diff --git a/src/database.h b/src/database.h
index c5eaa51..808e9c3 100644
--- a/src/database.h
+++ b/src/database.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ typedef struct {
   int fd;
   int flags;
   char path[PATH_MAX];
-  char error[256];
 } imdb_db_t;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/imdb-query.c b/src/imdb-query.c
index 8717e68..946d931 100644
--- a/src/imdb-query.c
+++ b/src/imdb-query.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ int search_similar(imdb_db_t *db, uint64_t number, float maxdiff)
 
   sample.num = number;
   if ((ret = imdb_search(db, &sample, &search, &matches)) < 0) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", db->error);
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", imdb_error(ret));
     return 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/imdb-write.c b/src/imdb-write.c
index 9cfb911..99c03b5 100644
--- a/src/imdb-write.c
+++ b/src/imdb-write.c
@@ -86,14 +86,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         fprintf(stderr, "sampler failure\n");
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
       }
-      if (imdb_write_rec(db, &rec) < 1) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", db->error);
+      if ((err = imdb_write_rec(db, &rec)) < 1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", imdb_error(err));
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
       }
       break;
     case del :
-      if (imdb_write_rec(db, &rec) < 1) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", db->error);
+      if ((err = imdb_write_rec(db, &rec)) < 1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", imdb_error(err));
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
       }
       break;