add strerror(errno) to die() calls where applicable

index 649f34f..7fff78f 100644
@@ -41,13 +41,16 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 
 		if (*buf) {
 			if (!*cwd && !getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)))
-				die ("Could not get current working directory");
+				die ("Could not get current working directory: %s",
+				     strerror(errno));
 
 			if (chdir(buf))
-				die ("Could not switch to '%s'", buf);
+				die ("Could not switch to '%s': %s", buf,
+				     strerror(errno));
 		}
 		if (!getcwd(buf, PATH_MAX))
-			die ("Could not get current working directory");
+			die ("Could not get current working directory: %s",
+			     strerror(errno));
 
 		if (last_elem) {
 			int len = strlen(buf);

@@ -63,7 +66,8 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 		if (!lstat(buf, &st) && S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			len = readlink(buf, next_buf, PATH_MAX);
 			if (len < 0)
-				die ("Invalid symlink: %s", buf);
+				die ("Invalid symlink '%s': %s", buf,
+				     strerror(errno));
 			if (PATH_MAX <= len)
 				die("symbolic link too long: %s", buf);
 			next_buf[len] = '\0';

@@ -75,7 +79,7 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 	}
 
 	if (*cwd && chdir(cwd))
-		die ("Could not change back to '%s'", cwd);
+		die ("Could not change back to '%s': %s", cwd, strerror(errno));
 
 	return buf;
 }

@@ -109,7 +113,8 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 	} else {
 		const char *cwd = get_pwd_cwd();
 		if (!cwd)
-			die("Cannot determine the current working directory");
+			die("Cannot determine the current working directory",
+			    strerror(errno));
 		if (snprintf(buf, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", cwd, path) >= PATH_MAX)
 			die("Too long path: %.*s", 60, path);
 	}

index c1b229a..88c6672 100644
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ int edit_patch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	launch_editor(file, NULL, NULL);
 
 	if (stat(file, &st))
-		die("Could not stat '%s'", file);
+		die("Could not stat '%s': %s", file, strerror(errno));
 	if (!st.st_size)
 		die("Empty patch. Aborted.");
 

index 94ba2bd..1ea5113 100644
@@ -2823,8 +2823,8 @@ static void add_index_file(const char *path, unsigned mode, void *buf, unsigned 
 	} else {
 		if (!cached) {
 			if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
-				die("unable to stat newly created file %s",
-				    path);
+				die("unable to stat newly created file '%s': %s",
+				    path, strerror(errno));
 			fill_stat_cache_info(ce, &st);
 		}
 		if (write_sha1_file(buf, size, blob_type, ce->sha1) < 0)

@@ -2864,7 +2864,7 @@ static int try_create_file(const char *path, unsigned int mode, const char *buf,
 	strbuf_release(&nbuf);
 
 	if (close(fd) < 0)
-		die("closing file %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die("closing file '%s': %s", path, strerror(errno));
 	return 0;
 }
 

@@ -2913,7 +2913,7 @@ static void create_one_file(char *path, unsigned mode, const char *buf, unsigned
 			++nr;
 		}
 	}
-	die("unable to write file %s mode %o", path, mode);
+	die("unable to write file '%s' mode %o: %s", path, mode, strerror(errno));
 }
 
 static void create_file(struct patch *patch)

index 3c5a5a7..10877ef 100644
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@ static void create_output_file(const char *output_file)
 {
 	int output_fd = open(output_file, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC, 0666);
 	if (output_fd < 0)
-		die("could not create archive file: %s ", output_file);
+		die("could not create archive file '%s': %s", output_file,
+		    strerror(errno));
 	if (output_fd != 1) {
 		if (dup2(output_fd, 1) < 0)
-			die("could not redirect output");
+			die("could not redirect output: %s", strerror(errno));
 		else
 			close(output_fd);
 	}

index 9dc3335..e5b465e 100644
@@ -1998,23 +1998,27 @@ static int git_blame_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 		if (contents_from) {
 			if (stat(contents_from, &st) < 0)
-				die("Cannot stat %s", contents_from);
+				die("Cannot stat '%s': %s", contents_from,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			read_from = contents_from;
 		}
 		else {
 			if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
-				die("Cannot lstat %s", path);
+				die("Cannot lstat '%s': %s", path,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			read_from = path;
 		}
 		mode = canon_mode(st.st_mode);
 		switch (st.st_mode & S_IFMT) {
 		case S_IFREG:
 			if (strbuf_read_file(&buf, read_from, st.st_size) != st.st_size)
-				die("cannot open or read %s", read_from);
+				die("cannot open or read '%s': %s", read_from,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			break;
 		case S_IFLNK:
 			if (strbuf_readlink(&buf, read_from, st.st_size) < 0)
-				die("cannot readlink %s", read_from);
+				die("cannot readlink '%s': %s", read_from,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			break;
 		default:
 			die("unsupported file type %s", read_from);

@@ -2251,7 +2255,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	argc = parse_options_end(&ctx);
 
 	if (revs_file && read_ancestry(revs_file))
-		die("reading graft file %s failed: %s",
+		die("reading graft file '%s' failed: %s",
 		    revs_file, strerror(errno));
 
 	if (cmd_is_annotate) {

@@ -2340,7 +2344,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 		setup_work_tree();
 		if (!has_string_in_work_tree(path))
-			die("cannot stat path %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+			die("cannot stat path '%s': %s", path, strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	setup_revisions(argc, argv, &revs, NULL);

index 5c46496..a175ed1 100644
@@ -220,13 +220,15 @@ static void copy_or_link_directory(struct strbuf *src, struct strbuf *dest)
 
 	dir = opendir(src->buf);
 	if (!dir)
-		die("failed to open %s", src->buf);
+		die("failed to open '%s': %s", src->buf, strerror(errno));
 
 	if (mkdir(dest->buf, 0777)) {
 		if (errno != EEXIST)
-			die("failed to create directory %s", dest->buf);
+			die("failed to create directory '%s': %s", dest->buf,
+			    strerror(errno));
 		else if (stat(dest->buf, &buf))
-			die("failed to stat %s", dest->buf);
+			die("failed to stat '%s': %s", dest->buf,
+			    strerror(errno));
 		else if (!S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode))
 			die("%s exists and is not a directory", dest->buf);
 	}

@@ -252,17 +254,19 @@ static void copy_or_link_directory(struct strbuf *src, struct strbuf *dest)
 		}
 
 		if (unlink(dest->buf) && errno != ENOENT)
-			die("failed to unlink %s: %s",
+			die("failed to unlink '%s': %s",
 			    dest->buf, strerror(errno));
 		if (!option_no_hardlinks) {
 			if (!link(src->buf, dest->buf))
 				continue;
 			if (option_local)
-				die("failed to create link %s", dest->buf);
+				die("failed to create link '%s': %s", dest->buf,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			option_no_hardlinks = 1;
 		}
 		if (copy_file(dest->buf, src->buf, 0666))
-			die("failed to copy file to %s", dest->buf);
+			die("failed to copy file to '%s': %s", dest->buf,
+			    strerror(errno));
 	}
 	closedir(dir);
 }

index 41e222d..c21c16b 100644
@@ -434,7 +434,8 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 		if (isatty(0))
 			fprintf(stderr, "(reading log message from standard input)\n");
 		if (strbuf_read(&sb, 0, 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read log from standard input");
+			die("could not read log from standard input: %s",
+			    strerror(errno));
 		hook_arg1 = "message";
 	} else if (logfile) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, logfile, 0) < 0)

@@ -458,7 +459,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 		hook_arg1 = "squash";
 	} else if (template_file && !stat(template_file, &statbuf)) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, template_file, 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read %s: %s",
+			die("could not read '%s': %s",
 			    template_file, strerror(errno));
 		hook_arg1 = "template";
 	}

@@ -472,7 +473,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 
 	fp = fopen(git_path(commit_editmsg), "w");
 	if (fp == NULL)
-		die("could not open %s: %s",
+		die("could not open '%s': %s",
 		    git_path(commit_editmsg), strerror(errno));
 
 	if (cleanup_mode != CLEANUP_NONE)

@@ -968,7 +969,7 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	strbuf_reset(&sb);
 	if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, git_path(commit_editmsg), 0) < 0) {
 		rollback_index_files();
-		die("could not read commit message");
+		die("could not read commit message: %s", strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	/* Truncate the message just before the diff, if any. */

@@ -1021,8 +1022,10 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (commit_index_files())
 		die ("Repository has been updated, but unable to write\n"
-		     "new_index file. Check that disk is not full or quota is\n"
-		     "not exceeded, and then \"git reset HEAD\" to recover.");
+		     "new_index file: %s.\n"
+		     "Check that disk is not full or quota is not exceeded,\n"
+		     "and then \"git reset HEAD\" to recover.",
+		     strerror(errno));
 
 	rerere();
 	run_hook(get_index_file(), "post-commit", NULL);

index 6cef810..45a3ec8 100644
@@ -119,7 +119,8 @@ static void handle_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 
 	printf("blob\nmark :%"PRIu32"\ndata %lu\n", last_idnum, size);
 	if (size && fwrite(buf, size, 1, stdout) != 1)
-		die ("Could not write blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+		die ("Could not write blob '%s': %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1),
+		     strerror(errno));
 	printf("\n");
 
 	show_progress();

@@ -451,7 +452,7 @@ static void import_marks(char *input_file)
 	char line[512];
 	FILE *f = fopen(input_file, "r");
 	if (!f)
-		die("cannot read %s: %s", input_file, strerror(errno));
+		die("cannot read '%s': %s", input_file, strerror(errno));
 
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
 		uint32_t mark;

index fbf9582..051f4a4 100644
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ int cmd_fmt_merge_msg(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (inpath && strcmp(inpath, "-")) {
 		in = fopen(inpath, "r");
 		if (!in)
-			die("cannot open %s", inpath);
+			die("cannot open '%s': %s", inpath, strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&input, fileno(in), 0) < 0)

index 7da706c..e22f1a4 100644
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ static void check_unreachable_object(struct object *obj)
 				return;
 			}
 			if (!(f = fopen(filename, "w")))
-				die("Could not open %s", filename);
+				die("Could not open '%s': %s", filename,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			if (obj->type == OBJ_BLOB) {
 				enum object_type type;
 				unsigned long size;

