diff --git a/helpers.c b/helpers.c
index 9c8e8210..0bc25eab 100644
--- a/helpers.c
+++ b/helpers.c
@@ -733,7 +733,11 @@ void set_hostname(char **hostname)
 	if (fp) {
 		struct stat st;
 
-		fstat(fileno(fp), &st);
+		if (fstat(fileno(fp), &st)) {
+			fclose(fp);
+			return;
+		}
+
 		*hostname = realloc(*hostname, st.st_size);
 		if (!*hostname) {
 			fclose(fp);
diff --git a/helpers.h b/helpers.h
index 47c943bc..3d1f639b 100644
--- a/helpers.h
+++ b/helpers.h
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@
 #ifndef makedir
 # define makedir(x, p) do { if (mkdir(x, p) && errno != EEXIST) _pe("Failed creating directory %s", x); } while (0)
 #endif
+#ifndef makefifo
+# define makefifo(x, p) do { if (mkfifo(x, p) && errno != EEXIST) _pe("Failed creating FIFO %s", x); } while (0)
+#endif
+#ifndef erase
+# define erase(x) do { if (remove(x) && errno != ENOENT) _pe("Failed removing %s", x); } while (0)
+#endif
 #ifndef chardev
 # define chardev(x,m,maj,min) mknod((x), S_IFCHR|(m), makedev((maj),(min)))
 #endif
diff --git a/libite/copyfile.c b/libite/copyfile.c
index 0a8a9d51..a7e5170d 100644
--- a/libite/copyfile.c
+++ b/libite/copyfile.c
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ int main(void)
 		if (fexist(files[i + 2]))
 			fprintf(stderr, "OK => %s\n", files[i + 2]);
 
-		remove(files[i + 2]);
+		erase(files[i + 2]);
 		i += 3;
 	}
 
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ int main(void)
 		if (fexist(files[i + 2]))
 			fprintf(stderr, "OK => %s\n", files[i + 2]);
 
-		remove(files[i + 2]);
+		erase(files[i + 2]);
 		i += 3;
 	}
 
diff --git a/libite/dir.c b/libite/dir.c
index 631ffb99..fbb57b76 100644
--- a/libite/dir.c
+++ b/libite/dir.c
@@ -142,13 +142,13 @@ int simulate_files(int creat)
 		if (creat)
 			touch(files[i]);
 		else
-			remove(files[i]);
+			erase(files[i]);
 	}
 
 	if (creat)
 		symlink("config2.cfg", STARTUP_CONFIG);
 	else
-		remove(STARTUP_CONFIG);
+		erase(STARTUP_CONFIG);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/plugins/bootmisc.c b/plugins/bootmisc.c
index f006cf7f..4a5d0f56 100644
--- a/plugins/bootmisc.c
+++ b/plugins/bootmisc.c
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ static void setup(void *UNUSED(arg))
 	_d("Setting up necessary UTMP files ...");
 	touch("/var/run/utmp");
 	chown("/var/run/utmp", 0, getgroup("utmp"));
-	chmod("/var/run/utmp", 0664);
 
 #ifdef RUNLEVEL
 	memset(&entry, 0, sizeof(struct utmp));
@@ -71,7 +70,7 @@ static void setup(void *UNUSED(arg))
 #ifdef TOUCH_ETC_NETWORK_RUN_IFSTATE
 	touch("/etc/network/run/ifstate");
 #else
-	remove("/etc/network/run/ifstate");
+	erase("/etc/network/run/ifstate");
 #endif
 
 	_d("Setting up misc files ...");
@@ -79,8 +78,8 @@ static void setup(void *UNUSED(arg))
 	makedir("/var/run/pluto",  0755); /* Needed by Openswan */
 	makedir("/var/run/quagga", 0755); /* Needed by Quagga */
 	makedir("/var/log/quagga", 0755); /* Needed by Quagga */
-	makedir("/var/run/sshd", 01755); /* OpenSSH  */
-	mkfifo("/dev/xconsole", 0640); /* sysklogd */
+	makedir("/var/run/sshd", 01755);  /* OpenSSH  */
+	makefifo("/dev/xconsole", 0640);  /* sysklogd */
 	chown("/dev/xconsole", 0, getgroup("tty"));
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/dbus.c b/plugins/dbus.c
index 5351b1a8..0c3290fb 100644
--- a/plugins/dbus.c
+++ b/plugins/dbus.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ static void setup(void *UNUSED(arg))
 	makedir("/var/run/dbus", 0755);
 	makedir("/var/lock/subsys/messagebus", 0755);
 	run("dbus-uuidgen --ensure");
-	remove("/var/run/dbus/pid");
+	erase("/var/run/dbus/pid");
 	run_interactive("dbus-daemon --system", "Starting D-Bus");
 #endif
 }
diff --git a/plugins/initctl.c b/plugins/initctl.c
index f27846c5..85a26380 100644
--- a/plugins/initctl.c
+++ b/plugins/initctl.c
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ static void parse(void *UNUSED(arg), int fd, int UNUSED(events))
 PLUGIN_INIT(plugin_init)
 {
 	_d("Setting up %s", FINIT_FIFO);
-	mkfifo(FINIT_FIFO, 0600);
+	makefifo(FINIT_FIFO, 0600);
 
 	fifo_open();
 	plugin_register(&plugin);
diff --git a/plugins/x11-common.c b/plugins/x11-common.c
index a0277cf1..17a45044 100644
--- a/plugins/x11-common.c
+++ b/plugins/x11-common.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ static void setup(void *UNUSED(arg))
 #endif
 	char line[LINE_SIZE];
 
-	makepath("/var/run/console");
+	makedir("/var/run/console", 01777);
 	snprintf(line, sizeof(line), "/var/run/console/%s", username);
 	touch(line);
 
diff --git a/sig.c b/sig.c
index b81f0d92..930e4ea5 100644
--- a/sig.c
+++ b/sig.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static void sigcont_handler(int sig, siginfo_t *info, void *UNUSED(ctx))
 	_d("Received SIGCONT(%d) from %s (PID %d)",
 	   sig, pid_get_name(info->si_pid, NULL, 0), info->si_pid);
 	stopped = 0;
-	remove(SYNC_STOPPED);
+	erase(SYNC_STOPPED);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@ void sig_setup(void)
 	_d("Setup signals");
 
 	/* Cleanup any stale finit control files */
-	remove(SYNC_SHUTDOWN);
-	remove(SYNC_STOPPED);
+	erase(SYNC_SHUTDOWN);
+	erase(SYNC_STOPPED);
 
 	/* Standard SysV init calls ctrl-alt-delete handler */
 	SETSIG(sa, SIGINT,  shutdown_handler, 0);
diff --git a/svc.c b/svc.c
index 50f5530a..23b1ad1c 100644
--- a/svc.c
+++ b/svc.c
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ void svc_runlevel(int newlevel)
 	if (runlevel == 1)
 		touch("/etc/nologin");	/* Disable login in single-user mode */
 	else
-		remove("/etc/nologin");
+		erase("/etc/nologin");
 
 	if (0 != prevlevel)
 		tty_runlevel(runlevel);