diff --git a/coreutils/chown.c b/coreutils/chown.c
index c6c1260..717e4b1 100644
--- a/coreutils/chown.c
+++ b/coreutils/chown.c
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@
 {
 #define param  (*(struct param_t*)vparam)
 #define opt option_mask32
-	uid_t u = (param.ugid.uid == (uid_t)-1) ? statbuf->st_uid : param.ugid.uid;
-	gid_t g = (param.ugid.gid == (gid_t)-1) ? statbuf->st_gid : param.ugid.gid;
+	uid_t u = (param.ugid.uid == (uid_t)-1L) ? statbuf->st_uid : param.ugid.uid;
+	gid_t g = (param.ugid.gid == (gid_t)-1L) ? statbuf->st_gid : param.ugid.gid;
 
 	if (param.chown_func(fileName, u, g) == 0) {
 		if (OPT_VERBOSE
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 		return TRUE;
 	}
 	if (!OPT_QUIET)
-		bb_simple_perror_msg(fileName);	/* A filename can have % in it... */
+		bb_simple_perror_msg(fileName);
 	return FALSE;
 #undef opt
 #undef param
@@ -87,8 +87,9 @@
 	int opt, flags;
 	struct param_t param;
 
-	param.ugid.uid = -1;
-	param.ugid.gid = -1;
+	/* Just -1 might not work: uid_t may be unsigned long */
+	param.ugid.uid = -1L;
+	param.ugid.gid = -1L;
 
 #if ENABLE_FEATURE_CHOWN_LONG_OPTIONS
 	applet_long_options = chown_longopts;
diff --git a/libbb/copy_file.c b/libbb/copy_file.c
index 6c64fab..ed765d8 100644
--- a/libbb/copy_file.c
+++ b/libbb/copy_file.c
@@ -316,9 +316,9 @@
 #endif
 		if (bb_copyfd_eof(src_fd, dst_fd) == -1)
 			retval = -1;
-		/* Ok, writing side I can understand... */
+		/* Careful with writing... */
 		if (close(dst_fd) < 0) {
-			bb_perror_msg("can't close '%s'", dest);
+			bb_perror_msg("error writing to '%s'", dest);
 			retval = -1;
 		}
 		/* ...but read size is already checked by bb_copyfd_eof */