diff --git a/du.c b/du.c
index c6289cd..df7d3c0 100644
--- a/du.c
+++ b/du.c
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ du(const char *path)
 			if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 				if (snprintf(file, sizeof(file), "%s/%s",
 					     cwd, dent->d_name) >= sizeof(file))
-					enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE, "path too long\n");
+					eprintf("path too long\n");
 			} else {
 				xrealpath(dent->d_name, file);
 			}
diff --git a/mktemp.c b/mktemp.c
index 8cfd4c9..d2188d1 100644
--- a/mktemp.c
+++ b/mktemp.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		tmpdir = p;
 
 	if (snprintf(tmppath, sizeof(tmppath), "%s/%s", tmpdir, template) >= sizeof(tmppath))
-		enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE, "path too long\n");
+		eprintf("path too long\n");
 	if (dflag) {
 		if (!mkdtemp(tmppath)) {
 			if (!qflag)
diff --git a/util/recurse.c b/util/recurse.c
index 6ac235e..1db70d2 100644
--- a/util/recurse.c
+++ b/util/recurse.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ recurse(const char *path, void (*fn)(const char *))
 		while (--p >= buf && *p == '/') *p ='\0';
 		strlcat(buf, "/", sizeof(buf));
 		if (strlcat(buf, d->d_name, sizeof(buf)) >= sizeof(buf))
-			enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE, "path too long\n");
+			eprintf("path too long\n");
 		fn(buf);
 	}
 
diff --git a/xargs.c b/xargs.c
index ce465ce..8e6ba61 100644
--- a/xargs.c
+++ b/xargs.c
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if (argsz + strlen(arg) + 1 > argmaxsz ||
 			    i >= NARGS - 1) {
 				if (strlen(arg) + 1 > argmaxsz)
-					enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE, "insufficient argument space\n");
+					eprintf("insufficient argument space\n");
 				leftover = 1;
 				break;
 			}
@@ -187,17 +187,15 @@ poparg(void)
 			goto out;
 		case '\'':
 			if (parsequote('\'') == -1)
-				enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE,
-					 "unterminated single quote\n");
+				eprintf("unterminated single quote\n");
 			break;
 		case '\"':
 			if (parsequote('\"') == -1)
-				enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE,
-					 "unterminated double quote\n");
+				eprintf("unterminated double quote\n");
 			break;
 		case '\\':
 			if (parseescape() == -1)
-				enprintf(EXIT_FAILURE, "backslash at EOF\n");
+				eprintf("backslash at EOF\n");
 			break;
 		default:
 			fillargbuf(ch);