+
+
 /*
  * Terminate immediately. Further execution makes no sense.
  * E.g., out of memory.
diff --git a/eeshow/fig.c b/eeshow/fig.c
index d24f8e7..70313c7 100644
--- a/eeshow/fig.c
+++ b/eeshow/fig.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 
 #include "util.h"
+#include "diag.h"
 #include "style.h"
 #include "text.h"
 #include "main.h"
@@ -269,10 +270,8 @@ static void *fig_init(int argc, char *const *argv)
 	}
 
 	file = fopen(template, "r");
-	if (!file) {
-		perror(template);
-		exit(1);
-	}
+	if (!file)
+		diag_pfatal(template);
 	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), file)) {
 		while (apply_vars(buf, n_vars, vars));
 		printf("%s", buf);
diff --git a/eeshow/file.c b/eeshow/file.c
index d927725..a0a83db 100644
--- a/eeshow/file.c
+++ b/eeshow/file.c
@@ -182,11 +182,11 @@ bool file_open(struct file *file, const char *name, const struct file *related)
 		return 1;
 
 	if (verbose)
-		perror(name);	/* @@@ may need changing later */
+		diag_perror(name);
 
 	if (!strchr(name, ':')) {
 		if (!verbose)
-			perror(name);
+			diag_perror(name);
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
diff --git a/eeshow/git-file.c b/eeshow/git-file.c
index 3246fa9..4ddef3d 100644
--- a/eeshow/git-file.c
+++ b/eeshow/git-file.c
@@ -125,10 +125,8 @@ static char *canonical_path_into_repo(const char *repo_dir, const char *path)
 
 	/* identify inode of repo root */
 
-	if (stat(repo_dir, &repo_st) < 0) {
-		perror(repo_dir);
-		exit(1);
-	}
+	if (stat(repo_dir, &repo_st) < 0)
+		diag_pfatal(repo_dir);
 	if (!S_ISDIR(repo_st.st_mode))
 		fatal("%s: not a directory\n", repo_dir);
 
diff --git a/eeshow/git-hist.c b/eeshow/git-hist.c
index 886b0a3..03d02d4 100644
--- a/eeshow/git-hist.c
+++ b/eeshow/git-hist.c
@@ -49,10 +49,8 @@ static void uplink(struct hist *down, struct hist *up)
 {
 	down->newer = realloc(down->newer,
 	    sizeof(struct hist *) * (down->n_newer + 1));
-	if (!down->newer) {
-		perror("realloc");
-		exit(1);
-	}
+	if (!down->newer)
+		diag_pfatal("realloc");
 	down->newer[down->n_newer++] = up;
 }
 
diff --git a/eeshow/sch-parse.c b/eeshow/sch-parse.c
index 6d63309..ac15d8c 100644
--- a/eeshow/sch-parse.c
+++ b/eeshow/sch-parse.c
@@ -124,10 +124,8 @@ static bool parse_field(struct sch_ctx *ctx, const char *line)
 		char *s;
 
 		s = realloc((void *) txt->s, len + 3);
-		if (!s) {
-			perror("realloc");
-			exit(1);
-		}
+		if (!s)
+			diag_pfatal("realloc");
 		if (comp->unit <= 26)
 			sprintf(s + len, "%c", 'A' + comp->unit - 1);
 		else