diff --git a/cut.c b/cut.c
index c20a236..97d2f2a 100644
--- a/cut.c
+++ b/cut.c
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ parselist(char *str)
 		if (*s == ',')
 			n++;
 	}
-	if (!(r = malloc(n * sizeof(Range))))
-		eprintf("malloc:");
+	r = emalloc(n * sizeof(Range));
 	for (s = str; n; n--, s++) {
 		r->min = (*s == '-') ? 1 : strtoul(s, &s, 10);
 		r->max = (*s == '-') ? strtoul(s + 1, &s, 10) : r->min;
diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index 7352aae..edc565a 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -111,10 +111,8 @@ addpattern(const char *pattern)
 {
 	struct plist *pnode;
 
-	if (!(pnode = malloc(sizeof(*pnode))))
-		eprintf("malloc:");
-	if (!(pnode->pattern = strdup(pattern)))
-		eprintf("strdup:");
+	pnode = emalloc(sizeof(*pnode));
+	pnode->pattern = estrdup(pattern);
 	pnode->next = phead;
 	phead = pnode;
 }
diff --git a/ls.c b/ls.c
index 2af7d45..97af5f9 100644
--- a/ls.c
+++ b/ls.c
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (argc == 0)
 		*--argv = ".", argc++;
 
-	if (!(ents = malloc(argc * sizeof *ents)))
-		eprintf("malloc:");
+	ents = emalloc(argc * sizeof(*ents));
+
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
 		mkent(&ents[i], argv[i], 1);
 	qsort(ents, argc, sizeof *ents, entcmp);
@@ -154,10 +154,8 @@ lsdir(const char *path)
 			mkent(&ent, d->d_name, Fflag || lflag || iflag);
 			output(&ent);
 		} else {
-			if (!(ents = realloc(ents, ++n * sizeof *ents)))
-				eprintf("realloc:");
-			if (!(p = malloc((sz = strlen(d->d_name)+1))))
-				eprintf("malloc:");
+			ents = erealloc(ents, ++n * sizeof *ents);
+			p = emalloc((sz = strlen(d->d_name)+1));
 			memcpy(p, d->d_name, sz);
 			mkent(&ents[n-1], p, tflag || Fflag || lflag || iflag);
 		}
diff --git a/paste.c b/paste.c
index 918dea0..382ad79 100644
--- a/paste.c
+++ b/paste.c
@@ -59,8 +59,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (len == (size_t) - 1)
 		eprintf("invalid delimiter\n");
 
-	if (!(delim = malloc((len + 1) * sizeof(*delim))))
-		eprintf("out of memory\n");
+	delim = emalloc((len + 1) * sizeof(*delim));
 
 	mbstowcs(delim, adelim, len);
 	len = unescape(delim);
@@ -68,8 +67,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		eprintf("no delimiters specified\n");
 
 	/* populate file list */
-	if (!(dsc = malloc(argc * sizeof(*dsc))))
-		eprintf("out of memory\n");
+	dsc = emalloc(argc * sizeof(*dsc));
 
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
 		if (strcmp(argv[i], "-") == 0)
diff --git a/tail.c b/tail.c
index b87b83f..b53ec8d 100644
--- a/tail.c
+++ b/tail.c
@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ taketail(FILE *fp, const char *str, long n)
 	long i, j;
 	size_t *size = NULL;
 
-	if (!(ring = calloc(n, sizeof *ring)) || !(size = calloc(n, sizeof *size)))
-		eprintf("calloc:");
+	ring = ecalloc(n, sizeof *ring);
+	size = ecalloc(n, sizeof *size);
+
 	for (i = j = 0; agetline(&ring[i], &size[i], fp) != -1; i = j = (i + 1) % n)
 		;
 	if (ferror(fp))
diff --git a/tee.c b/tee.c
index 638e59f..bdd8222 100644
--- a/tee.c
+++ b/tee.c
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	} ARGEND;
 
 	nfps = argc + 1;
-	if (!(fps = calloc(nfps, sizeof *fps)))
-		eprintf("calloc:");
+	fps = ecalloc(nfps, sizeof *fps);
 
 	for (i = 0; argc > 0; argc--, argv++, i++)
 		if (!(fps[i] = fopen(*argv, aflag ? "a" : "w")))
diff --git a/uniq.c b/uniq.c
index f07c40a..709a913 100644
--- a/uniq.c
+++ b/uniq.c
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ uniqline(char *l)
 		prevline = NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (l && !(prevline = strdup(l)))
-		eprintf("strdup:");
+	if (l)
+		prevline = estrdup(l);
 	prevlinecount = 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/util/apathmax.c b/util/apathmax.c
index 348df4c..c570329 100644
--- a/util/apathmax.c
+++ b/util/apathmax.c
@@ -18,7 +18,5 @@ apathmax(char **p, long *size)
 			eprintf("pathconf:");
 		}
 	}
-
-	if (!(*p = malloc(*size)))
-		eprintf("malloc:");
+	*p = emalloc(*size);
 }
diff --git a/util/getlines.c b/util/getlines.c
index ee9457f..df64544 100644
--- a/util/getlines.c
+++ b/util/getlines.c
@@ -16,14 +16,11 @@ getlines(FILE *fp, struct linebuf *b)
 	while ((len = agetline(&line, &size, fp)) != -1) {
 		if (++b->nlines > b->capacity) {
 			b->capacity += 512;
-			nline = realloc(b->lines, b->capacity * sizeof(*b->lines));
-			if (!nline)
-				eprintf("realloc:");
+			nline = erealloc(b->lines, b->capacity * sizeof(*b->lines));
 			b->lines = nline;
 		}
 		linelen = len + 1;
-		if (!(b->lines[b->nlines-1] = malloc(linelen)))
-			eprintf("malloc:");
+		b->lines[b->nlines-1] = emalloc(linelen);
 		memcpy(b->lines[b->nlines-1], line, linelen);
 	}
 	free(line);
diff --git a/xargs.c b/xargs.c
index 05abf2f..d972a34 100644
--- a/xargs.c
+++ b/xargs.c
@@ -72,11 +72,11 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		argsz = 0; i = 0; a = 0;
 		if (argc > 0) {
 			for (; i < argc; i++) {
-				cmd[i] = strdup(argv[i]);
+				cmd[i] = estrdup(argv[i]);
 				argsz += strlen(cmd[i]) + 1;
 			}
 		} else {
-			cmd[i] = strdup("/bin/echo");
+			cmd[i] = estrdup("/bin/echo");
 			argsz += strlen(cmd[i]) + 1;
 			i++;
 		}
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				leftover = 1;
 				break;
 			}
-			cmd[i] = strdup(arg);
+			cmd[i] = estrdup(arg);
 			argsz += strlen(cmd[i]) + 1;
 			i++;
 			a++;
@@ -134,9 +134,7 @@ fillargbuf(int ch)
 {
 	if (argbpos >= argbsz) {
 		argbsz = argbpos == 0 ? 1 : argbsz * 2;
-		argb = realloc(argb, argbsz);
-		if (!argb)
-			eprintf("realloc:");
+		argb = erealloc(argb, argbsz);
 	}
 	argb[argbpos] = ch;
 }