diff --git a/filters_main.inc.h b/filters_main.inc.h
index 5196328..f1bd7ed 100644
--- a/filters_main.inc.h
+++ b/filters_main.inc.h
@@ -500,8 +500,10 @@ static bool loadfilterfile(const char *fname)
 {
 	char buf[128];
 	FILE *f = fopen(fname,"r");
-	if (!f)
+	if (!f) {
+		fprintf(stderr,"failed to load filter file \"%s\": %s\n",fname,strerror(errno));
 		return false;
+	}
 	while (fgets(buf,sizeof(buf),f)) {
 		for (char *p = buf;*p;++p) {
 			if (*p == '\n') {
@@ -512,5 +514,11 @@ static bool loadfilterfile(const char *fname)
 		if (*buf && *buf != '#' && memcmp(buf,"//",2) != 0)
 			filters_add(buf);
 	}
+	int fe = ferror(f);
+	fclose(f);
+	if (fe != 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr,"failure while reading filter file \"%s\": %s\n",fname,strerror(fe));
+		return false;
+	}
 	return true;
 }
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 387eea8..54169fb 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -258,11 +259,8 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv)
 			}
 			else if (*arg == 'f') {
 				if (argc--) {
-					const char *filename = *argv++;
-					if (!loadfilterfile(filename)) {
-						fprintf(stderr,"failed to load filter file %s\n",filename);
+					if (!loadfilterfile(*argv++))
 						exit(1);
-					}
 				}
 				else
 					e_additional();