diff --git a/passt.c b/passt.c
index ad6f0bc..eaf231d 100644
--- a/passt.c
+++ b/passt.c
@@ -207,7 +207,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	struct timespec now;
 	struct sigaction sa;
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &log_start);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &log_start))
+		die_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_MONOTONIC time");
 
 	arch_avx2_exec(argv);
 
@@ -265,7 +266,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	secret_init(&c);
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now))
+		die_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_MONOTONIC time");
 
 	flow_init();
 
@@ -313,7 +315,8 @@ loop:
 	if (nfds == -1 && errno != EINTR)
 		die_perror("epoll_wait() failed in main loop");
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &now))
+		err_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_MONOTONIC time");
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nfds; i++) {
 		union epoll_ref ref = *((union epoll_ref *)&events[i].data.u64);
diff --git a/pcap.c b/pcap.c
index 2e2ff93..23205dd 100644
--- a/pcap.c
+++ b/pcap.c
@@ -100,12 +100,14 @@ static void pcap_frame(const struct iovec *iov, size_t iovcnt,
 void pcap(const char *pkt, size_t l2len)
 {
 	struct iovec iov = { (char *)pkt, l2len };
-	struct timespec now;
+	struct timespec now = { 0 };
 
 	if (pcap_fd == -1)
 		return;
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now))
+		err_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_REALTIME time");
+
 	pcap_frame(&iov, 1, 0, &now);
 }
 
@@ -119,13 +121,14 @@ void pcap(const char *pkt, size_t l2len)
 void pcap_multiple(const struct iovec *iov, size_t frame_parts, unsigned int n,
 		   size_t offset)
 {
-	struct timespec now;
+	struct timespec now = { 0 };
 	unsigned int i;
 
 	if (pcap_fd == -1)
 		return;
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now))
+		err_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_REALTIME time");
 
 	for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
 		pcap_frame(iov + i * frame_parts, frame_parts, offset, &now);
@@ -143,12 +146,14 @@ void pcap_multiple(const struct iovec *iov, size_t frame_parts, unsigned int n,
 /* cppcheck-suppress unusedFunction */
 void pcap_iov(const struct iovec *iov, size_t iovcnt, size_t offset)
 {
-	struct timespec now;
+	struct timespec now = { 0 };
 
 	if (pcap_fd == -1)
 		return;
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now);
+	if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &now))
+		err_perror("Failed to get CLOCK_REALTIME time");
+
 	pcap_frame(iov, iovcnt, offset, &now);
 }
 
diff --git a/tcp.c b/tcp.c
index 10ad06a..4e0a17e 100644
--- a/tcp.c
+++ b/tcp.c
@@ -549,7 +549,8 @@ static void tcp_timer_ctl(const struct ctx *c, struct tcp_tap_conn *conn)
 		 (unsigned long long)it.it_value.tv_sec,
 		 (unsigned long long)it.it_value.tv_nsec / 1000 / 1000);
 
-	timerfd_settime(conn->timer, 0, &it, NULL);
+	if (timerfd_settime(conn->timer, 0, &it, NULL))
+		flow_err(conn, "failed to set timer: %s", strerror(errno));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -2235,7 +2236,9 @@ void tcp_timer_handler(const struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref)
 	 * timer is currently armed, this event came from a previous setting,
 	 * and we just set the timer to a new point in the future: discard it.
 	 */
-	timerfd_gettime(conn->timer, &check_armed);
+	if (timerfd_gettime(conn->timer, &check_armed))
+		flow_err(conn, "failed to read timer: %s", strerror(errno));
+
 	if (check_armed.it_value.tv_sec || check_armed.it_value.tv_nsec)
 		return;
 
@@ -2273,7 +2276,10 @@ void tcp_timer_handler(const struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref)
 		 * case. This avoids having to preemptively reset the timer on
 		 * ~ACK_TO_TAP_DUE or ~ACK_FROM_TAP_DUE.
 		 */
-		timerfd_settime(conn->timer, 0, &new, &old);
+		if (timerfd_settime(conn->timer, 0, &new, &old))
+			flow_err(conn, "failed to set timer: %s",
+				 strerror(errno));
+
 		if (old.it_value.tv_sec == ACT_TIMEOUT) {
 			flow_dbg(conn, "activity timeout");
 			tcp_rst(c, conn);