diff --git a/cmds-inspect-tree-stats.c b/cmds-inspect-tree-stats.c
index cd7ef3ba..5ec787aa 100644
--- a/cmds-inspect-tree-stats.c
+++ b/cmds-inspect-tree-stats.c
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ static int walk_nodes(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path,
 					      root->nodesize,
 					      btrfs_node_ptr_generation(b, i));
 			if (!extent_buffer_uptodate(tmp)) {
-				fprintf(stderr, "Failed to read blocknr %llu\n",
+				error("failed to read blocknr %llu",
 					btrfs_node_blockptr(b, i));
 				continue;
 			}
@@ -175,7 +175,8 @@ static int walk_nodes(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path,
 			if (stat->max_seek_len < distance)
 				stat->max_seek_len = distance;
 			if (add_seek(&stat->seek_root, distance)) {
-				fprintf(stderr, "Error adding new seek\n");
+				error("cannot add new seek at distance %llu",
+						(unsigned long long)distance);
 				ret = -ENOMEM;
 				break;
 			}
@@ -203,7 +204,7 @@ static int walk_nodes(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path,
 			stat->highest_bytenr = cur_blocknr;
 		free_extent_buffer(tmp);
 		if (ret) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Error walking down path\n");
+			error("walking down path failed: %d",  ret);
 			break;
 		}
 	}
@@ -322,13 +323,13 @@ static int calc_root_size(struct btrfs_root *tree_root, struct btrfs_key *key,
 
 	root = btrfs_read_fs_root(tree_root->fs_info, key);
 	if (IS_ERR(root)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to read root %llu\n", key->objectid);
+		error("failed to read root %llu", key->objectid);
 		return 1;
 	}
 
 	path = btrfs_alloc_path();
 	if (!path) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Could not allocate path\n");
+		error("could not allocate path");
 		return 1;
 	}
 
@@ -340,7 +341,7 @@ static int calc_root_size(struct btrfs_root *tree_root, struct btrfs_key *key,
 	stat.max_cluster_size = root->nodesize;
 	path->nodes[level] = root->node;
 	if (gettimeofday(&start, NULL)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error getting time: %d\n", errno);
+		error("cannot get time: %s", strerror(errno));
 		goto out;
 	}
 	if (!level) {
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ static int calc_root_size(struct btrfs_root *tree_root, struct btrfs_key *key,
 	if (ret)
 		goto out;
 	if (gettimeofday(&end, NULL)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error getting time: %d\n", errno);
+		error("cannot get time: %s", strerror(errno));
 		goto out;
 	}
 	timeval_subtract(&diff, &end, &start);
@@ -468,7 +469,7 @@ int cmd_inspect_tree_stats(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	root = open_ctree(argv[optind], 0, 0);
 	if (!root) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't open ctree\n");
+		error("cannot open ctree");
 		exit(1);
 	}