@@ -225,14 +226,14 @@ static void check_unreachable_object(struct object *obj)
 						&type, &size);
 				if (buf) {
 					if (fwrite(buf, size, 1, f) != 1)
-						die("Could not write %s: %s",
+						die("Could not write '%s': %s",
 						    filename, strerror(errno));
 					free(buf);
 				}
 			} else
 				fprintf(f, "%s\n", sha1_to_hex(obj->sha1));
 			if (fclose(f))
-				die("Could not finish %s: %s",
+				die("Could not finish '%s': %s",
 				    filename, strerror(errno));
 		}
 		return;

index d1fa12a..4cdeb21 100644
@@ -61,20 +61,23 @@ static void copy_templates_1(char *path, int baselen,
 		memcpy(template + template_baselen, de->d_name, namelen+1);
 		if (lstat(path, &st_git)) {
 			if (errno != ENOENT)
-				die("cannot stat %s", path);
+				die("cannot stat '%s': %s", path,
+				    strerror(errno));
 		}
 		else
 			exists = 1;
 
 		if (lstat(template, &st_template))
-			die("cannot stat template %s", template);
+			die("cannot stat template '%s': %s", template,
+			    strerror(errno));
 
 		if (S_ISDIR(st_template.st_mode)) {
 			DIR *subdir = opendir(template);
 			int baselen_sub = baselen + namelen;
 			int template_baselen_sub = template_baselen + namelen;
 			if (!subdir)
-				die("cannot opendir %s", template);
+				die("cannot opendir '%s': %s", template,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			path[baselen_sub++] =
 				template[template_baselen_sub++] = '/';
 			path[baselen_sub] =

@@ -91,16 +94,19 @@ static void copy_templates_1(char *path, int baselen,
 			int len;
 			len = readlink(template, lnk, sizeof(lnk));
 			if (len < 0)
-				die("cannot readlink %s", template);
+				die("cannot readlink '%s': %s", template,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			if (sizeof(lnk) <= len)
 				die("insanely long symlink %s", template);
 			lnk[len] = 0;
 			if (symlink(lnk, path))
-				die("cannot symlink %s %s", lnk, path);
+				die("cannot symlink '%s' '%s': %s", lnk, path,
+				    strerror(errno));
 		}
 		else if (S_ISREG(st_template.st_mode)) {
 			if (copy_file(path, template, st_template.st_mode))
-				die("cannot copy %s to %s", template, path);
+				die("cannot copy '%s' to '%s': %s", template,
+				    path, strerror(errno));
 		}
 		else
 			error("ignoring template %s", template);

@@ -350,7 +356,7 @@ static int guess_repository_type(const char *git_dir)
 	if (!strcmp(".", git_dir))
 		return 1;
 	if (!getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)))
-		die("cannot tell cwd");
+		die("cannot tell cwd: %s", strerror(errno));
 	if (!strcmp(git_dir, cwd))
 		return 1;
 	/*

@@ -440,11 +446,12 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (!git_work_tree_cfg) {
 			git_work_tree_cfg = xcalloc(PATH_MAX, 1);
 			if (!getcwd(git_work_tree_cfg, PATH_MAX))
-				die ("Cannot access current working directory.");
+				die ("Cannot access current working directory: %s",
+				     strerror(errno));
 		}
 		if (access(get_git_work_tree(), X_OK))
-			die ("Cannot access work tree '%s'",
-			     get_git_work_tree());
+			die ("Cannot access work tree '%s': %s",
+			     get_git_work_tree(), strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	set_git_dir(make_absolute_path(git_dir));

index 0d34050..76cb3e2 100644
@@ -1013,8 +1013,8 @@ int cmd_format_patch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (use_stdout)
 			die("standard output, or directory, which one?");
 		if (mkdir(output_directory, 0777) < 0 && errno != EEXIST)
-			die("Could not create directory %s",
-			    output_directory);
+			die("Could not create directory '%s': %s",
+			    output_directory, strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	if (rev.pending.nr == 1) {

index 71f3b3b..30c4e6f 100644
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ static int split_one(FILE *mbox, const char *name, int allow_bare)
 
 	fd = open(name, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0666);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("cannot open output file %s", name);
+		die("cannot open output file '%s': %s", name,
+		    strerror(errno));
 	output = fdopen(fd, "w");
 
 	/* Copy it out, while searching for a line that begins with

@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ static int split_one(FILE *mbox, const char *name, int allow_bare)
 		int is_partial = len && buf[len-1] != '\n';
 
 		if (fwrite(buf, 1, len, output) != len)
-			die("cannot write output");
+			die("cannot write output: %s", strerror(errno));
 
 		len = read_line_with_nul(buf, sizeof(buf), mbox);
 		if (len == 0) {

@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ static int split_one(FILE *mbox, const char *name, int allow_bare)
 				status = 1;
 				break;
 			}
-			die("cannot read mbox");
+			die("cannot read mbox: %s", strerror(errno));
 		}
 		if (!is_partial && !is_bare && is_from_line(buf, len))
 			break; /* done with one message */

index 8d101ef..4bac88e 100644
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ static void squash_message(void)
 	printf("Squash commit -- not updating HEAD\n");
 	fd = open(git_path("SQUASH_MSG"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Could not write to %s", git_path("SQUASH_MSG"));
+		die("Could not write to '%s': %s", git_path("SQUASH_MSG"),
+		    strerror(errno));
 
 	init_revisions(&rev, NULL);
 	rev.ignore_merges = 1;

@@ -764,7 +765,8 @@ static int suggest_conflicts(void)
 
 	fp = fopen(git_path("MERGE_MSG"), "a");
 	if (!fp)
-		die("Could not open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+		die("Could not open '%s' for writing: %s", git_path("MERGE_MSG"),
+		    strerror(errno));
 	fprintf(fp, "\nConflicts:\n");
 	for (pos = 0; pos < active_nr; pos++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = active_cache[pos];

@@ -1186,27 +1188,32 @@ int cmd_merge(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				sha1_to_hex(j->item->object.sha1));
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing",
-				git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
+			die("Could not open '%s' for writing: %s",
+			    git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), strerror(errno));
 		if (write_in_full(fd, buf.buf, buf.len) != buf.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
+			die("Could not write to '%s': %s",
+			    git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), strerror(errno));
 		close(fd);
 		strbuf_addch(&merge_msg, '\n');
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_MSG"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+			die("Could not open '%s' for writing: %s",
+			    git_path("MERGE_MSG"), strerror(errno));
 		if (write_in_full(fd, merge_msg.buf, merge_msg.len) !=
 			merge_msg.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+			die("Could not write to '%s': %s",
+			    git_path("MERGE_MSG"), strerror(errno));
 		close(fd);
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_MODE"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
+			die("Could not open '%s' for writing",
+			    git_path("MERGE_MODE"), strerror(errno));
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 		if (!allow_fast_forward)
 			strbuf_addf(&buf, "no-ff");
 		if (write_in_full(fd, buf.buf, buf.len) != buf.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
+			die("Could not write to '%s': %s",
+			    git_path("MERGE_MODE"), strerror(errno));
 		close(fd);
 	}
 

index 112d622..bbc21f8 100644
@@ -592,7 +592,8 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 					continue;
 				}
 				if (!getcwd(cwd, PATH_MAX))
-					die("unable to get current working directory");
+					die("unable to get current working directory: %s",
+					    strerror(errno));
 				printf("%s/.git\n", cwd);
 				continue;
 			}

index c87115a..a82c4b8 100644
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ static void add_to_msg(const char *string)
 {
 	int len = strlen(string);
 	if (write_in_full(msg_fd, string, len) < 0)
-		die ("Could not write to MERGE_MSG");
+		die ("Could not write to MERGE_MSG: %s", strerror(errno));
 }
 
 static void add_message_to_msg(const char *message)

index d6e3896..7444f3f 100644
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ int cmd_stripspace(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		strip_comments = 1;
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 1024) < 0)
-		die("could not read the input");
+		die("could not read the input: %s", strerror(errno));
 
 	stripspace(&buf, strip_comments);
 

index dc3db62..e509888 100644
@@ -443,7 +443,8 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		else {
 			if (!strcmp(msgfile, "-")) {
 				if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 1024) < 0)
-					die("cannot read %s", msgfile);
+					die("cannot read '%s': %s", msgfile,
+					    strerror(errno));
 			} else {
 				if (strbuf_read_file(&buf, msgfile, 1024) < 0)
 					die("could not open or read '%s': %s",

index f88e721..066887f 100644
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ int cmd_get_tar_commit_id(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	n = write_in_full(1, content + 11, 41);
 	if (n < 41)
-		die("git get-tar-commit-id: write error");
+		die("git get-tar-commit-id: write error: %s", strerror(errno));
 
 	return 0;
 }

index 60d0367..540e877 100644
@@ -746,7 +746,8 @@ static void show_patch_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
 
 			done = read_in_full(fd, result, len);
 			if (done < 0)
-				die("read error '%s'", elem->path);
+				die("read error '%s': %s", elem->path,
+				    strerror(errno));
 			else if (done < len)
 				die("early EOF '%s'", elem->path);
 

index dcfbcb0..6c0ba41 100644
@@ -1974,7 +1974,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 		size = buf.len;
 	}
 	if (write_in_full(fd, blob, size) != size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die("unable to write temp-file: %s", strerror(errno));
 	close(fd);
 	temp->name = temp->tmp_path;
 	strcpy(temp->hex, sha1_to_hex(sha1));

@@ -2016,7 +2016,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 		if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 			if (strbuf_readlink(&sb, name, st.st_size) < 0)
-				die("readlink(%s)", name);
+				die("readlink(%s): %s", name, strerror(errno));
 			prep_temp_blob(name, temp, sb.buf, sb.len,
 				       (one->sha1_valid ?
 					one->sha1 : null_sha1),

@@ -2209,7 +2209,7 @@ static void diff_fill_sha1_info(struct diff_filespec *one)
 				return;
 			}
 			if (lstat(one->path, &st) < 0)
-				die("stat %s", one->path);
+				die("stat '%s': %s", one->path, strerror(errno));
 			if (index_path(one->sha1, one->path, &st, 0))
 				die("cannot hash %s", one->path);
 		}

index cc841ed..0dde848 100644
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ static void create_directories(const char *path, int path_len,
 			if (errno == EEXIST && state->force &&
 			    !unlink_or_warn(buf) && !mkdir(buf, 0777))
 				continue;
-			die("cannot create directory at %s", buf);
+			die("cannot create directory at '%s': %s", buf,
+			    strerror(errno));
 		}
 	}
 	free(buf);

index a2a2458..686cafc 100644
@@ -905,10 +905,10 @@ static int oecmp (const void *a_, const void *b_)
 
 	keep_fd = odb_pack_keep(name, sizeof(name), pack_data->sha1);
 	if (keep_fd < 0)
-		die("cannot create keep file");
+		die("cannot create keep file: %s", strerror(errno));
 	write_or_die(keep_fd, keep_msg, strlen(keep_msg));
 	if (close(keep_fd))
-		die("failed to write keep file");
+		die("failed to write keep file: %s", strerror(errno));
 
