diff --git a/README b/README
index 1d9186d..4d97f00 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ The following tools are implemented ('*' == finished, '#' == UTF-8 support,
 #*| strings         yes                          none
 =*| sync            non-posix                    none
 =*| tail            yes                          none
-=*  tar             non-posix                    none
+=*| tar             non-posix                    none
 =*| tee             yes                          none
 =*| test            yes                          none
 =*| time            yes                          none
diff --git a/fs.h b/fs.h
index e7590f8..27ceb52 100644
--- a/fs.h
+++ b/fs.h
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ struct recursor {
 };
 
 enum {
-        SAMEDEV = 1 << 0,
+	SAMEDEV  = 1 << 0,
+	DIRFIRST = 1 << 1,
 };
 
 extern int cp_aflag;
diff --git a/libutil/recurse.c b/libutil/recurse.c
index c7f67d3..8a37c2f 100644
--- a/libutil/recurse.c
+++ b/libutil/recurse.c
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ recurse(const char *path, void *data, struct recursor *r)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (!r->depth && (r->flags & DIRFIRST))
+		(r->fn)(path, &st, data, r);
+
 	while ((d = readdir(dp))) {
 		if (r->follow == 'H') {
 			statf_name = "lstat";
@@ -82,7 +85,8 @@ recurse(const char *path, void *data, struct recursor *r)
 	}
 
 	if (!r->depth) {
-		(r->fn)(path, &st, data, r);
+		if (!(r->flags & DIRFIRST))
+			(r->fn)(path, &st, data, r);
 
 		for (; r->hist; ) {
 			h = r->hist;
diff --git a/tar.1 b/tar.1
index 6e0ec56..a9e438b 100644
--- a/tar.1
+++ b/tar.1
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.Dd February 8, 2015
+.Dd March 21, 2015
 .Dt TAR 1
 .Os sbase
 .Sh NAME
@@ -13,15 +13,8 @@
 .Nm
 .Op Fl C Ar dir
 .Op Fl h
-.Op Fl j | Fl z
 .Fl c Ar dir
 .Op Fl f Ar file
-.Nm
-.Op Fl C Ar dir
-.Op Fl h
-.Op Fl j | Fl z
-.Fl cf
-.Ar file Ar dir
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 .Nm
 is the standard file archiver.
@@ -47,7 +40,7 @@ Extract archive.
 .It Fl h
 Always dereference symbolic links while recursively traversing directories.
 .It Fl j | Fl z
-Use bzip2 | gzip compression. The
+Use bzip2 | gzip decompression. The
 .Xr bzip2 1 |
 .Xr gzip 1
 utilities must be installed separately.
diff --git a/tar.c b/tar.c
index 965f87e..9606515 100644
--- a/tar.c
+++ b/tar.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <grp.h>
 #include <pwd.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -33,12 +34,20 @@ struct header {
 
 #define BLKSIZ 512
 
+#undef major
+#define major(dev) ((int)(((unsigned int)(dev) >> 8) & 0xff))
+#undef minor
+#define minor(dev) ((int)((dev) & 0xff))
+#undef makedev
+#define makedev(major, minor) (((major) << 8) | (minor))
+
 enum Type {
 	REG = '0', AREG = '\0', HARDLINK = '1', SYMLINK = '2', CHARDEV = '3',
 	BLOCKDEV = '4', DIRECTORY = '5', FIFO = '6'
 };
 
 static FILE *tarfile;
+static char *tarfilename;
 static ino_t tarinode;
 static dev_t tardev;
 
@@ -48,7 +57,8 @@ static char filtermode;
 static FILE *
 decomp(FILE *fp)
 {
-	int   fds[2];
+	int fds[2];
+	char *tool;
 
 	if (pipe(fds) < 0)
 		eprintf("pipe:");
@@ -62,175 +72,202 @@ decomp(FILE *fp)
 		close(fds[0]);
 		close(fds[1]);
 
