diff --git a/libs/util/sys.c b/libs/util/sys.c
index 211871d64..6c9668887 100644
--- a/libs/util/sys.c
+++ b/libs/util/sys.c
@@ -432,8 +432,11 @@ Sys_Error (const char *error, ...)
 	static int  in_sys_error = 0;
 
 	if (in_sys_error) {
+		size_t      cnt;
 		const char *msg = "\nSys_Error: recursive error condition\n";
-		write (2, msg, strlen (msg));
+		cnt = write (2, msg, strlen (msg));
+		if (cnt < 0)
+			perror ("write failed");
 		abort ();
 	}
 	in_sys_error = 1;
diff --git a/qw/source/sv_pr_qwe.c b/qw/source/sv_pr_qwe.c
index b4ce54365..ec86ca87f 100644
--- a/qw/source/sv_pr_qwe.c
+++ b/qw/source/sv_pr_qwe.c
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ PF_newstr (progs_t *pr)
 		int         s = dstr->size;
 		dstr->size = P_FLOAT (pr, 1) + 1;
 		dstring_adjust (dstr);
-		memset (dstr->str + s, dstr->size - s, 0);
+		memset (dstr->str + s, 0, dstr->size - s);
 	}
 
 	R_STRING (pr) = i;