 	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/pack/pack-%s.pack",
 		 get_object_directory(), sha1_to_hex(pack_data->sha1));

index 47cf43c..778dabe 100644
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ static void hash_object(const char *path, const char *type, int write_object,
 	int fd;
 	fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Cannot open %s", path);
+		die("Cannot open '%s': %s", path, strerror(errno));
 	hash_fd(fd, type, write_object, vpath);
 }
 

index 81c02ad..681f3a0 100644
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static void create_temp(mmfile_t *src, char *path)
 	strcpy(path, ".merge_file_XXXXXX");
 	fd = xmkstemp(path);
 	if (write_in_full(fd, src->ptr, src->size) != src->size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die("unable to write temp-file: %s", strerror(errno));
 	close(fd);
 }
 

index 99a356e..238269a 100644
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	setup_git_directory();
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 4096) < 0) {
-		die("could not read from stdin");
+		die("could not read from stdin: %s", strerror(errno));
 	}
 
 	/* Verify it for some basic sanity: it needs to start with

index 3f58711..2bb142c 100644
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ int read_index_from(struct index_state *istate, const char *path)
 	mmap = xmmap(NULL, mmap_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
 	close(fd);
 	if (mmap == MAP_FAILED)
-		die("unable to map index file");
+		die("unable to map index file: %s", strerror(errno));
 
 	hdr = mmap;
 	if (verify_hdr(hdr, mmap_size) < 0)

index ebd60de..8548801 100644
@@ -327,7 +327,8 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 				return NULL;
 			set_git_dir(make_absolute_path(gitdirenv));
 			if (chdir(work_tree_env) < 0)
-				die ("Could not chdir to %s", work_tree_env);
+				die ("Could not chdir to %s: %s", work_tree_env,
+				     strerror(errno));
 			strcat(buffer, "/");
 			return retval;
 		}

@@ -339,7 +340,8 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 	}
 
 	if (!getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)-1))
-		die("Unable to read current working directory");
+		die("Unable to read current working directory: %s",
+		    strerror(errno));
 
 	ceil_offset = longest_ancestor_length(cwd, env_ceiling_dirs);
 	if (ceil_offset < 0 && has_dos_drive_prefix(cwd))

@@ -382,7 +384,8 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 		if (offset <= ceil_offset) {
 			if (nongit_ok) {
 				if (chdir(cwd))
-					die("Cannot come back to cwd");
+					die("Cannot come back to cwd: %s",
+					    strerror(errno));
 				*nongit_ok = 1;
 				return NULL;
 			}

@@ -493,10 +496,12 @@ int check_repository_format(void)
 		static char buffer[PATH_MAX + 1];
 		char *rel;
 		if (retval && chdir(retval))
-			die ("Could not jump back into original cwd");
+			die ("Could not jump back into original cwd: %s",
+			     strerror(errno));
 		rel = get_relative_cwd(buffer, PATH_MAX, get_git_work_tree());
 		if (rel && *rel && chdir(get_git_work_tree()))
-			die ("Could not jump to working directory");
+			die ("Could not jump to working directory: %s",
+			     strerror(errno));
 		return rel && *rel ? strcat(rel, "/") : NULL;
 	}
 

index e73cd4f..f6fc256 100644
@@ -2382,7 +2382,7 @@ static int write_loose_object(const unsigned char *sha1, char *hdr, int hdrlen,
 	size = stream.total_out;
 
 	if (write_buffer(fd, compressed, size) < 0)
-		die("unable to write sha1 file");
+		die("unable to write sha1 file: %s", strerror(errno));
 	close_sha1_file(fd);
 	free(compressed);
 

index 17891d5..93cc9a6 100644
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ static void insert_packed_refs(const char *packed_refs, struct ref **list)
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&temp_dir, git_path("rsync-refs-XXXXXX"));
 	if (!mkdtemp(temp_dir.buf))
-		die ("Could not make temporary directory");
+		die ("Could not make temporary directory: %s",
+		     strerror(errno));
 	temp_dir_len = temp_dir.len;
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&buf, rsync_url(transport->url));

@@ -321,7 +322,8 @@ static int rsync_transport_push(struct transport *transport,
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&temp_dir, git_path("rsync-refs-XXXXXX"));
 	if (!mkdtemp(temp_dir.buf))
-		die ("Could not make temporary directory");
+		die ("Could not make temporary directory: %s",
+		     strerror(errno));
 	strbuf_addch(&temp_dir, '/');
 
 	if (flags & TRANSPORT_PUSH_ALL) {

index 75cd2f1..af9afc8 100644
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 	strcpy(path, ".merge_file_XXXXXX");
 	fd = xmkstemp(path);
 	if (write_in_full(fd, buf, size) != size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die("unable to write temp-file: %s", strerror(errno));
 	close(fd);
 	return path;
 }

index f25f7f1..cbfee60 100644
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ extern char *gitbasename(char *);
 /* General helper functions */
 extern void usage(const char *err) NORETURN;
 extern void die(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
+extern void diesys(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern int error(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern void warning(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 

index 820d09f..e20f696 100644
@@ -60,6 +60,24 @@ void die(const char *err, ...)
 	va_end(params);
 }
 
+void diesys(const char *err, ...)
+{
+	va_list params;
+	char *fullfmt;
+	const char *strerr;
+
+	va_start(params, err);
+
+	strerr = strerror(errno);
+	if (strchr(strerr, '%'))
+		strerr = "<error description contains '%%'>";
+	fullfmt = xmalloc(strlen(err) + strlen(strerr) + 3);
+	sprintf(fullfmt, "%s: %s", err, strerr);
+	die_routine(fullfmt, params);
+
+	va_end(params);
+}
+
 int error(const char *err, ...)
 {
 	va_list params;

index f25f7f1..0366cde 100644
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@
 /* General helper functions */
 extern void usage(const char *err) NORETURN;
 extern void die(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
+extern void die_errno(const char *err, ...) NORETURN __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern int error(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 extern void warning(const char *err, ...) __attribute__((format (printf, 1, 2)));
 

index 820d09f..1819e0a 100644
@@ -60,6 +60,19 @@ void die(const char *err, ...)
 	va_end(params);
 }
 
+void die_errno(const char *err, ...)
+{
+	va_list params;
+	char msg[1024];
+
+	va_start(params, err);
+
+	vsnprintf(msg, sizeof(msg), err, params);
+	die("%s: %s", msg, strerror(errno));
+
+	va_end(params);
+}
+
 int error(const char *err, ...)
 {
 	va_list params;

index c43c120..281e16a 100644
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ void read_bisect_paths(struct argv_array *array)
 	FILE *fp = fopen(filename, "r");
 
 	if (!fp)
-		die("Could not open file '%s': %s", filename, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Could not open file '%s'", filename);
 
 	while (strbuf_getline(&str, fp, '\n') != EOF) {
 		char *quoted;

@@ -632,8 +632,7 @@ static void mark_expected_rev(char *bisect_rev_hex)
 	int fd = open(filename, O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_WRONLY, 0600);
 
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("could not create file '%s': %s",
-		    filename, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("could not create file '%s'", filename);
 
 	bisect_rev_hex[len] = '\n';
 	write_or_die(fd, bisect_rev_hex, len + 1);

index 62030af..05ef3f5 100644
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ void create_branch(const char *head,
 
 	lock = lock_any_ref_for_update(ref.buf, NULL, 0);
 	if (!lock)
-		die("Failed to lock ref for update: %s.", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Failed to lock ref for update");
 
 	if (reflog)
 		log_all_ref_updates = 1;

@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ void create_branch(const char *head,
 		setup_tracking(name, real_ref, track);
 
 	if (write_ref_sha1(lock, sha1, msg) < 0)
-		die("Failed to write ref: %s.", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Failed to write ref");
 
 	strbuf_release(&ref);
 	free(real_ref);

index 94ba2bd..6526c08 100644
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ static void say_patch_name(FILE *output, const char *pre,
 static void read_patch_file(struct strbuf *sb, int fd)
 {
 	if (strbuf_read(sb, fd, 0) < 0)
-		die("git apply: read returned %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("git apply: failed to read");
 
 	/*
 	 * Make sure that we have some slop in the buffer

@@ -2864,7 +2864,7 @@ static int try_create_file(const char *path, unsigned int mode, const char *buf,
 	strbuf_release(&nbuf);
 
 	if (close(fd) < 0)
-		die("closing file %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("closing file '%s'", path);
 	return 0;
 }
 

@@ -3354,7 +3354,7 @@ int cmd_apply(int argc, const char **argv, const char *unused_prefix)
 
 		fd = open(arg, O_RDONLY);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("can't open patch '%s': %s", arg, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("can't open patch '%s'", arg);
 		read_stdin = 0;
 		set_default_whitespace_mode(whitespace_option);
 		errs |= apply_patch(fd, arg, options);

index 0c2d29a..7d8fbd5 100644
@@ -2035,7 +2035,7 @@ static int git_blame_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		contents_from = "standard input";
 		mode = 0;
 		if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 0) < 0)
-			die("read error %s from stdin", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("failed to read from stdin");
 	}
 	convert_to_git(path, buf.buf, buf.len, &buf, 0);
 	origin->file.ptr = buf.buf;

@@ -2261,8 +2261,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	argc = parse_options_end(&ctx);
 
 	if (revs_file && read_ancestry(revs_file))
-		die("reading graft file %s failed: %s",
-		    revs_file, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("reading graft file '%s' failed", revs_file);
 
 	if (cmd_is_annotate) {
 		output_option |= OUTPUT_ANNOTATE_COMPAT;

@@ -2350,7 +2349,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 		setup_work_tree();
 		if (!has_string_in_work_tree(path))
-			die("cannot stat path %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("cannot stat path '%s'", path);
 	}
 
 	setup_revisions(argc, argv, &revs, NULL);

index 5c46496..5f34414 100644
@@ -252,8 +252,7 @@ static void copy_or_link_directory(struct strbuf *src, struct strbuf *dest)
 		}
 
 		if (unlink(dest->buf) && errno != ENOENT)
-			die("failed to unlink %s: %s",
-			    dest->buf, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("failed to unlink '%s'", dest->buf);
 		if (!option_no_hardlinks) {
 			if (!link(src->buf, dest->buf))
 				continue;