-		switch (filtermode) {
-		case 'j':
-			execlp("bzip2", "bzip2", "-cd", NULL);
-			weprintf("execlp bzip2:");
-			_exit(1);
-		case 'z':
-			execlp("gzip", "gzip", "-cd", NULL);
-			weprintf("execlp gzip:");
-			_exit(1);
-		}
+		tool = (filtermode == 'j') ? "bzip2" : "gzip";
+		execlp(tool, tool, "-cd", NULL);
+		weprintf("execlp %s:", tool);
+		_exit(1);
 	}
 	close(fds[1]);
+
 	return fdopen(fds[0], "r");
 }
 
 static void
-putoctal(char *dst, unsigned num, int n)
+putoctal(char *dst, unsigned num, int size)
 {
-	snprintf(dst, n, "%.*o", n - 1, num);
+	if (snprintf(dst, size, "%.*o", size - 1, num) >= size)
+		eprintf("snprintf: input number too large\n");
 }
 
 static int
-archive(const char* path)
+archive(const char *path)
 {
 	FILE *f = NULL;
-	mode_t mode;
 	struct group *gr;
 	struct header *h;
 	struct passwd *pw;
 	struct stat st;
 	size_t chksum, x;
-	ssize_t l;
+	ssize_t l, r;
 	unsigned char b[BLKSIZ];
 
-	lstat(path, &st);
-	if (st.st_ino == tarinode && st.st_dev == tardev) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "ignoring '%s'\n", path);
+	if (lstat(path, &st) < 0) {
+		weprintf("lstat %s:", path);
+		return 0;
+	} else if (st.st_ino == tarinode && st.st_dev == tardev) {
+		weprintf("ignoring %s\n", path);
 		return 0;
 	}
-	pw = getpwuid(st.st_uid);
-	gr = getgrgid(st.st_gid);
-
-	h = (void*)b;
-	memset(b, 0, sizeof(b));
-	snprintf(h->name, sizeof(h->name), "%s", path);
-	putoctal(h->mode,  (unsigned)st.st_mode & 0777, sizeof(h->mode));
-	putoctal(h->uid,   (unsigned)st.st_uid,         sizeof(h->uid));
-	putoctal(h->gid,   (unsigned)st.st_gid,         sizeof(h->gid));
-	putoctal(h->size,  0,                           sizeof(h->size));
-	putoctal(h->mtime, (unsigned)st.st_mtime,       sizeof(h->mtime));
-	memcpy(h->magic,   "ustar",                     sizeof(h->magic));
-	memcpy(h->version, "00",                        sizeof(h->version));
-	snprintf(h->uname, sizeof h->uname, "%s", pw ? pw->pw_name : "");
-	snprintf(h->gname, sizeof h->gname, "%s", gr ? gr->gr_name : "");
-
-	mode = st.st_mode;
-	if (S_ISREG(mode)) {
-		h->type = REG;
-		putoctal(h->size, (unsigned)st.st_size,  sizeof h->size);
-		f = fopen(path, "r");
-	} else if (S_ISDIR(mode)) {
-		h->type = DIRECTORY;
-	} else if (S_ISLNK(mode)) {
-		h->type = SYMLINK;
-		readlink(path, h->link, (sizeof h->link)-1);
-	} else if (S_ISCHR(mode) || S_ISBLK(mode)) {
-		h->type = S_ISCHR(mode) ? CHARDEV : BLOCKDEV;
-#if defined(major) && defined(minor)
-		putoctal(h->major, (unsigned)major(st.st_dev), sizeof h->major);
-		putoctal(h->minor, (unsigned)minor(st.st_dev), sizeof h->minor);
-#else
+	errno = 0;
+	if (!(pw = getpwuid(st.st_uid)) && errno) {
+		weprintf("getpwuid:");
 		return 0;
-#endif
-	} else if (S_ISFIFO(mode)) {
+	}
+	errno = 0;
+	if (!(gr = getgrgid(st.st_gid)) && errno) {
+		weprintf("getgrgid:");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	h = (void *)b;
+	memset(b, 0, sizeof(b));
+	estrlcpy(h->name,    path,                        sizeof(h->name));
+	putoctal(h->mode,    (unsigned)st.st_mode & 0777, sizeof(h->mode));
+	putoctal(h->uid,     (unsigned)st.st_uid,         sizeof(h->uid));
+	putoctal(h->gid,     (unsigned)st.st_gid,         sizeof(h->gid));
+	putoctal(h->size,    0,                           sizeof(h->size));
+	putoctal(h->mtime,   (unsigned)st.st_mtime,       sizeof(h->mtime));
+	memcpy(  h->magic,   "ustar",                     sizeof(h->magic));
+	memcpy(  h->version, "00",                        sizeof(h->version));
+	estrlcpy(h->uname,   pw ? pw->pw_name : "",       sizeof(h->uname));
+	estrlcpy(h->gname,   gr ? gr->gr_name : "",       sizeof(h->gname));
+
+	if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+		h->type = REG;
+		putoctal(h->size, (unsigned)st.st_size,  sizeof(h->size));
+		f = fopen(path, "r");
+	} else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+		h->type = DIRECTORY;
+	} else if (S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
+		h->type = SYMLINK;
+		if ((r = readlink(path, h->link, sizeof(h->link) - 1)) < 0)
+			eprintf("readlink %s:", path);
+		h->link[r] = '\0';
+	} else if (S_ISCHR(st.st_mode) || S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
+		h->type = S_ISCHR(st.st_mode) ? CHARDEV : BLOCKDEV;
+		putoctal(h->major, (unsigned)major(st.st_dev), sizeof(h->major));
+		putoctal(h->minor, (unsigned)minor(st.st_dev), sizeof(h->minor));
+	} else if (S_ISFIFO(st.st_mode)) {
 		h->type = FIFO;
 	}
 
