diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_package.c b/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
index fccbb10a..3188a2fe 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_package.c
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ alpm_pkg_t *_alpm_pkg_load_internal(alpm_handle_t *handle,
 	int ret, fd, config = 0;
 	struct archive *archive;
 	struct archive_entry *entry;
-	alpm_pkg_t *newpkg = NULL;
+	alpm_pkg_t *newpkg;
 	struct stat st;
 	size_t files_count = 0, files_size = 0;
 	alpm_file_t *files = NULL;
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ alpm_pkg_t *_alpm_pkg_load_internal(alpm_handle_t *handle,
 		if(errno == ENOENT) {
 			handle->pm_errno = ALPM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND;
 		}
-		goto error;
+		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	newpkg = _alpm_pkg_new();
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c b/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
index b16271bc..c4673b1b 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/be_sync.c
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ static int sync_db_populate(alpm_db_t *db)
 {
 	const char *dbpath;
 	size_t est_count;
-	int count = -1, fd;
+	int count, fd;
 	struct stat buf;
 	struct archive *archive;
 	struct archive_entry *entry;
@@ -412,13 +412,14 @@ static int sync_db_populate(alpm_db_t *db)
 	fd = _alpm_open_archive(db->handle, dbpath, &buf,
 			&archive, ALPM_ERR_DB_OPEN);
 	if(fd < 0) {
-		goto cleanup;
+		return -1;
 	}
 	est_count = estimate_package_count(&buf, archive);
 
 	db->pkgcache = _alpm_pkghash_create(est_count);
 	if(db->pkgcache == NULL) {
 		db->handle->pm_errno = ALPM_ERR_MEMORY;
+		count = -1;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/util.c b/lib/libalpm/util.c
index 2cce8247..e2cbd8c5 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/util.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/util.c
@@ -213,6 +213,8 @@ size_t _alpm_strip_newline(char *str)
  * This takes care of creating the libarchive 'archive' struct, setting up
  * compression and format options, opening a file descriptor, setting up the
  * buffer size, and performing a stat on the path once opened.
+ * On error, no file descriptor is opened, and the archive pointer returned
+ * will be set to NULL.
  * @param handle the context handle
  * @param path the path of the archive to open
  * @param buf space for a stat buffer for the given path
@@ -238,16 +240,13 @@ int _alpm_open_archive(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *path,
 	if(fd < 0) {
 		_alpm_log(handle, ALPM_LOG_ERROR,
 				_("could not open file %s: %s\n"), path, strerror(errno));
-		archive_read_finish(*archive);
-		RET_ERR(handle, error, -1);
+		goto error;
 	}
 
 	if(fstat(fd, buf) != 0) {
 		_alpm_log(handle, ALPM_LOG_ERROR,
 				_("could not stat file %s: %s\n"), path, strerror(errno));
-		archive_read_finish(*archive);
-		CLOSE(fd);
-		RET_ERR(handle, error, -1);
+		goto error;
 	}
 #ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_BLKSIZE
 	if(buf->st_blksize > ALPM_BUFFER_SIZE) {
@@ -258,12 +257,18 @@ int _alpm_open_archive(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *path,
 	if(archive_read_open_fd(*archive, fd, bufsize) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
 		_alpm_log(handle, ALPM_LOG_ERROR, _("could not open file %s: %s\n"),
 				path, archive_error_string(*archive));
-		archive_read_finish(*archive);
-		CLOSE(fd);
-		RET_ERR(handle, error, -1);
+		goto error;
 	}
 
 	return fd;
+
+error:
+	archive_read_finish(*archive);
+	*archive = NULL;
+	if(fd >= 0) {
+		CLOSE(fd);
+	}
+	RET_ERR(handle, error, -1);
 }
 
 /** Unpack a specific file in an archive.