@@ -420,11 +419,11 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (!option_bare) {
 		junk_work_tree = work_tree;
 		if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(work_tree) < 0)
-			die("could not create leading directories of '%s': %s",
-					work_tree, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not create leading directories of '%s'",
+				  work_tree);
 		if (!dest_exists && mkdir(work_tree, 0755))
-			die("could not create work tree dir '%s': %s.",
-					work_tree, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not create work tree dir '%s'.",
+				  work_tree);
 		set_git_work_tree(work_tree);
 	}
 	junk_git_dir = git_dir;

index 0453425..6467077 100644
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ int cmd_commit_tree(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buffer, 0, 0) < 0)
-		die("git commit-tree: read returned %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("git commit-tree: failed to read");
 
 	if (!commit_tree(buffer.buf, tree_sha1, parents, commit_sha1, NULL)) {
 		printf("%s\n", sha1_to_hex(commit_sha1));

index 41e222d..cce25b5 100644
@@ -438,8 +438,8 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 		hook_arg1 = "message";
 	} else if (logfile) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, logfile, 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read log file '%s': %s",
-			    logfile, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not read log file '%s'",
+				  logfile);
 		hook_arg1 = "message";
 	} else if (use_message) {
 		buffer = strstr(use_message_buffer, "\n\n");

@@ -450,16 +450,15 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 		hook_arg2 = use_message;
 	} else if (!stat(git_path("MERGE_MSG"), &statbuf)) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, git_path("MERGE_MSG"), 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read MERGE_MSG: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not read MERGE_MSG");
 		hook_arg1 = "merge";
 	} else if (!stat(git_path("SQUASH_MSG"), &statbuf)) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, git_path("SQUASH_MSG"), 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read SQUASH_MSG: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not read SQUASH_MSG");
 		hook_arg1 = "squash";
 	} else if (template_file && !stat(template_file, &statbuf)) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, template_file, 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read %s: %s",
-			    template_file, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not read '%s'", template_file);
 		hook_arg1 = "template";
 	}
 

@@ -472,8 +471,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 
 	fp = fopen(git_path(commit_editmsg), "w");
 	if (fp == NULL)
-		die("could not open %s: %s",
-		    git_path(commit_editmsg), strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("could not open '%s'", git_path(commit_editmsg));
 
 	if (cleanup_mode != CLEANUP_NONE)
 		stripspace(&sb, 0);

@@ -497,7 +495,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	if (fwrite(sb.buf, 1, sb.len, fp) < sb.len)
-		die("could not write commit template: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("could not write commit template");
 
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 

@@ -940,8 +938,8 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		pptr = &commit_list_insert(lookup_commit(head_sha1), pptr)->next;
 		fp = fopen(git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), "r");
 		if (fp == NULL)
-			die("could not open %s for reading: %s",
-			    git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not open %s for reading",
+				  git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
 		while (strbuf_getline(&m, fp, '\n') != EOF) {
 			unsigned char sha1[20];
 			if (get_sha1_hex(m.buf, sha1) < 0)

@@ -952,8 +950,7 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		strbuf_release(&m);
 		if (!stat(git_path("MERGE_MODE"), &statbuf)) {
 			if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, git_path("MERGE_MODE"), 0) < 0)
-				die("could not read MERGE_MODE: %s",
-						strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("could not read MERGE_MODE");
 			if (!strcmp(sb.buf, "no-ff"))
 				allow_fast_forward = 0;
 		}

index 60915f9..6858433 100644
@@ -383,8 +383,8 @@ int cmd_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *unused_prefix)
 		check_argc(argc, 0, 0);
 		if (git_config(show_all_config, NULL) < 0) {
 			if (config_exclusive_filename)
-				die("unable to read config file %s: %s",
-				    config_exclusive_filename, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("unable to read config file %s",
+					  config_exclusive_filename);
 			else
 				die("error processing config file(s)");
 		}

index d75d69b..2e51f40 100644
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ static int builtin_diff_b_f(struct rev_info *revs,
 		usage(builtin_diff_usage);
 
 	if (lstat(path, &st))
-		die("'%s': %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("failed to stat '%s'", path);
 	if (!(S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)))
 		die("'%s': not a regular file or symlink", path);
 

index 6cef810..333d438 100644
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ static void import_marks(char *input_file)
 	char line[512];
 	FILE *f = fopen(input_file, "r");
 	if (!f)
-		die("cannot read %s: %s", input_file, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot read '%s'", input_file);
 
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
 		uint32_t mark;

index 29356d2..3dbdf7a 100644
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 {
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 1024) < 0) {
-		die("error reading standard input: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("error reading standard input");
 	}
 	return strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 }

index fbf9582..1248d5e 100644
@@ -372,8 +372,7 @@ int cmd_fmt_merge_msg(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&input, fileno(in), 0) < 0)
-		die("could not read input file %s", strerror(errno));
-
+		die_errno("could not read input file");
 	ret = fmt_merge_msg(merge_summary, &input, &output);
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;

index 7da706c..a49dbe1 100644
@@ -225,15 +225,15 @@ static void check_unreachable_object(struct object *obj)
 						&type, &size);
 				if (buf) {
 					if (fwrite(buf, size, 1, f) != 1)
-						die("Could not write %s: %s",
-						    filename, strerror(errno));
+						die_errno("Could not write '%s'",
+							  filename);
 					free(buf);
 				}
 			} else
 				fprintf(f, "%s\n", sha1_to_hex(obj->sha1));
 			if (fclose(f))
-				die("Could not finish %s: %s",
-				    filename, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("Could not finish '%s'",
+					  filename);
 		}
 		return;
 	}

index 73fc922..e558368 100644
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ static int file_callback(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 
 	patterns = fopen(arg, "r");
 	if (!patterns)
-		die("'%s': %s", arg, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot open '%s'", arg);
 	while (strbuf_getline(&sb, patterns, '\n') == 0) {
 		/* ignore empty line like grep does */
 		if (sb.len == 0)

index 8d101ef..a7e03ce 100644
@@ -294,9 +294,9 @@ static void squash_message(void)
 			NULL, NULL, rev.date_mode, 0);
 	}
 	if (write(fd, out.buf, out.len) < 0)
-		die("Writing SQUASH_MSG: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Writing SQUASH_MSG");
 	if (close(fd))
-		die("Finishing SQUASH_MSG: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Finishing SQUASH_MSG");
 	strbuf_release(&out);
 }
 

@@ -428,8 +428,8 @@ static void merge_name(const char *remote, struct strbuf *msg)
 
 		fp = fopen(git_path("FETCH_HEAD"), "r");
 		if (!fp)
-			die("could not open %s for reading: %s",
-				git_path("FETCH_HEAD"), strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not open %s for reading",
+				  git_path("FETCH_HEAD"));
 		strbuf_getline(&line, fp, '\n');
 		fclose(fp);
 		ptr = strstr(line.buf, "\tnot-for-merge\t");

index 8b81d4b..e82ed20 100644
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			printf("Renaming %s to %s\n", src, dst);
 		if (!show_only && mode != INDEX &&
 				rename(src, dst) < 0 && !ignore_errors)
-			die ("renaming %s failed: %s", src, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno ("renaming %s failed", src);
 
 		if (mode == WORKING_DIRECTORY)
 			continue;

index 9742b45..60355d4 100644
@@ -536,11 +536,9 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 				 base_name, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 			free_pack_by_name(tmpname);
 			if (adjust_perm(pack_tmp_name, mode))
-				die("unable to make temporary pack file readable: %s",
-				    strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("unable to make temporary pack file readable");
 			if (rename(pack_tmp_name, tmpname))
-				die("unable to rename temporary pack file: %s",
-				    strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("unable to rename temporary pack file");
 
 			/*
 			 * Packs are runtime accessed in their mtime

@@ -566,11 +564,9 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 			snprintf(tmpname, sizeof(tmpname), "%s-%s.idx",
 				 base_name, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 			if (adjust_perm(idx_tmp_name, mode))
-				die("unable to make temporary index file readable: %s",
-				    strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("unable to make temporary index file readable");
 			if (rename(idx_tmp_name, tmpname))
-				die("unable to rename temporary index file: %s",
-				    strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("unable to rename temporary index file");
 
 			free(idx_tmp_name);
 			free(pack_tmp_name);

@@ -1880,7 +1876,7 @@ static void read_object_list_from_stdin(void)
 			if (!ferror(stdin))
 				die("fgets returned NULL, not EOF, not error!");
 			if (errno != EINTR)
-				die("fgets: %s", strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("fgets");
 			clearerr(stdin);
 			continue;
 		}

index 0cc4912..d632ef4 100644
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ int cmd_rm(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (!removed)
-				die("git rm: %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("git rm: %s", path);
 		}
 	}
 

index be3b092..8fe5ab9 100644
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ static int pack_objects(int fd, struct ref *refs, struct extra_have_objects *ext
 	po.out = fd;
 	po.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (start_command(&po))
-		die("git pack-objects failed (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("git pack-objects failed");
 
 	/*
 	 * We feed the pack-objects we just spawned with revision

index dc3db62..7b51095 100644
@@ -308,8 +308,7 @@ static void create_tag(const unsigned char *object, const char *tag,
 		path = git_pathdup("TAG_EDITMSG");
 		fd = open(path, O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_WRONLY, 0600);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("could not create file '%s': %s",
-						path, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("could not create file '%s'", path);
 
 		if (!is_null_sha1(prev))
 			write_tag_body(fd, prev);

@@ -446,8 +445,8 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 					die("cannot read %s", msgfile);
 			} else {
 				if (strbuf_read_file(&buf, msgfile, 1024) < 0)
-					die("could not open or read '%s': %s",
-						msgfile, strerror(errno));
+					die_errno("could not open or read '%s'",
+						msgfile);
 			}
 		}
 	}

index 9a77323..41e9ac5 100644
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ static void add_object_buffer(struct object *object, char *buffer, unsigned long
 		if (ret <= 0) {
 			if (!ret)
 				die("early EOF");
-			die("read error on input: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("read error on input");
 		}
 		len += ret;
 	} while (len < min);

index f6b8ba6..fd2f9b6 100644
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ static int git_tcp_connect_sock(char *host, int flags)
 	freeaddrinfo(ai0);
 
 	if (sockfd < 0)
-		die("unable to connect a socket (%s)", strerror(saved_errno));
+		die_errno("unable to connect a socket");
 
 	if (flags & CONNECT_VERBOSE)
 		fprintf(stderr, "done.\n");

@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ static int git_tcp_connect_sock(char *host, int flags)
 	}
 
 	if (sockfd < 0)
-		die("unable to connect a socket (%s)", strerror(saved_errno));
+		die_errno("unable to connect a socket");
 
 	if (flags & CONNECT_VERBOSE)
 		fprintf(stderr, "done.\n");

index 2ddb12a..9cc93ba 100644
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ static void flush(struct sha1file *f, void * buf, unsigned int count)
 		}
 		if (!ret)
 			die("sha1 file '%s' write error. Out of diskspace", f->name);
-		die("sha1 file '%s' write error (%s)", f->name, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("sha1 file '%s' write error", f->name);
 	}
 }
 

