diff --git a/nvx-rs/src/guest/console_pending.rs b/nvx-rs/src/guest/console_pending.rs
index 34acde7e6..7eb84aefd 100644
--- a/nvx-rs/src/guest/console_pending.rs
+++ b/nvx-rs/src/guest/console_pending.rs
@@ -40,22 +40,17 @@ fn run(args: &[CString], out: &mut dyn Write, err: &mut dyn Write) -> Result<(),
                 b"\n",
             ],
         );
+        CommandError::Operation
     };
 
     let flags =
         OpenFlags::O_RDONLY | OpenFlags::O_CLOEXEC | OpenFlags::O_NOCTTY | OpenFlags::O_NONBLOCK;
-    let descriptor = sys::open(device, flags, Mode::empty()).map_err(|error| {
-        fail(err, b"open", error);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
-    let pending = sys::console_pending(&descriptor).map_err(|error| {
-        fail(err, b"ioctl", error);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
-    descriptor.close().map_err(|error| {
-        fail(err, b"close", error);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
+    let descriptor =
+        sys::open(device, flags, Mode::empty()).map_err(|error| fail(err, b"open", error))?;
+    let pending = sys::console_pending(&descriptor).map_err(|error| fail(err, b"ioctl", error))?;
+    descriptor
+        .close()
+        .map_err(|error| fail(err, b"close", error))?;
     if let Err(errno) = sys::print(out, format!("{pending}\n").as_bytes()) {
         let text = errno.desc().as_bytes();
         sys::report(err, &[b"nvx-console-pending: write: ", text, b"\n"]);
diff --git a/nvx-rs/src/guest/mmio_write.rs b/nvx-rs/src/guest/mmio_write.rs
index d7b69fe99..5fc47dafe 100644
--- a/nvx-rs/src/guest/mmio_write.rs
+++ b/nvx-rs/src/guest/mmio_write.rs
@@ -43,36 +43,30 @@ fn run(args: &[CString], memory: &CStr, err: &mut dyn Write) -> Result<(), Comma
     }
 
     let descriptor = sys::open(memory, OpenFlags::O_RDWR | OpenFlags::O_SYNC, Mode::empty())
-        .map_err(|error| {
-            perror(err, b"open /dev/mem", error);
-            CommandError::Operation
-        })?;
+        .map_err(|error| perror(err, b"open /dev/mem", error))?;
     let length = NonZeroUsize::new(page_size).expect("a valid page size is nonzero");
     let mut mapping = sys::MemoryMapping::shared_read_write(&descriptor, length, page_base)
-        .map_err(|error| {
-            perror(err, b"mmap /dev/mem", error);
-            CommandError::Operation
-        })?;
+        .map_err(|error| perror(err, b"mmap /dev/mem", error))?;
     if !mapping.write_u32(page_offset as usize, value) {
         // The boundary validation above proves this unreachable, but preserve a typed failure if
         // the mapping abstraction and validation ever diverge.
         sys::report(err, &[b"MMIO write crosses a page boundary\n"]);
         return Err(CommandError::Operation);
     }
-    mapping.unmap().map_err(|error| {
-        perror(err, b"munmap /dev/mem", error);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
-    descriptor.close().map_err(|error| {
-        perror(err, b"close /dev/mem", error);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
+    mapping
+        .unmap()
+        .map_err(|error| perror(err, b"munmap /dev/mem", error))?;
+    descriptor
+        .close()
+        .map_err(|error| perror(err, b"close /dev/mem", error))?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Reports `errno` as C's `perror(prefix)` does, with `nix`'s description.
-fn perror(err: &mut dyn Write, prefix: &[u8], errno: Errno) {
+/// Reports `errno` as C's `perror(prefix)` does, with `nix`'s description, and returns the
+/// operation failure.
+fn perror(err: &mut dyn Write, prefix: &[u8], errno: Errno) -> CommandError {
     sys::report(err, &[prefix, b": ", errno.desc().as_bytes(), b"\n"]);
+    CommandError::Operation
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/nvx-rs/src/guest/reseed.rs b/nvx-rs/src/guest/reseed.rs
index 1328f15d8..695367549 100644
--- a/nvx-rs/src/guest/reseed.rs
+++ b/nvx-rs/src/guest/reseed.rs
@@ -94,12 +94,7 @@ fn reseed(random: &CStr, seed: &[u8; SEED_BYTES], err: &mut dyn Write) -> Result
         OpenFlags::O_WRONLY | OpenFlags::O_CLOEXEC,
         Mode::empty(),
     )
-    .map_err(|errno| {
-        let path = random.to_bytes();
-        let text = errno.desc().as_bytes();
-        sys::report(err, &[b"nvx-reseed: open ", path, b": ", text, b"\n"]);
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
+    .map_err(|errno| file_failure(err, b"open", random, errno.desc().as_bytes()))?;
     sys::reseed_random(&descriptor, seed).map_err(|errno| {
         let text = errno.desc().as_bytes();
         sys::report(err, &[b"nvx-reseed: random ioctl: ", text, b"\n"]);
@@ -109,40 +104,35 @@ fn reseed(random: &CStr, seed: &[u8; SEED_BYTES], err: &mut dyn Write) -> Result
 
 /// Reads exactly `bytes.len()` bytes from the file at `path`, without retrying after `EINTR`.
 fn read_seed(path: &CStr, bytes: &mut [u8], err: &mut dyn Write) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
-    let fail = |err: &mut dyn Write, operation: &[u8], reason: &[u8]| {
-        let path = path.to_bytes();
-        sys::report(
-            err,
-            &[b"nvx-reseed: ", operation, b" ", path, b": ", reason, b"\n"],
-        );
-    };
     let descriptor = sys::open(
         path,
         OpenFlags::O_RDONLY | OpenFlags::O_CLOEXEC,
         Mode::empty(),
     )
-    .map_err(|errno| {
-        fail(err, b"open", errno.desc().as_bytes());
-        CommandError::Operation
-    })?;
+    .map_err(|errno| file_failure(err, b"open", path, errno.desc().as_bytes()))?;
     let mut offset = 0;
     while offset < bytes.len() {
         let rest = &mut bytes[offset..];
         match descriptor.read(rest) {
-            Ok(0) => {
-                fail(err, b"read", b"unexpected end of file");
-                return Err(CommandError::Operation);
-            }
+            Ok(0) => return Err(file_failure(err, b"read", path, b"unexpected end of file")),
             Ok(count) => offset += count,
-            Err(errno) => {
-                fail(err, b"read", errno.desc().as_bytes());
-                return Err(CommandError::Operation);
-            }
+            Err(errno) => return Err(file_failure(err, b"read", path, errno.desc().as_bytes())),
         }
     }
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Reports that `operation` on the file at `path` failed for `reason`, and returns the operation
+/// failure.
+fn file_failure(err: &mut dyn Write, operation: &[u8], path: &CStr, reason: &[u8]) -> CommandError {
+    let path = path.to_bytes();
+    sys::report(
+        err,
+        &[b"nvx-reseed: ", operation, b" ", path, b": ", reason, b"\n"],
+    );
+    CommandError::Operation
+}
+
 /// Checks that `previous` is 32 hexadecimal digits that differ from `generation_id`.
 fn validate_generation_change(
     previous: &[u8],