-	memset(h->chksum, ' ', sizeof h->chksum);
-	for (x = 0, chksum = 0; x < sizeof *h; x++)
+	memset(h->chksum, ' ', sizeof(h->chksum));
+	for (x = 0, chksum = 0; x < sizeof(*h); x++)
 		chksum += b[x];
-	putoctal(h->chksum, chksum, sizeof h->chksum);
+	putoctal(h->chksum, chksum, sizeof(h->chksum));
 
-	fwrite(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile);
-	if (!f)
-		return 0;
-	while ((l = fread(b, 1, BLKSIZ, f)) > 0) {
-		if (l < BLKSIZ)
-			memset(b+l, 0, BLKSIZ-l);
-		fwrite(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile);
+	if (fwrite(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) != 1)
+		eprintf("fwrite:");
+
+	if (f) {
+		while ((l = fread(b, 1, BLKSIZ, f)) > 0) {
+			if (l < BLKSIZ)
+				memset(b + l, 0, BLKSIZ - l);
+			if (fwrite(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) != 1)
+				eprintf("fwrite:");
+		}
+		if (fclose(f) == EOF)
+			eprintf("fclose %s:", path);
 	}
-	fclose(f);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
 static int
-unarchive(char *fname, int l, char b[BLKSIZ])
+unarchive(char *fname, ssize_t l, char b[BLKSIZ])
 {
 	FILE *f = NULL;
 	struct timeval times[2];
-	struct header *h = (void*)b;
-	unsigned long mode, major, minor, type, mtime;
-	char lname[101];
+	struct header *h = (void *)b;
+	long mode, major, minor, type, mtime, uid, gid;
+	char lname[101], *p;
+
+	if (!mflag && ((mtime = strtoul(h->mtime, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0'))
+		eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->mtime);
+	if (unlink(fname) < 0 && errno != ENOENT && errno != EISDIR)
+		eprintf("unlink %s:", fname);
 