@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ int sha1close(struct sha1file *f, unsigned char *result, unsigned int flags)
 		if (flags & CSUM_FSYNC)
 			fsync_or_die(f->fd, f->name);
 		if (close(f->fd))
-			die("%s: sha1 file error on close (%s)",
-			    f->name, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("%s: sha1 file error on close",
+			    f->name);
 		fd = 0;
 	} else
 		fd = f->fd;

index daa4c8e..5657661 100644
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ static int service_loop(int socknum, int *socklist)
 					case ECONNABORTED:
 						continue;
 					default:
-						die("accept returned %s", strerror(errno));
+						die_errno("accept returned");
 					}
 				}
 				handle(incoming, (struct sockaddr *)&ss, sslen);

@@ -876,7 +876,7 @@ static void sanitize_stdfds(void)
 	while (fd != -1 && fd < 2)
 		fd = dup(fd);
 	if (fd == -1)
-		die("open /dev/null or dup failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("open /dev/null or dup failed");
 	if (fd > 2)
 		close(fd);
 }

@@ -887,12 +887,12 @@ static void daemonize(void)
 		case 0:
 			break;
 		case -1:
-			die("fork failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("fork failed");
 		default:
 			exit(0);
 	}
 	if (setsid() == -1)
-		die("setsid failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("setsid failed");
 	close(0);
 	close(1);
 	close(2);

@@ -903,9 +903,9 @@ static void store_pid(const char *path)
 {
 	FILE *f = fopen(path, "w");
 	if (!f)
-		die("cannot open pid file %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot open pid file %s", path);
 	if (fprintf(f, "%"PRIuMAX"\n", (uintmax_t) getpid()) < 0 || fclose(f) != 0)
-		die("failed to write pid file %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("failed to write pid file %s", path);
 }
 
 static int serve(char *listen_addr, int listen_port, struct passwd *pass, gid_t gid)

@@ -1105,8 +1105,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		socklen_t slen = sizeof(ss);
 
 		if (!freopen("/dev/null", "w", stderr))
-			die("failed to redirect stderr to /dev/null: %s",
-			    strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("failed to redirect stderr to /dev/null");
 
 		if (getpeername(0, peer, &slen))
 			peer = NULL;

index 4d0a5b9..48043f5 100644
@@ -1975,7 +1975,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 	fd = git_mkstemps(temp->tmp_path, PATH_MAX, template.buf,
 			strlen(base) + 1);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("unable to create temp-file: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("unable to create temp-file");
 	if (convert_to_working_tree(path,
 			(const char *)blob, (size_t)size, &buf)) {
 		blob = buf.buf;

@@ -2021,7 +2021,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 		if (lstat(name, &st) < 0) {
 			if (errno == ENOENT)
 				goto not_a_valid_file;
-			die("stat(%s): %s", name, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("stat(%s)", name);
 		}
 		if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;

index bbfcb56..74b3bbf 100644
@@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ int file_exists(const char *f)
 	if (!dir)
 		return NULL;
 	if (!getcwd(buffer, size))
-		die("can't find the current directory: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("can't find the current directory");
 
 	if (!is_absolute_path(dir))
 		dir = make_absolute_path(dir);

index cc841ed..099eaf4 100644
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ static void remove_subtree(const char *path)
 	char *name;
 
 	if (!dir)
-		die("cannot opendir %s (%s)", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot opendir '%s'", path);
 	strcpy(pathbuf, path);
 	name = pathbuf + strlen(path);
 	*name++ = '/';

@@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ static void remove_subtree(const char *path)
 			continue;
 		strcpy(name, de->d_name);
 		if (lstat(pathbuf, &st))
-			die("cannot lstat %s (%s)", pathbuf, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("cannot lstat %s", pathbuf);
 		if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
 			remove_subtree(pathbuf);
 		else if (unlink(pathbuf))
-			die("cannot unlink %s (%s)", pathbuf, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("cannot unlink %s", pathbuf);
 	}
 	closedir(dir);
 	if (rmdir(path))
-		die("cannot rmdir %s (%s)", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot rmdir %s", path);
 }
 
 static int create_file(const char *path, unsigned int mode)

index a2a2458..d31a4e8 100644
@@ -2342,7 +2342,7 @@ static void import_marks(const char *input_file)
 	char line[512];
 	FILE *f = fopen(input_file, "r");
 	if (!f)
-		die("cannot read %s: %s", input_file, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot read '%s'", input_file);
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
 		uintmax_t mark;
 		char *end;

@@ -2448,7 +2448,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 				fclose(pack_edges);
 			pack_edges = fopen(a + 20, "a");
 			if (!pack_edges)
-				die("Cannot open %s: %s", a + 20, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("Cannot open '%s'", a + 20);
 		} else if (!strcmp(a, "--force"))
 			force_update = 1;
 		else if (!strcmp(a, "--quiet"))

index 7d7f949..b035676 100644
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ static int handle_alias(int *argcp, const char ***argv)
 	}
 
 	if (subdir && chdir(subdir))
-		die("Cannot change to %s: %s", subdir, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Cannot change to '%s'", subdir);
 
 	errno = saved_errno;
 

@@ -257,11 +257,11 @@ static int run_builtin(struct cmd_struct *p, int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	/* Check for ENOSPC and EIO errors.. */
 	if (fflush(stdout))
-		die("write failure on standard output: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("write failure on standard output");
 	if (ferror(stdout))
 		die("unknown write failure on standard output");
 	if (fclose(stdout))
-		die("close failed on standard output: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("close failed on standard output");
 	return 0;
 }
 

index 6e93ee6..cf6446f 100644
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ static void flush(void)
 		if (ret <= 0) {
 			if (!ret)
 				die("early EOF");
-			die("read error on input: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("read error on input");
 		}
 		input_len += ret;
 		if (from_stdin)

@@ -178,13 +178,12 @@ static void use(int bytes)
 		} else
 			output_fd = open(pack_name, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_RDWR, 0600);
 		if (output_fd < 0)
-			die("unable to create %s: %s", pack_name, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("unable to create '%s'", pack_name);
 		pack_fd = output_fd;
 	} else {
 		input_fd = open(pack_name, O_RDONLY);
 		if (input_fd < 0)
-			die("cannot open packfile '%s': %s",
-			    pack_name, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("cannot open packfile '%s'", pack_name);
 		output_fd = -1;
 		pack_fd = input_fd;
 	}

@@ -370,7 +369,7 @@ static void unlink_base_data(struct base_data *c)
 	do {
 		ssize_t n = pread(pack_fd, data + rdy, len - rdy, from + rdy);
 		if (n < 0)
-			die("cannot pread pack file: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("cannot pread pack file");
 		if (!n)
 			die("premature end of pack file, %lu bytes missing",
 			    len - rdy);

@@ -631,7 +630,7 @@ static void parse_pack_objects(unsigned char *sha1)
 
 	/* If input_fd is a file, we should have reached its end now. */
 	if (fstat(input_fd, &st))
-		die("cannot fstat packfile: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot fstat packfile");
 	if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) &&
 			lseek(input_fd, 0, SEEK_CUR) - input_len != st.st_size)
 		die("pack has junk at the end");

@@ -788,7 +787,7 @@ static void final(const char *final_pack_name, const char *curr_pack_name,
 		fsync_or_die(output_fd, curr_pack_name);
 		err = close(output_fd);
 		if (err)
-			die("error while closing pack file: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("error while closing pack file");
 	}
 
 	if (keep_msg) {

@@ -801,16 +800,16 @@ static void final(const char *final_pack_name, const char *curr_pack_name,
 
 		if (keep_fd < 0) {
 			if (errno != EEXIST)
-				die("cannot write keep file '%s' (%s)",
-				    keep_name, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("cannot write keep file '%s'",
+					  keep_name);
 		} else {
 			if (keep_msg_len > 0) {
 				write_or_die(keep_fd, keep_msg, keep_msg_len);
 				write_or_die(keep_fd, "\n", 1);
 			}
 			if (close(keep_fd) != 0)
-				die("cannot close written keep file '%s' (%s)",
-				    keep_name, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("cannot close written keep file '%s'",
+				    keep_name);
 			report = "keep";
 		}
 	}

index f5df9b9..5d9140b 100644
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ static void flush_buffer(int fd, const char *buf, unsigned long size)
 			/* Ignore epipe */
 			if (errno == EPIPE)
 				break;
-			die("merge-recursive: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("merge-recursive");
 		} else if (!ret) {
 			die("merge-recursive: disk full?");
 		}

@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(struct merge_options *o,
 				mode = 0666;
 			fd = open(path, O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC | O_CREAT, mode);
 			if (fd < 0)
-				die("failed to open %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("failed to open '%s'", path);
 			flush_buffer(fd, buf, size);
 			close(fd);
 		} else if (S_ISLNK(mode)) {

@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(struct merge_options *o,
 			safe_create_leading_directories_const(path);
 			unlink(path);
 			if (symlink(lnk, path))
-				die("failed to symlink %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("failed to symlink '%s'", path);
 			free(lnk);
 		} else
 			die("do not know what to do with %06o %s '%s'",

index 301fc60..7f43f8a 100644
@@ -93,8 +93,7 @@ int pack_refs(unsigned int flags)
 				       LOCK_DIE_ON_ERROR);
 	cbdata.refs_file = fdopen(fd, "w");
 	if (!cbdata.refs_file)
-		die("unable to create ref-pack file structure (%s)",
-		    strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("unable to create ref-pack file structure");
 
 	/* perhaps other traits later as well */
 	fprintf(cbdata.refs_file, "# pack-refs with: peeled \n");

@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ int pack_refs(unsigned int flags)
 	if (ferror(cbdata.refs_file))
 		die("failed to write ref-pack file");
 	if (fflush(cbdata.refs_file) || fsync(fd) || fclose(cbdata.refs_file))
-		die("failed to write ref-pack file (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("failed to write ref-pack file");
 	/*
 	 * Since the lock file was fdopen()'ed and then fclose()'ed above,
 	 * assign -1 to the lock file descriptor so that commit_lock_file()

