diff --git a/zebra/ioctl.c b/zebra/ioctl.c
index e28d359..56de810 100644
--- a/zebra/ioctl.c
+++ b/zebra/ioctl.c
@@ -54,9 +54,10 @@
   sock = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0);
   if (sock < 0)
     {
+      int save_errno = errno;
       if (zserv_privs.change(ZPRIVS_LOWER))
         zlog (NULL, LOG_ERR, "Can't lower privileges");
-      perror ("socket");
+      zlog_err("Cannot create UDP socket: %s", safe_strerror(save_errno));
       exit (1);
     }
   if ((ret = ioctl (sock, request, buffer)) < 0)
@@ -86,9 +87,11 @@
   sock = socket (AF_INET6, SOCK_DGRAM, 0);
   if (sock < 0)
     {
+      int save_errno = errno;
       if (zserv_privs.change(ZPRIVS_LOWER))
         zlog (NULL, LOG_ERR, "Can't lower privileges");
-      perror ("socket");
+      zlog_err("Cannot create IPv6 datagram socket: %s",
+	       safe_strerror(save_errno));
       exit (1);
     }
 
@@ -343,7 +346,7 @@
   ret = if_ioctl (SIOCGIFFLAGS, (caddr_t) &ifreq);
   if (ret < 0) 
     {
-      perror ("ioctl");
+      zlog_err("if_ioctl(SIOCGIFFLAGS) failed: %s", safe_strerror(errno));
       return;
     }