ssize_t len = xread(ifd, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
                if (!len)
                        break;
-               if (len < 0) {
-                       return error("copy-fd: read returned %s",
-                                    strerror(errno));
-               }
+               if (len < 0)
+                       return COPY_READ_ERROR;
                if (write_in_full(ofd, buffer, len) < 0)
-                       return error("copy-fd: write returned %s",
-                                    strerror(errno));
+                       return COPY_WRITE_ERROR;
        }
        return 0;
 }
                return fdo;
        }
        status = copy_fd(fdi, fdo);
+       switch (status) {
+       case COPY_READ_ERROR:
+               error("copy-fd: read returned %s", strerror(errno));
+               break;
+       case COPY_WRITE_ERROR:
+               error("copy-fd: write returned %s", strerror(errno));
+               break;
+       }
        close(fdi);
        if (close(fdo) != 0)
                return error("%s: close error: %s", dst, strerror(errno));