@@ -111,7 +110,7 @@ int pack_refs(unsigned int flags)
 	 */
 	packed.fd = -1;
 	if (commit_lock_file(&packed) < 0)
-		die("unable to overwrite old ref-pack file (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("unable to overwrite old ref-pack file");
 	if (cbdata.flags & PACK_REFS_PRUNE)
 		prune_refs(cbdata.ref_to_prune);
 	return 0;

index 7053538..0117037 100644
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ static int sha1_compare(const void *_a, const void *_b)
 		fd = open(index_name, O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_WRONLY, 0600);
 	}
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("unable to create %s: %s", index_name, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("unable to create %s", index_name);
 	f = sha1fd(fd, index_name);
 
 	/* if last object's offset is >= 2^31 we should use index V2 */

@@ -174,11 +174,11 @@ void fixup_pack_header_footer(int pack_fd,
 	git_SHA1_Init(&new_sha1_ctx);
 
 	if (lseek(pack_fd, 0, SEEK_SET) != 0)
-		die("Failed seeking to start of %s: %s", pack_name, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Failed seeking to start of '%s'", pack_name);
 	if (read_in_full(pack_fd, &hdr, sizeof(hdr)) != sizeof(hdr))
-		die("Unable to reread header of %s: %s", pack_name, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Unable to reread header of '%s'", pack_name);
 	if (lseek(pack_fd, 0, SEEK_SET) != 0)
-		die("Failed seeking to start of %s: %s", pack_name, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Failed seeking to start of '%s'", pack_name);
 	git_SHA1_Update(&old_sha1_ctx, &hdr, sizeof(hdr));
 	hdr.hdr_entries = htonl(object_count);
 	git_SHA1_Update(&new_sha1_ctx, &hdr, sizeof(hdr));

@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ void fixup_pack_header_footer(int pack_fd,
 		if (!n)
 			break;
 		if (n < 0)
-			die("Failed to checksum %s: %s", pack_name, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("Failed to checksum '%s'", pack_name);
 		git_SHA1_Update(&new_sha1_ctx, buf, n);
 
 		aligned_sz -= n;

index f5d0086..b691abe 100644
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ ssize_t safe_write(int fd, const void *buf, ssize_t n)
 		}
 		if (!ret)
 			die("write error (disk full?)");
-		die("write error (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("write error");
 	}
 	return nn;
 }

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ static void safe_read(int fd, void *buffer, unsigned size)
 {
 	ssize_t ret = read_in_full(fd, buffer, size);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		die("read error (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("read error");
 	else if (ret < size)
 		die("The remote end hung up unexpectedly");
 }

index 3f58711..f76b5bb 100644
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ int add_file_to_index(struct index_state *istate, const char *path, int flags)
 {
 	struct stat st;
 	if (lstat(path, &st))
-		die("%s: unable to stat (%s)", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("unable to stat '%s'", path);
 	return add_to_index(istate, path, &st, flags);
 }
 

@@ -1251,11 +1251,11 @@ int read_index_from(struct index_state *istate, const char *path)
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		if (errno == ENOENT)
 			return 0;
-		die("index file open failed (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("index file open failed");
 	}
 
 	if (fstat(fd, &st))
-		die("cannot stat the open index (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("cannot stat the open index");
 
 	errno = EINVAL;
 	mmap_size = xsize_t(st.st_size);

index 24438c6..dffe395 100644
@@ -1418,7 +1418,7 @@ int read_ref_at(const char *ref, unsigned long at_time, int cnt, unsigned char *
 	logfile = git_path("logs/%s", ref);
 	logfd = open(logfile, O_RDONLY, 0);
 	if (logfd < 0)
-		die("Unable to read log %s: %s", logfile, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Unable to read log '%s'", logfile);
 	fstat(logfd, &st);
 	if (!st.st_size)
 		die("Log %s is empty.", logfile);

index eb2efc3..79bdfd4 100644
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ int start_command(struct child_process *cmd)
 		}
 
 		if (cmd->dir && chdir(cmd->dir))
-			die("exec %s: cd to %s failed (%s)", cmd->argv[0],
-			    cmd->dir, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("exec %s: cd to '%s' failed", cmd->argv[0],
+			    cmd->dir);
 		if (cmd->env) {
 			for (; *cmd->env; cmd->env++) {
 				if (strchr(*cmd->env, '='))

index ebd60de..4d27f28 100644
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ void verify_filename(const char *prefix, const char *arg)
 	if (errno == ENOENT)
 		die("ambiguous argument '%s': unknown revision or path not in the working tree.\n"
 		    "Use '--' to separate paths from revisions", arg);
-	die("'%s': %s", arg, strerror(errno));
+	die_errno("failed to stat '%s'", arg);
 }
 
 /*

@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ void verify_non_filename(const char *prefix, const char *arg)
 		die("ambiguous argument '%s': both revision and filename\n"
 		    "Use '--' to separate filenames from revisions", arg);
 	if (errno != ENOENT && errno != ENOTDIR)
-		die("'%s': %s", arg, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("failed to stat '%s'", arg);
 }
 
 const char **get_pathspec(const char *prefix, const char **pathspec)

@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 		return NULL;
 	fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Error opening %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Error opening '%s'", path);
 	buf = xmalloc(st.st_size + 1);
 	len = read_in_full(fd, buf, st.st_size);
 	close(fd);

@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 			die("Not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): %s", DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 		}
 		if (chdir(".."))
-			die("Cannot change to %s/..: %s", cwd, strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("Cannot change to '%s/..'", cwd);
 	}
 
 	inside_git_dir = 0;

index e73cd4f..1964a6d 100644
@@ -2287,7 +2287,7 @@ static void close_sha1_file(int fd)
 	if (fsync_object_files)
 		fsync_or_die(fd, "sha1 file");
 	if (close(fd) != 0)
-		die("error when closing sha1 file (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("error when closing sha1 file");
 }
 
 /* Size of directory component, including the ending '/' */

index b968be7..e4864e0 100644
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	while (devnull_fd >= 0 && devnull_fd <= 2)
 		devnull_fd = dup(devnull_fd);
 	if (devnull_fd == -1)
-		die("opening /dev/null failed (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("opening /dev/null failed");
 	close (devnull_fd);
 
 	/*

index 9b98d07..80daba9 100644
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ int main(int ac, char **av)
 			if (sz == 0)
 				break;
 			if (sz < 0)
-				die("test-sha1: %s", strerror(errno));
+				die_errno("test-sha1");
 			this_sz += sz;
 			cp += sz;
 			room -= sz;

index 7eb3218..c9be140 100644
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
 		release_pack_memory(length, fd);
 		ret = mmap(start, length, prot, flags, fd, offset);
 		if (ret == MAP_FAILED)
-			die("Out of memory? mmap failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+			die_errno("Out of memory? mmap failed");
 	}
 	return ret;
 }

@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ int xdup(int fd)
 {
 	int ret = dup(fd);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		die("dup failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("dup failed");
 	return ret;
 }
 

@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ int xdup(int fd)
 {
 	FILE *stream = fdopen(fd, mode);
 	if (stream == NULL)
-		die("Out of memory? fdopen failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Out of memory? fdopen failed");
 	return stream;
 }
 

@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ int xmkstemp(char *template)
 
 	fd = mkstemp(template);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Unable to create temporary file: %s", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("Unable to create temporary file");
 	return fd;
 }
 

index 4c29255..d45b536 100644
@@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ void maybe_flush_or_die(FILE *f, const char *desc)
 		 */
 		if (errno == EPIPE || errno == EINVAL)
 			exit(0);
-		die("write failure on %s: %s", desc, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("write failure on '%s'", desc);
 	}
 }
 
 void fsync_or_die(int fd, const char *msg)
 {
 	if (fsync(fd) < 0) {
-		die("%s: fsync error (%s)", msg, strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("fsync error on '%s'", msg);
 	}
 }
 

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ void write_or_die(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count)
 	if (write_in_full(fd, buf, count) < 0) {
 		if (errno == EPIPE)
 			exit(0);
-		die("write error (%s)", strerror(errno));
+		die_errno("write error");
 	}
 }
 

index 649f34f..4bee0ba 100644
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 
 		if (*buf) {
 			if (!*cwd && !getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)))
-				die ("Could not get current working directory");
+				die_errno ("Could not get current working directory");
 
 			if (chdir(buf))
-				die ("Could not switch to '%s'", buf);
+				die_errno ("Could not switch to '%s'", buf);
 		}
 		if (!getcwd(buf, PATH_MAX))
-			die ("Could not get current working directory");
+			die_errno ("Could not get current working directory");
 
 		if (last_elem) {
 			int len = strlen(buf);

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 		if (!lstat(buf, &st) && S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			len = readlink(buf, next_buf, PATH_MAX);
 			if (len < 0)
-				die ("Invalid symlink: %s", buf);
+				die_errno ("Invalid symlink '%s'", buf);
 			if (PATH_MAX <= len)
 				die("symbolic link too long: %s", buf);
 			next_buf[len] = '\0';

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 	}
 
 	if (*cwd && chdir(cwd))
-		die ("Could not change back to '%s'", cwd);
+		die_errno ("Could not change back to '%s'", cwd);
 
 	return buf;
 }

@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 	} else {
 		const char *cwd = get_pwd_cwd();
 		if (!cwd)
-			die("Cannot determine the current working directory");
+			die_errno("Cannot determine the current working directory");
 		if (snprintf(buf, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", cwd, path) >= PATH_MAX)
 			die("Too long path: %.*s", 60, path);
 	}

index c1b229a..8f651c1 100644
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ int edit_patch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	launch_editor(file, NULL, NULL);
 
 	if (stat(file, &st))
-		die("Could not stat '%s'", file);
+		die_errno("Could not stat '%s'", file);
 	if (!st.st_size)
 		die("Empty patch. Aborted.");
 

index 6526c08..dbc7f21 100644
@@ -2823,8 +2823,8 @@ static void add_index_file(const char *path, unsigned mode, void *buf, unsigned 
 	} else {
 		if (!cached) {
 			if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
-				die("unable to stat newly created file %s",
-				    path);
+				die_errno("unable to stat newly created file '%s'",
+					  path);
 			fill_stat_cache_info(ce, &st);
 		}
 		if (write_sha1_file(buf, size, blob_type, ce->sha1) < 0)

