diff --git a/include/dwarfs/error.h b/include/dwarfs/error.h
index 88e366f29..96650fe11 100644
--- a/include/dwarfs/error.h
+++ b/include/dwarfs/error.h
@@ -36,10 +36,7 @@ class error : public std::exception {
   int line() const { return line_; }
 
  protected:
-  error(std::string const& s, char const* file, int line) noexcept
-      : what_(s)
-      , file_(file)
-      , line_(line) {}
+  error(std::string const& s, char const* file, int line) noexcept;
 
  private:
   std::string what_;
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/error.cpp b/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
index 26f0fe408..f01a58f9d 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream>
 
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
 #include <folly/String.h>
 
 #ifdef DWARFS_USE_EXCEPTION_TRACER
@@ -47,6 +49,11 @@ namespace {
 
 } // namespace
 
+error::error(std::string const& s, char const* file, int line) noexcept
+    : what_{fmt::format("{} [{}:{}]", s, file, line)}
+    , file_{file}
+    , line_{line} {}
+
 system_error::system_error(char const* file, int line) noexcept
     : system_error(errno, file, line) {}
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/filesystem_v2.cpp b/src/dwarfs/filesystem_v2.cpp
index 9603fcfb1..835ec913f 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/filesystem_v2.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/filesystem_v2.cpp
@@ -775,11 +775,8 @@ int filesystem_<LoggerPolicy>::check(filesystem_check_level level,
           DWARFS_THROW(runtime_error, "duplicate section: " + s.name());
         }
       }
-    } catch (error const& e) {
-      LOG_ERROR << e.what() << " [" << e.file() << ":" << e.line() << "]";
-      ++errors;
-    } catch (...) {
-      LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception());
+    } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+      LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
       ++errors;
     }
   }
@@ -787,11 +784,8 @@ int filesystem_<LoggerPolicy>::check(filesystem_check_level level,
   if (level == filesystem_check_level::FULL) {
     try {
       meta_.check_consistency();
-    } catch (error const& e) {
-      LOG_ERROR << e.what() << " [" << e.file() << ":" << e.line() << "]";
-      ++errors;
-    } catch (...) {
-      LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception());
+    } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+      LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
       ++errors;
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/inode_reader_v2.cpp b/src/dwarfs/inode_reader_v2.cpp
index 0d8e86f9f..16ed3cf84 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/inode_reader_v2.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/inode_reader_v2.cpp
@@ -279,8 +279,6 @@ inode_reader_<LoggerPolicy>::read_internal(uint32_t inode, size_t size,
       num_read += br.size();
     }
     return num_read;
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
   } catch (...) {
     LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception());
   }
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/safe_main.cpp b/src/dwarfs/safe_main.cpp
index aa68c7834..6a6070014 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/safe_main.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/safe_main.cpp
@@ -42,18 +42,9 @@ int safe_main(std::function<int(void)> fn) {
     terminal::setup();
 
     return fn();
-  } catch (system_error const& e) {
-    std::cerr << "ERROR: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << " [" << e.file() << ":"
-              << e.line() << "]\n";
-    dump_exceptions();
-  } catch (error const& e) {
-    std::cerr << "ERROR: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << " [" << e.file() << ":"
-              << e.line() << "]\n";
-    dump_exceptions();
-  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    std::cerr << "ERROR: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
-    dump_exceptions();
   } catch (...) {
+    std::cerr << "ERROR: " << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception())
+              << "\n";
     dump_exceptions();
   }
   return 1;
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
index 1e3320dd4..6420b6533 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/scanner.cpp
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ scanner_<LoggerPolicy>::add_entry(std::filesystem::path const& name,
 
     return pe;
   } catch (const std::system_error& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << "error reading entry: " << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << "error reading entry: " << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     prog.errors++;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs_main.cpp b/src/dwarfs_main.cpp
index b59e2b76c..234e5c5e6 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs_main.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs_main.cpp
@@ -273,10 +273,10 @@ void op_lookup(fuse_req_t req, fuse_ino_t parent, char const* name) {
       }
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -303,10 +303,10 @@ int op_getattr_common(LogProxy& log_, dwarfs_userdata& userdata,
       }
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -357,10 +357,10 @@ int op_access_common(LogProxy& log_, dwarfs_userdata& userdata, int mode,
       err = userdata.fs.access(*entry, mode, uid, gid);
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -411,10 +411,10 @@ int op_readlink_common(LogProxy& log_, dwarfs_userdata& userdata,
       err = userdata.fs.readlink(*entry, str, readlink_mode::unix);
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -491,10 +491,10 @@ int op_open_common(LogProxy& log_, dwarfs_userdata& userdata,
       }
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -569,10 +569,10 @@ void op_read(fuse_req_t req, fuse_ino_t ino, size_t size, file_off_t off,
       err = EIO;
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -602,10 +602,10 @@ int op_read(char const* path, char* buf, size_t size, native_off_t off,
 
     err = rv;
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = -e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = -EIO;
   }
 
@@ -672,10 +672,10 @@ void op_readdir(fuse_req_t req, fuse_ino_t ino, size_t size, file_off_t off,
       err = ENOTDIR;
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -731,10 +731,10 @@ int op_readdir(char const* path, void* buf, fuse_fill_dir_t filler,
       err = -ENOTDIR;
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = -e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = -EIO;
   }
 
