diff --git a/src/sources/files.c b/src/sources/files.c
index df75974..a8c2abb 100644
--- a/src/sources/files.c
+++ b/src/sources/files.c
@@ -14,12 +14,15 @@
 
 #define MODNAME "files"
 
+#define FREE(x)   { free(x);   x = NULL; }
+#define FCLOSE(x) { fclose(x); x = NULL; }
+
 typedef struct f2b_file_t {
   struct f2b_file_t *next;
   uint32_t lines;
   uint32_t stag;
   FILE *fd;
-  char path[PATH_MAX];
+  char *path;
   struct stat st;
 } f2b_file_t;
 
@@ -34,34 +37,32 @@ struct _config {
 #include "source.c"
 
 static bool
-file_open(f2b_file_t *file, const char *path) {
+file_open(const cfg_t *cfg, f2b_file_t *file) {
   FILE *fd;
   struct stat st;
-  char buf[PATH_MAX] = "";
 
   assert(file != NULL);
-  assert(path != NULL || file->path[0] != '\0');
-
-  strlcpy(buf, path ? path : file->path, sizeof(buf));
 
-  memset(file, 0x0, sizeof(f2b_file_t));
-
-  if (stat(buf, &st) != 0)
+  if (stat(file->path, &st) != 0)
     return false;
 
-  if (!(S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISFIFO(st.st_mode)))
+  if (!(S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISFIFO(st.st_mode))) {
+    log_msg(cfg, error, "not a regular file/fifo: %s", file->path);
     return false;
+  }
 
-  if ((fd = fopen(buf, "r")) == NULL)
+  if ((fd = fopen(file->path, "r")) == NULL) {
+    log_msg(cfg, error, "can't open file: %s -- %s", file->path, strerror(errno));
     return false;
+  }
 
   if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) && fseek(fd, 0, SEEK_END) < 0) {
-    fclose(fd);
+    log_msg(cfg, error, "fseek error: %s -- %s", file->path, strerror(errno));
+    FCLOSE(fd);
     return false;
   }
 
   memcpy(&file->st, &st, sizeof(st));
-  strlcpy(file->path, buf, sizeof(file->path));
   file->fd = fd;
   file->stag = fnv_32a_str(file->path, FNV1_32A_INIT);
 
@@ -72,11 +73,8 @@ static void
 file_close(f2b_file_t *file) {
   assert(file != NULL);
 
-  if (file->fd == NULL)
-    return;
-
-  fclose(file->fd);
-  file->fd = NULL;
+  FCLOSE(file->fd);
+  FREE(file->path);
   file->lines = 0;
   memset(&file->st, 0, sizeof(struct stat));
 }
@@ -169,17 +167,23 @@ start(cfg_t *cfg) {
     return NULL;
 
   for (size_t i = 0; i < globbuf.gl_pathc; i++) {
-    if ((file = calloc(1, sizeof(f2b_file_t))) == NULL)
+    if ((file = calloc(1, sizeof(f2b_file_t))) == NULL) {
+      log_msg(cfg, error, "can't allocate memory: %s", strerror(errno));
       continue;
-    if (file_open(file, globbuf.gl_pathv[i]) == false) {
-      log_msg(cfg, error, "can't open file: %s -- %s", globbuf.gl_pathv[i], strerror(errno));
-      free(file);
+    }
+    if ((file->path = strndup(globbuf.gl_pathv[i], PATH_MAX)) == NULL) {
+      FREE(file);
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (!file_open(cfg, file)) {
+      FREE(file->path);
+      FREE(file);
       continue;
     }
-    if (cfg->files == NULL) {
+    if (cfg->files) {
+      file->next = cfg->files;
       cfg->files = file;
     } else {
-      file->next = cfg->files;
       cfg->files = file;
     }
   }
@@ -197,7 +201,7 @@ stop(cfg_t *cfg) {
   for (; cfg->files != NULL; cfg->files = next) {
     next = cfg->files->next;
     file_close(cfg->files);
-    free(cfg->files);
+    FREE(cfg->files);
   }
 
   return true;
@@ -215,11 +219,8 @@ next(cfg_t *cfg, char *buf, size_t bufsize, bool reset) {
   for (f2b_file_t *file = cfg->current; file != NULL; file = file->next) {
     if (file_rotated(cfg, file))
       file_close(file);
-    if (file->fd == NULL) {
-      if (!file_open(file, NULL))
-        log_msg(cfg, error, "can't open file: %s", file->path);
+    if (file->fd == NULL && !file_open(cfg, file))
       continue;
-    }
     if (file_getline(cfg, file, buf, bufsize))
       return file->stag;
   }
@@ -260,5 +261,5 @@ void
 destroy(cfg_t *cfg) {
   assert(cfg != NULL);
 
-  free(cfg);
+  FREE(cfg);
 }