diff --git a/common/msg.h b/common/msg.h
index b0cec7b88a..a32dffaa33 100644
--- a/common/msg.h
+++ b/common/msg.h
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ struct mp_log *mp_log_new(void *talloc_ctx, struct mp_log *parent,
 
 void mp_msg(struct mp_log *log, int lev, const char *format, ...)
     PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(3, 4);
-void mp_msg_va(struct mp_log *log, int lev, const char *format, va_list va);
+void mp_msg_va(struct mp_log *log, int lev, const char *format, va_list va)
+    PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(3, 0);
 
 int mp_msg_level(struct mp_log *log);
 
diff --git a/misc/bstr.h b/misc/bstr.h
index aaae7d695c..5cc124ec36 100644
--- a/misc/bstr.h
+++ b/misc/bstr.h
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ struct bstr bstr_splice(struct bstr str, int start, int end);
 long long bstrtoll(struct bstr str, struct bstr *rest, int base);
 double bstrtod(struct bstr str, struct bstr *rest);
 void bstr_lower(struct bstr str);
-int bstr_sscanf(struct bstr str, const char *format, ...);
+int bstr_sscanf(struct bstr str, const char *format, ...) SCANF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 3);
 
 // Decode a string containing hexadecimal data. All whitespace will be silently
 // ignored. When successful, this allocates a new array to store the output.
diff --git a/osdep/compiler.h b/osdep/compiler.h
index a4d7bf3753..55d76116a1 100644
--- a/osdep/compiler.h
+++ b/osdep/compiler.h
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@
 
 #if defined(__GNUC__) || defined(__clang__)
 #define PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(a1, a2) __attribute__ ((format(printf, a1, a2)))
+#define SCANF_ATTRIBUTE(a1, a2) __attribute__ ((format(scanf, a1, a2)))
 #define MP_NORETURN __attribute__((noreturn))
 #define MP_FALLTHROUGH __attribute__((fallthrough))
 #define MP_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT __attribute__((warn_unused_result))
 #else
 #define PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(a1, a2)
+#define SCANF_ATTRIBUTE(a1, a2)
 #define MP_NORETURN
 #define MP_FALLTHROUGH do {} while (0)
 #define MP_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
diff --git a/osdep/io.c b/osdep/io.c
index 1e8171de59..a8210dc89f 100644
--- a/osdep/io.c
+++ b/osdep/io.c
@@ -332,12 +332,14 @@ size_t mp_fwrite(const void *restrict buffer, size_t size, size_t count,
 }
 
 #if HAVE_UWP
+PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 0)
 static int mp_vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list args)
 {
     return vfprintf(stream, format, args);
 }
 #else
 
+PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 0)
 static int mp_vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list args)
 {
     HANDLE wstream = get_handle(stream);
diff --git a/osdep/terminal-dummy.c b/osdep/terminal-dummy.c
index 8ae6c64827..a2cfe741a8 100644
--- a/osdep/terminal-dummy.c
+++ b/osdep/terminal-dummy.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ void terminal_get_size2(int *rows, int *cols, int *px_width, int *px_height)
 {
 }
 
+PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 0)
 int mp_console_vfprintf(void *wstream, const char *format, va_list args)
 {
     return 0;
diff --git a/osdep/terminal.h b/osdep/terminal.h
index 4174cf2d3b..83a5423c5a 100644
--- a/osdep/terminal.h
+++ b/osdep/terminal.h
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ void terminal_get_size2(int *rows, int *cols, int *px_width, int *px_height);
 void terminal_set_mouse_input(bool enable);
 
 // Windows only.
-int mp_console_vfprintf(void *wstream, const char *format, va_list args);
+int mp_console_vfprintf(void *wstream, const char *format, va_list args)
+    PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 0);
 int mp_console_write(void *wstream, bstr str);
 bool mp_check_console(void *handle);
 
diff --git a/player/osd.c b/player/osd.c
index f218f47ce9..6381b70d6e 100644
--- a/player/osd.c
+++ b/player/osd.c
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ static void term_osd_print_status_lazy(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     talloc_free(line);
 }
 
+PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(4, 0)
 static bool set_osd_msg_va(struct MPContext *mpctx, int level, int time,
                            const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
diff --git a/sub/ass_mp.c b/sub/ass_mp.c
index 3e9f83313f..579fd7788d 100644
--- a/sub/ass_mp.c
+++ b/sub/ass_mp.c
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ static const int map_ass_level[] = {
     MSGL_TRACE,         // 7 "verbose DEBUG"
 };
 
+PRINTF_ATTRIBUTE(2, 0)
 static void message_callback(int level, const char *format, va_list va, void *ctx)
 {
     struct mp_log *log = ctx;
diff --git a/ta/ta_utils.c b/ta/ta_utils.c
index 294ad8d7f2..698a9b28eb 100644
--- a/ta/ta_utils.c
+++ b/ta/ta_utils.c
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ bool ta_strndup_append_buffer(char **str, const char *a, size_t n)
     return strndup_append_at(str, size, a, n);
 }
 
+TA_PRF(3, 0)
 static bool ta_vasprintf_append_at(char **str, size_t at, const char *fmt,
                                    va_list ap)
 {