@@ -763,10 +763,10 @@ int op_statfs_common(LogProxy& log_, dwarfs_userdata& userdata,
 #endif
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -867,10 +867,10 @@ void op_getxattr(fuse_req_t req, fuse_ino_t ino, char const* name,
       }
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -922,10 +922,10 @@ void op_listxattr(fuse_req_t req, fuse_ino_t ino, size_t size) {
       return;
     }
   } catch (dwarfs::system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = e.get_errno();
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     err = EIO;
   }
 
@@ -1329,11 +1329,11 @@ int dwarfs_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
             parse_time_with_unit(opts.cache_tidy_max_age_str);
       }
     }
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << "error: " << e.what() << "\n";
-    return 1;
   } catch (std::filesystem::filesystem_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << e.what() << "\n";
+    iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
+    return 1;
+  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+    iol.err << "error: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
     return 1;
   }
 
@@ -1359,7 +1359,7 @@ int dwarfs_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
       load_filesystem<prod_logger_policy>(userdata);
     }
   } catch (std::exception const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << "error initializing file system: " << e.what();
+    LOG_ERROR << "error initializing file system: " << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     return 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfsbench_main.cpp b/src/dwarfsbench_main.cpp
index da11572b9..92a746876 100644
--- a/src/dwarfsbench_main.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfsbench_main.cpp
@@ -117,8 +117,8 @@ int dwarfsbench_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
               int fh = fs.open(inode_data);
               fs.read(fh, buf.data(), buf.size());
             }
-          } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-            iol.err << "error: " << e.what() << "\n";
+          } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+            iol.err << "error: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
           } catch (...) {
             iol.err << "error: "
                     << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception()) << "\n";
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ int dwarfsbench_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
     });
 
     wg.wait();
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << "error: " << e.what() << "\n";
+  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+    iol.err << "error: " << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
     return 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfsck_main.cpp b/src/dwarfsck_main.cpp
index 24bd4d1b0..199fde41c 100644
--- a/src/dwarfsck_main.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfsck_main.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include "dwarfs/options.h"
 #include "dwarfs/os_access.h"
 #include "dwarfs/tool.h"
+#include "dwarfs/util.h"
 #include "dwarfs_tool_main.h"
 
 namespace dwarfs {
@@ -189,13 +190,7 @@ int dwarfsck_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
         }
       }
     }
-  } catch (system_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
-    return 1;
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
-    return 1;
-  } catch (std::system_error const& e) {
+  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
     iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
     return 1;
   }
diff --git a/src/dwarfsextract_main.cpp b/src/dwarfsextract_main.cpp
index 969bfabea..d1895e4dc 100644
--- a/src/dwarfsextract_main.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfsextract_main.cpp
@@ -192,13 +192,7 @@ int dwarfsextract_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
     if (perfmon) {
       perfmon->summarize(iol.err);
     }
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
-    return 1;
-  } catch (system_error const& e) {
-    iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
-    return 1;
-  } catch (std::system_error const& e) {
+  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
     iol.err << folly::exceptionStr(e) << "\n";
     return 1;
   }
diff --git a/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp b/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
index d0ff564ed..68a03ae2d 100644
--- a/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
+++ b/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
@@ -1296,11 +1296,8 @@ int mkdwarfs_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
 
       options.inode.categorizer_mgr.reset();
     }
-  } catch (runtime_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what() << " [" << e.file() << ":" << e.line() << "]";
-    return 1;
-  } catch (system_error const& e) {
-    LOG_ERROR << e.what() << " [" << e.file() << ":" << e.line() << "]";
+  } catch (std::exception const& e) {
+    LOG_ERROR << folly::exceptionStr(e);
     return 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/test/block_cache_test.cpp b/test/block_cache_test.cpp
index 6cdc602c6..232231d44 100644
--- a/test/block_cache_test.cpp
+++ b/test/block_cache_test.cpp
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ TEST(block_range, uncompressed) {
 
   EXPECT_THAT([] { block_range range(nullptr, 0, 0); },
               ::testing::ThrowsMessage<dwarfs::runtime_error>(
-                  "block_range: block data is null"));
+                  ::testing::HasSubstr("block_range: block data is null")));
 }
 
 TEST(block_range, compressed) {
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ TEST(block_range, compressed) {
         block_range range(block, 0, 0);
       },
       ::testing::ThrowsMessage<dwarfs::runtime_error>(
-          "block_range: block data is null"));
+          ::testing::HasSubstr("block_range: block data is null")));
 
   EXPECT_THAT(
       [&] {
@@ -117,5 +117,5 @@ TEST(block_range, compressed) {
         block_range range(block, 100, 1);
       },
       ::testing::ThrowsMessage<dwarfs::runtime_error>(
-          "block_range: size out of range (101 > 100)"));
+          ::testing::HasSubstr("block_range: size out of range (101 > 100)")));
 }
diff --git a/test/error_test.cpp b/test/error_test.cpp
index b202a95c9..879480a90 100644
--- a/test/error_test.cpp
+++ b/test/error_test.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #include <cerrno>
 #include <filesystem>
 
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
 #include <gmock/gmock.h>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
@@ -57,7 +59,8 @@ TEST(error_test, runtime_error) {
     test_throw_runtime_error(true);
     FAIL() << "expected runtime_error to be thrown";
   } catch (const runtime_error& e) {
-    EXPECT_EQ("my test error", std::string(e.what()));
+    EXPECT_EQ(fmt::format("my test error [{}:{}]", e.file(), e.line()),
+              std::string(e.what()));
     EXPECT_EQ("error_test.cpp",
               std::filesystem::path(e.file()).filename().string());
     EXPECT_EQ(expected_line, e.line());