-	if (!mflag)
-		mtime = strtoul(h->mtime, 0, 8);
-	unlink(fname);
 	switch (h->type) {
 	case REG:
 	case AREG:
-		mode = strtoul(h->mode, 0, 8);
-		if (!(f = fopen(fname, "w")) || chmod(fname, mode))
-			perror(fname);
+		if ((mode = strtoul(h->mode, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->mode);
+		if (!(f = fopen(fname, "w")))
+			eprintf("fopen %s:", fname);
+		if (chmod(fname, mode) < 0)
+			eprintf("chmod %s:", fname);
 		break;
 	case HARDLINK:
 	case SYMLINK:
-		snprintf(lname, sizeof lname, "%s", h->link);
-		if (!((h->type == HARDLINK) ? link : symlink)(lname, fname))
-			perror(fname);
+		estrlcpy(lname, h->link, sizeof(lname));
+		if (((h->type == HARDLINK) ? link : symlink)(lname, fname) < 0)
+			eprintf("%s %s -> %s:",
+			        (h->type == HARDLINK) ? "link" : "symlink",
+				fname, lname);
 		break;
 	case DIRECTORY:
-		mode = strtoul(h->mode, 0, 8);
-		if (mkdir(fname, (mode_t)mode))
-			perror(fname);
+		if ((mode = strtoul(h->mode, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->mode);
+		if (mkdir(fname, (mode_t)mode) < 0 && errno != EEXIST)
+			eprintf("mkdir %s:", fname);
 		break;
 	case CHARDEV:
 	case BLOCKDEV:
-#ifdef makedev
-		mode = strtoul(h->mode, 0, 8);
-		major = strtoul(h->major, 0, 8);
-		minor = strtoul(h->mode, 0, 8);
+		if ((mode = strtoul(h->mode, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->mode);
+		if ((major = strtoul(h->major, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->major);
+		if ((minor = strtoul(h->minor, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->minor);
 		type = (h->type == CHARDEV) ? S_IFCHR : S_IFBLK;
-		if (mknod(fname, type | mode, makedev(major, minor)))
-			perror(fname);
-#endif
+		if (mknod(fname, type | mode, makedev(major, minor)) < 0)
+			eprintf("mknod %s:", fname);
 		break;
 	case FIFO:
-		mode = strtoul(h->mode, 0, 8);
-		if (mknod(fname, S_IFIFO | mode, 0))
-			perror(fname);
+		if ((mode = strtoul(h->mode, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->mode);
+		if (mknod(fname, S_IFIFO | mode, 0) < 0)
+			eprintf("mknod %s:", fname);
 		break;
 	default:
-		fprintf(stderr, "usupported tarfiletype %c\n", h->type);
+		eprintf("unsupported tar-filetype %c\n", h->type);
 	}
-	if (getuid() == 0 && chown(fname, strtoul(h->uid, 0, 8), strtoul(h->gid, 0, 8)))
-		perror(fname);
+
+	if ((uid = strtoul(h->uid, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+		eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->uid);
+	if ((gid = strtoul(h->gid, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+		eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->gid);
+	if (!getuid() && chown(fname, uid, gid))
+		eprintf("chown %s:", fname);
 
 	for (; l > 0; l -= BLKSIZ) {
-		fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile);
-		if (f)
-			fwrite(b, MIN(l, 512), 1, f);
+		if (fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) != 1)
+			eprintf("fread %s:", tarfilename);
+		if (f && fwrite(b, MIN(l, BLKSIZ), 1, f) != 1)
+			eprintf("fwrite %s:", fname);
 	}
-	if (f)
-		fclose(f);
+	if (f && fclose(f) == EOF)
+		eprintf("fclose %s:", fname);
 
 	if (!mflag) {
 		times[0].tv_sec = times[1].tv_sec = mtime;
 		times[0].tv_usec = times[1].tv_usec = 0;
-		if (utimes(fname, times))
-			perror(fname);
+		if (utimes(fname, times) < 0)
+			eprintf("utimes %s:", fname);
 	}
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
 static int
-print(char * fname, int l, char b[BLKSIZ])
+print(char *fname, ssize_t l, char b[BLKSIZ])
 {
 	puts(fname);
+
 	for (; l > 0; l -= BLKSIZ)
-		fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile);
+		if (fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) != 1)
+			eprintf("fread %s:", tarfilename);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -244,32 +281,42 @@ c(const char *path, struct stat *st, void *data, struct recursor *r)
 }
 