@@ -2913,7 +2913,7 @@ static void create_one_file(char *path, unsigned mode, const char *buf, unsigned
 			++nr;
 		}
 	}
-	die("unable to write file %s mode %o", path, mode);
+	die_errno("unable to write file '%s' mode %o", path, mode);
 }
 
 static void create_file(struct patch *patch)

index 3c5a5a7..f9a4bea 100644
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ static void create_output_file(const char *output_file)
 {
 	int output_fd = open(output_file, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_TRUNC, 0666);
 	if (output_fd < 0)
-		die("could not create archive file: %s ", output_file);
+		die_errno("could not create archive file '%s'", output_file);
 	if (output_fd != 1) {
 		if (dup2(output_fd, 1) < 0)
-			die("could not redirect output");
+			die_errno("could not redirect output");
 		else
 			close(output_fd);
 	}

index 7d8fbd5..7c23d49 100644
@@ -2008,23 +2008,23 @@ static int git_blame_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 		if (contents_from) {
 			if (stat(contents_from, &st) < 0)
-				die("Cannot stat %s", contents_from);
+				die_errno("Cannot stat '%s'", contents_from);
 			read_from = contents_from;
 		}
 		else {
 			if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
-				die("Cannot lstat %s", path);
+				die_errno("Cannot lstat '%s'", path);
 			read_from = path;
 		}
 		mode = canon_mode(st.st_mode);
 		switch (st.st_mode & S_IFMT) {
 		case S_IFREG:
 			if (strbuf_read_file(&buf, read_from, st.st_size) != st.st_size)
-				die("cannot open or read %s", read_from);
+				die_errno("cannot open or read '%s'", read_from);
 			break;
 		case S_IFLNK:
 			if (strbuf_readlink(&buf, read_from, st.st_size) < 0)
-				die("cannot readlink %s", read_from);
+				die_errno("cannot readlink '%s'", read_from);
 			break;
 		default:
 			die("unsupported file type %s", read_from);

@@ -2262,7 +2262,6 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (revs_file && read_ancestry(revs_file))
 		die_errno("reading graft file '%s' failed", revs_file);
-
 	if (cmd_is_annotate) {
 		output_option |= OUTPUT_ANNOTATE_COMPAT;
 		blame_date_mode = DATE_ISO8601;

index 5f34414..03b691b 100644
@@ -220,13 +220,12 @@ static void copy_or_link_directory(struct strbuf *src, struct strbuf *dest)
 
 	dir = opendir(src->buf);
 	if (!dir)
-		die("failed to open %s", src->buf);
-
+		die_errno("failed to open '%s'", src->buf);
 	if (mkdir(dest->buf, 0777)) {
 		if (errno != EEXIST)
-			die("failed to create directory %s", dest->buf);
+			die_errno("failed to create directory '%s'", dest->buf);
 		else if (stat(dest->buf, &buf))
-			die("failed to stat %s", dest->buf);
+			die_errno("failed to stat '%s'", dest->buf);
 		else if (!S_ISDIR(buf.st_mode))
 			die("%s exists and is not a directory", dest->buf);
 	}

@@ -257,11 +256,11 @@ static void copy_or_link_directory(struct strbuf *src, struct strbuf *dest)
 			if (!link(src->buf, dest->buf))
 				continue;
 			if (option_local)
-				die("failed to create link %s", dest->buf);
+				die_errno("failed to create link '%s'", dest->buf);
 			option_no_hardlinks = 1;
 		}
 		if (copy_file(dest->buf, src->buf, 0666))
-			die("failed to copy file to %s", dest->buf);
+			die_errno("failed to copy file to '%s'", dest->buf);
 	}
 	closedir(dir);
 }

index 6467077..3ce8e82 100644
@@ -125,7 +125,6 @@ int cmd_commit_tree(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buffer, 0, 0) < 0)
 		die_errno("git commit-tree: failed to read");
-
 	if (!commit_tree(buffer.buf, tree_sha1, parents, commit_sha1, NULL)) {
 		printf("%s\n", sha1_to_hex(commit_sha1));
 		return 0;

index cce25b5..77298e9 100644
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 		if (isatty(0))
 			fprintf(stderr, "(reading log message from standard input)\n");
 		if (strbuf_read(&sb, 0, 0) < 0)
-			die("could not read log from standard input");
+			die_errno("could not read log from standard input");
 		hook_arg1 = "message";
 	} else if (logfile) {
 		if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, logfile, 0) < 0)

@@ -472,7 +472,6 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 	fp = fopen(git_path(commit_editmsg), "w");
 	if (fp == NULL)
 		die_errno("could not open '%s'", git_path(commit_editmsg));
-
 	if (cleanup_mode != CLEANUP_NONE)
 		stripspace(&sb, 0);
 

@@ -496,7 +495,6 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (fwrite(sb.buf, 1, sb.len, fp) < sb.len)
 		die_errno("could not write commit template");
-
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
 
 	determine_author_info();

@@ -964,8 +962,9 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	/* Finally, get the commit message */
 	strbuf_reset(&sb);
 	if (strbuf_read_file(&sb, git_path(commit_editmsg), 0) < 0) {
+		int saved_errno = errno;
 		rollback_index_files();
-		die("could not read commit message");
+		die("could not read commit message: %s", strerror(saved_errno));
 	}
 
 	/* Truncate the message just before the diff, if any. */

@@ -1018,8 +1017,10 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (commit_index_files())
 		die ("Repository has been updated, but unable to write\n"
-		     "new_index file. Check that disk is not full or quota is\n"
-		     "not exceeded, and then \"git reset HEAD\" to recover.");
+		     "new_index file: %s.\n"
+		     "Check that disk is not full or quota is not exceeded,\n"
+		     "and then \"git reset HEAD\" to recover.",
+		     strerror(errno));
 
 	rerere();
 	run_hook(get_index_file(), "post-commit", NULL);

index 333d438..3199d8a 100644
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ static void handle_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 
 	printf("blob\nmark :%"PRIu32"\ndata %lu\n", last_idnum, size);
 	if (size && fwrite(buf, size, 1, stdout) != 1)
-		die ("Could not write blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+		die_errno ("Could not write blob '%s'", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 	printf("\n");
 
 	show_progress();

@@ -452,7 +452,6 @@ static void import_marks(char *input_file)
 	FILE *f = fopen(input_file, "r");
 	if (!f)
 		die_errno("cannot read '%s'", input_file);
-
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f)) {
 		uint32_t mark;
 		char *line_end, *mark_end;

index 1248d5e..9d52400 100644
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ int cmd_fmt_merge_msg(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (inpath && strcmp(inpath, "-")) {
 		in = fopen(inpath, "r");
 		if (!in)
-			die("cannot open %s", inpath);
+			die_errno("cannot open '%s'", inpath);
 	}
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&input, fileno(in), 0) < 0)

index a49dbe1..d0f48cd 100644
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ static void check_unreachable_object(struct object *obj)
 				return;
 			}
 			if (!(f = fopen(filename, "w")))
-				die("Could not open %s", filename);
+				die_errno("Could not open '%s'", filename);
 			if (obj->type == OBJ_BLOB) {
 				enum object_type type;
 				unsigned long size;

index d1fa12a..50418cd 100644
@@ -61,20 +61,19 @@ static void copy_templates_1(char *path, int baselen,
 		memcpy(template + template_baselen, de->d_name, namelen+1);
 		if (lstat(path, &st_git)) {
 			if (errno != ENOENT)
-				die("cannot stat %s", path);
+				die_errno("cannot stat '%s'", path);
 		}
 		else
 			exists = 1;
 
 		if (lstat(template, &st_template))
-			die("cannot stat template %s", template);
-
+			die_errno("cannot stat template '%s'", template);
 		if (S_ISDIR(st_template.st_mode)) {
 			DIR *subdir = opendir(template);
 			int baselen_sub = baselen + namelen;
 			int template_baselen_sub = template_baselen + namelen;
 			if (!subdir)
-				die("cannot opendir %s", template);
+				die_errno("cannot opendir '%s'", template);
 			path[baselen_sub++] =
 				template[template_baselen_sub++] = '/';
 			path[baselen_sub] =

@@ -91,16 +90,17 @@ static void copy_templates_1(char *path, int baselen,
 			int len;
 			len = readlink(template, lnk, sizeof(lnk));
 			if (len < 0)
-				die("cannot readlink %s", template);
+				die_errno("cannot readlink '%s'", template);
 			if (sizeof(lnk) <= len)
 				die("insanely long symlink %s", template);
 			lnk[len] = 0;
 			if (symlink(lnk, path))
-				die("cannot symlink %s %s", lnk, path);
+				die_errno("cannot symlink '%s' '%s'", lnk, path);
 		}
 		else if (S_ISREG(st_template.st_mode)) {
 			if (copy_file(path, template, st_template.st_mode))
-				die("cannot copy %s to %s", template, path);
+				die_errno("cannot copy '%s' to '%s'", template,
+					  path);
 		}
 		else
 			error("ignoring template %s", template);

@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ static int guess_repository_type(const char *git_dir)
 	if (!strcmp(".", git_dir))
 		return 1;
 	if (!getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)))
-		die("cannot tell cwd");
+		die_errno("cannot tell cwd");
 	if (!strcmp(git_dir, cwd))
 		return 1;
 	/*

@@ -440,11 +440,11 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (!git_work_tree_cfg) {
 			git_work_tree_cfg = xcalloc(PATH_MAX, 1);
 			if (!getcwd(git_work_tree_cfg, PATH_MAX))
-				die ("Cannot access current working directory.");
+				die_errno ("Cannot access current working directory");
 		}
 		if (access(get_git_work_tree(), X_OK))
-			die ("Cannot access work tree '%s'",
-			     get_git_work_tree());
+			die_errno ("Cannot access work tree '%s'",
+				   get_git_work_tree());
 	}
 
 	set_git_dir(make_absolute_path(git_dir));

index 0d34050..750957c 100644
@@ -1013,8 +1013,8 @@ int cmd_format_patch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (use_stdout)
 			die("standard output, or directory, which one?");
 		if (mkdir(output_directory, 0777) < 0 && errno != EEXIST)
-			die("Could not create directory %s",
-			    output_directory);
+			die_errno("Could not create directory '%s'",
+				  output_directory);
 	}
 
 	if (rev.pending.nr == 1) {

index 71f3b3b..f549234 100644
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ static int split_one(FILE *mbox, const char *name, int allow_bare)
 
 	fd = open(name, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0666);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("cannot open output file %s", name);
+		die_errno("cannot open output file '%s'", name);
 	output = fdopen(fd, "w");
 
 	/* Copy it out, while searching for a line that begins with

@@ -91,15 +91,14 @@ static int split_one(FILE *mbox, const char *name, int allow_bare)
 		int is_partial = len && buf[len-1] != '\n';
 
 		if (fwrite(buf, 1, len, output) != len)
-			die("cannot write output");
-
+			die_errno("cannot write output");
 		len = read_line_with_nul(buf, sizeof(buf), mbox);
 		if (len == 0) {
 			if (feof(mbox)) {
 				status = 1;
 				break;
 			}
-			die("cannot read mbox");
+			die_errno("cannot read mbox");
 		}
 		if (!is_partial && !is_bare && is_from_line(buf, len))
 			break; /* done with one message */

index a7e03ce..35f4520 100644
@@ -268,8 +268,7 @@ static void squash_message(void)
 	printf("Squash commit -- not updating HEAD\n");
 	fd = open(git_path("SQUASH_MSG"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Could not write to %s", git_path("SQUASH_MSG"));
-
+		die_errno("Could not write to '%s'", git_path("SQUASH_MSG"));
 	init_revisions(&rev, NULL);
 	rev.ignore_merges = 1;
 	rev.commit_format = CMIT_FMT_MEDIUM;

@@ -764,7 +763,8 @@ static int suggest_conflicts(void)
 
 	fp = fopen(git_path("MERGE_MSG"), "a");
 	if (!fp)
-		die("Could not open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+		die_errno("Could not open '%s' for writing",
+			  git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
 	fprintf(fp, "\nConflicts:\n");
 	for (pos = 0; pos < active_nr; pos++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = active_cache[pos];

@@ -1186,27 +1186,32 @@ int cmd_merge(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				sha1_to_hex(j->item->object.sha1));
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_HEAD"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing",
-				git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
+			die_errno("Could not open '%s' for writing",
+				  git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
 		if (write_in_full(fd, buf.buf, buf.len) != buf.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
+			die_errno("Could not write to '%s'",
+				  git_path("MERGE_HEAD"));
 		close(fd);
 		strbuf_addch(&merge_msg, '\n');
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_MSG"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+			die_errno("Could not open '%s' for writing",
+				  git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
 		if (write_in_full(fd, merge_msg.buf, merge_msg.len) !=
 			merge_msg.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
+			die_errno("Could not write to '%s'",
+				  git_path("MERGE_MSG"));
 		close(fd);
 		fd = open(git_path("MERGE_MODE"), O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC, 0666);
 		if (fd < 0)
-			die("Could open %s for writing", git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
+			die_errno("Could not open '%s' for writing",
+				  git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 		if (!allow_fast_forward)
 			strbuf_addf(&buf, "no-ff");
 		if (write_in_full(fd, buf.buf, buf.len) != buf.len)
-			die("Could not write to %s", git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
+			die_errno("Could not write to '%s'",
+			    git_path("MERGE_MODE"));
 		close(fd);
 	}
 

index 112d622..da26dbc 100644
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 					continue;
 				}
 				if (!getcwd(cwd, PATH_MAX))
-					die("unable to get current working directory");
+					die_errno("unable to get current working directory");
 				printf("%s/.git\n", cwd);
 				continue;
 			}

index c87115a..151aa6a 100644
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ static void add_to_msg(const char *string)
 {
 	int len = strlen(string);
 	if (write_in_full(msg_fd, string, len) < 0)
-		die ("Could not write to MERGE_MSG");
+		die_errno ("Could not write to MERGE_MSG");
 }
 
 static void add_message_to_msg(const char *message)

index d6e3896..1fd2205 100644
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ int cmd_stripspace(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		strip_comments = 1;
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 1024) < 0)
-		die("could not read the input");
+		die_errno("could not read the input");
 
 	stripspace(&buf, strip_comments);
 

index 7b51095..165bec3 100644
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		else {
 			if (!strcmp(msgfile, "-")) {
 				if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 1024) < 0)
-					die("cannot read %s", msgfile);
+					die_errno("cannot read '%s'", msgfile);
 			} else {
 				if (strbuf_read_file(&buf, msgfile, 1024) < 0)
 					die_errno("could not open or read '%s'",

index f88e721..8b3a35e 100644
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ int cmd_get_tar_commit_id(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	n = write_in_full(1, content + 11, 41);
 	if (n < 41)
-		die("git get-tar-commit-id: write error");
+		die_errno("git get-tar-commit-id: write error");
 
 	return 0;
 }

index 60d0367..bbf74fc 100644
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ static void show_patch_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
 
 			done = read_in_full(fd, result, len);
 			if (done < 0)
-				die("read error '%s'", elem->path);
+				die_errno("read error '%s'", elem->path);
 			else if (done < len)
 				die("early EOF '%s'", elem->path);
 

index 9cc93ba..4d50cc5 100644
@@ -55,8 +55,7 @@ int sha1close(struct sha1file *f, unsigned char *result, unsigned int flags)
 		if (flags & CSUM_FSYNC)
 			fsync_or_die(f->fd, f->name);
 		if (close(f->fd))
-			die_errno("%s: sha1 file error on close",
-			    f->name);
+			die_errno("%s: sha1 file error on close", f->name);
 		fd = 0;
 	} else
 		fd = f->fd;

index 48043f5..aec613f 100644
@@ -1982,7 +1982,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 		size = buf.len;
 	}
 	if (write_in_full(fd, blob, size) != size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die_errno("unable to write temp-file");
 	close(fd);
 	temp->name = temp->tmp_path;
 	strcpy(temp->hex, sha1_to_hex(sha1));

@@ -2026,7 +2026,7 @@ static void prep_temp_blob(const char *path, struct diff_tempfile *temp,
 		if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
 			struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 			if (strbuf_readlink(&sb, name, st.st_size) < 0)
-				die("readlink(%s)", name);
+				die_errno("readlink(%s)", name);
 			prep_temp_blob(name, temp, sb.buf, sb.len,
 				       (one->sha1_valid ?
 					one->sha1 : null_sha1),

@@ -2219,7 +2219,7 @@ static void diff_fill_sha1_info(struct diff_filespec *one)
 				return;
 			}
 			if (lstat(one->path, &st) < 0)
-				die("stat %s", one->path);
+				die_errno("stat '%s'", one->path);
 			if (index_path(one->sha1, one->path, &st, 0))
 				die("cannot hash %s", one->path);
 		}

index 099eaf4..e9e396b 100644
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ static void create_directories(const char *path, int path_len,
 			if (errno == EEXIST && state->force &&
 			    !unlink_or_warn(buf) && !mkdir(buf, 0777))
 				continue;
-			die("cannot create directory at %s", buf);
+			die_errno("cannot create directory at '%s'", buf);
 		}
 	}
 	free(buf);

index d31a4e8..7ef9865 100644
@@ -905,10 +905,10 @@ static int oecmp (const void *a_, const void *b_)
 
 	keep_fd = odb_pack_keep(name, sizeof(name), pack_data->sha1);
 	if (keep_fd < 0)
-		die("cannot create keep file");
+		die_errno("cannot create keep file");
 	write_or_die(keep_fd, keep_msg, strlen(keep_msg));
 	if (close(keep_fd))
-		die("failed to write keep file");
+		die_errno("failed to write keep file");
 
 	snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/pack/pack-%s.pack",
 		 get_object_directory(), sha1_to_hex(pack_data->sha1));

index 47cf43c..9455dd0 100644
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ static void hash_object(const char *path, const char *type, int write_object,
 	int fd;
 	fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0)
-		die("Cannot open %s", path);
+		die_errno("Cannot open '%s'", path);
 	hash_fd(fd, type, write_object, vpath);
 }
 

index 81c02ad..caf22be 100644
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static void create_temp(mmfile_t *src, char *path)
 	strcpy(path, ".merge_file_XXXXXX");
 	fd = xmkstemp(path);
 	if (write_in_full(fd, src->ptr, src->size) != src->size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die_errno("unable to write temp-file");
 	close(fd);
 }
 

index 99a356e..a609e3e 100644
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	setup_git_directory();
 
 	if (strbuf_read(&buf, 0, 4096) < 0) {
-		die("could not read from stdin");
+		die_errno("could not read from stdin");
 	}
 
 	/* Verify it for some basic sanity: it needs to start with

index f76b5bb..4e3e272 100644
@@ -1265,7 +1265,7 @@ int read_index_from(struct index_state *istate, const char *path)
 	mmap = xmmap(NULL, mmap_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
 	close(fd);
 	if (mmap == MAP_FAILED)
-		die("unable to map index file");
+		die_errno("unable to map index file");
 
 	hdr = mmap;
 	if (verify_hdr(hdr, mmap_size) < 0)

index 4d27f28..e3781b6 100644
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 				return NULL;
 			set_git_dir(make_absolute_path(gitdirenv));
 			if (chdir(work_tree_env) < 0)
-				die ("Could not chdir to %s", work_tree_env);
+				die_errno ("Could not chdir to '%s'", work_tree_env);
 			strcat(buffer, "/");
 			return retval;
 		}

@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 	}
 
 	if (!getcwd(cwd, sizeof(cwd)-1))
-		die("Unable to read current working directory");
+		die_errno("Unable to read current working directory");
 
 	ceil_offset = longest_ancestor_length(cwd, env_ceiling_dirs);
 	if (ceil_offset < 0 && has_dos_drive_prefix(cwd))

@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 		if (offset <= ceil_offset) {
 			if (nongit_ok) {
 				if (chdir(cwd))
-					die("Cannot come back to cwd");
+					die_errno("Cannot come back to cwd");
 				*nongit_ok = 1;
 				return NULL;
 			}

@@ -493,10 +493,10 @@ int check_repository_format(void)
 		static char buffer[PATH_MAX + 1];
 		char *rel;
 		if (retval && chdir(retval))
-			die ("Could not jump back into original cwd");
+			die_errno ("Could not jump back into original cwd");
 		rel = get_relative_cwd(buffer, PATH_MAX, get_git_work_tree());
 		if (rel && *rel && chdir(get_git_work_tree()))
-			die ("Could not jump to working directory");
+			die_errno ("Could not jump to working directory");
 		return rel && *rel ? strcat(rel, "/") : NULL;
 	}
 

index 17891d5..8decd66 100644
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ static void insert_packed_refs(const char *packed_refs, struct ref **list)
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&temp_dir, git_path("rsync-refs-XXXXXX"));
 	if (!mkdtemp(temp_dir.buf))
-		die ("Could not make temporary directory");
+		die_errno ("Could not make temporary directory");
 	temp_dir_len = temp_dir.len;
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&buf, rsync_url(transport->url));

@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ static int rsync_transport_push(struct transport *transport,
 
 	strbuf_addstr(&temp_dir, git_path("rsync-refs-XXXXXX"));
 	if (!mkdtemp(temp_dir.buf))
-		die ("Could not make temporary directory");
+		die_errno ("Could not make temporary directory");
 	strbuf_addch(&temp_dir, '/');
 
 	if (flags & TRANSPORT_PUSH_ALL) {

index 75cd2f1..ac9cbf7 100644
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 	strcpy(path, ".merge_file_XXXXXX");
 	fd = xmkstemp(path);
 	if (write_in_full(fd, buf, size) != size)
-		die("unable to write temp-file");
+		die_errno("unable to write temp-file");
 	close(fd);
 	return path;
 }