 static void
-xt(int (*fn)(char *, int, char[BLKSIZ]))
+xt(int (*fn)(char *, ssize_t, char[BLKSIZ]))
 {
-	char b[BLKSIZ], fname[257], *s;
-	struct header *h = (void*)b;
+	struct header *h;
+	long size;
+	char b[BLKSIZ], fname[256 + 1], *p;
 
-	while (fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) && h->name[0] != '\0') {
-		s = fname;
-		if (h->prefix[0] != '\0')
-			s += sprintf(s, "%.*s/", (int)sizeof h->prefix, h->prefix);
-		sprintf(s, "%.*s", (int)sizeof h->name, h->name);
-		fn(fname, strtol(h->size, 0, 8), b);
+	h = (void *)b;
+
+	while (fread(b, BLKSIZ, 1, tarfile) == 1 && *(h->name)) {
+		fname[0] = '\0';
+		if (*(h->prefix)) {
+			estrlcat(fname, h->prefix, sizeof(fname));
+			estrlcat(fname, "/", sizeof(fname));
+		}
+		estrlcat(fname, h->name, sizeof(fname));
+		if ((size = strtoul(h->size, &p, 8)) < 0 || *p != '\0')
+			eprintf("strtoul %s: invalid number\n", h->size);
+
+		fn(fname, size, b);
 	}
+	if (ferror(tarfile))
+		eprintf("fread %s:", tarfilename);
 }
 
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	eprintf("usage: tar [-f tarfile] [-C dir] -j|z -x[m]|t\n"
-	        "       tar [-f tarfile] [-C dir] -c dir\n");
+	eprintf("usage: %s [-C dir] [-j | -z] -x [-m | -t] [-f file]\n"
+		"       %s [-C dir] [-h] -c dir [-f file]\n", argv0, argv0);
 }
 
 int
 main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	FILE *fp;
-	struct recursor r = { .fn = c, .hist = NULL, .depth = 0, .follow = 'P', .flags = 0};
+	struct recursor r = { .fn = c, .hist = NULL, .depth = 0, .follow = 'P', .flags = DIRFIRST};
 	struct stat st;
 	char *file = NULL, *dir = ".", mode = '\0';
 
@@ -277,8 +324,6 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	case 'x':
 	case 'c':
 	case 't':
-		if (mode)
-			usage();
 		mode = ARGC();
 		break;
 	case 'C':
@@ -292,8 +337,6 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		break;
 	case 'j':
 	case 'z':
-		if (filtermode)
-			usage();
 		filtermode = ARGC();
 		break;
 	case 'h':
@@ -312,14 +355,17 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if (!(fp = fopen(file, "w")))
 				eprintf("fopen %s:", file);
 			if (lstat(file, &st) < 0)
-				eprintf("tar: stat '%s':", file);
+				eprintf("lstat %s:", file);
 			tarinode = st.st_ino;
 			tardev = st.st_dev;
 			tarfile = fp;
+			tarfilename = file;
 		} else {
 			tarfile = stdout;
+			tarfilename = "<stdout>";
 		}
-		chdir(dir);
+		if (chdir(dir) < 0)
+			eprintf("chdir %s:", dir);
 		recurse(argv[0], NULL, &r);
 		break;
 	case 't':
@@ -331,6 +377,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			fp = stdin;
 		}
 
+		tarfilename = file;
+
 		switch (filtermode) {
 		case 'j':
 		case 'z':
@@ -341,8 +389,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			break;
 		}
 
-		chdir(dir);
-		xt(mode == 'x' ? unarchive : print);
+		if (chdir(dir) < 0)
+			eprintf("chdir %s:", dir);
+		xt((mode == 'x') ? unarchive : print);
 		break;
 	}