diff --git a/doc/us/manual.html b/doc/us/manual.html
index 0ecb625..3555e3d 100644
--- a/doc/us/manual.html
+++ b/doc/us/manual.html
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ LuaFileSystem offers the following functions:
 <dl class="reference">
     <dt><a name="attributes"></a><strong><code>lfs.attributes (filepath [, aname | atable])</code></strong></dt>
     <dd>Returns a table with the file attributes corresponding to
-    <code>filepath</code> (or <code>nil</code> followed by an error message
+    <code>filepath</code> (or <code>nil</code> followed by an error message and a system-dependent error code
     in case of error).
     If the second optional argument is given and is a string, then only the value of the
     named attribute is returned (this use is equivalent to
@@ -222,14 +222,14 @@ LuaFileSystem offers the following functions:
     <dt><a name="mkdir"></a><strong><code>lfs.mkdir (dirname)</code></strong></dt>
     <dd>Creates a new directory. The argument is the name of the new
     directory.<br />
-    Returns <code>true</code> if the operation was successful;
-    in case of error, it returns <code>nil</code> plus an error string.
+    Returns <code>true</code> in case of success or <code>nil</code>, an error message and
+    a system-dependent error code in case of error.
     </dd>
     
     <dt><a name="rmdir"></a><strong><code>lfs.rmdir (dirname)</code></strong></dt>
     <dd>Removes an existing directory. The argument is the name of the directory.<br />
-    Returns <code>true</code> if the operation was successful;
-    in case of error, it returns <code>nil</code> plus an error string.</dd>
+    Returns <code>true</code> in case of success or <code>nil</code>, an error message and
+    a system-dependent error code in case of error.
 
     <dt><a name="setmode"></a><strong><code>lfs.setmode (file, mode)</code></strong></dt>
     <dd>Sets the writing mode for a file. The mode string can be either <code>"binary"</code> or <code>"text"</code>.
@@ -257,8 +257,8 @@ LuaFileSystem offers the following functions:
     Lua standard function <code>os.time</code>).
     If the modification time is omitted, the access time provided is used;
     if both times are omitted, the current time is used.<br />
-    Returns <code>true</code> if the operation was successful;
-    in case of error, it returns <code>nil</code> plus an error string.
+    Returns <code>true</code> in case of success or <code>nil</code>, an error message and
+    a system-dependent error code in case of error.
     </dd>
     
     <dt><a name="unlock"></a><strong><code>lfs.unlock (filehandle[, start[, length]])</code></strong></dt>
diff --git a/src/lfs.c b/src/lfs.c
index be6977e..dc799a4 100644
--- a/src/lfs.c
+++ b/src/lfs.c
@@ -123,6 +123,13 @@ typedef struct dir_data {
 #define LSTAT_FUNC lstat
 #endif
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  #define lfs_mkdir _mkdir
+#else
+  #define lfs_mkdir(path) (mkdir((path), \
+    S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR | S_IXUSR | S_IRGRP | S_IWGRP | S_IXGRP | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH))
+#endif
+
 /*
 ** Utility functions
 */
@@ -137,12 +144,13 @@ static int pusherror(lua_State *L, const char *info)
         return 3;
 }
 
-static int pushresult(lua_State *L, int i, const char *info)
-{
-        if (i==-1)
-                return pusherror(L, info);
-        lua_pushinteger(L, i);
-        return 1;
+static int pushresult(lua_State *L, int res, const char *info) {
+  if (res == -1) {
+    return pusherror(L, info);
+  } else {
+    lua_pushboolean(L, 1);
+    return 1;
+  }
 }
 
 
@@ -424,16 +432,20 @@ static int file_unlock (lua_State *L) {
 ** @param #2 Name of link.
 ** @param #3 True if link is symbolic (optional).
 */
-static int make_link(lua_State *L)
-{
+static int make_link (lua_State *L) {
 #ifndef _WIN32
-        const char *oldpath = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
-        const char *newpath = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
-        return pushresult(L,
-                (lua_toboolean(L,3) ? symlink : link)(oldpath, newpath), NULL);
+  const char *oldpath = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
+  const char *newpath = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
+  int res = (lua_toboolean(L,3) ? symlink : link)(oldpath, newpath);
+  if (res == -1) {
+    return pusherror(L, NULL);
+  } else {
+    lua_pushinteger(L, 0);
+    return 1;
+  }
 #else
-        errno = ENOSYS; /* = "Function not implemented" */
-        return pushresult(L, -1, "make_link is not supported on Windows");
+  errno = ENOSYS; /* = "Function not implemented" */
+  return pushresult(L, -1, "make_link is not supported on Windows");
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -443,21 +455,8 @@ static int make_link(lua_State *L)
 ** @param #1 Directory path.
 */
 static int make_dir (lua_State *L) {
-        const char *path = luaL_checkstring (L, 1);
-        int fail;
-#ifdef _WIN32
-        fail = _mkdir (path);
-#else
-        fail =  mkdir (path, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR | S_IXUSR | S_IRGRP |
-                             S_IWGRP | S_IXGRP | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH );
-#endif
-        if (fail) {
-                lua_pushnil (L);
-        lua_pushfstring (L, "%s", strerror(errno));
-                return 2;
-        }
-        lua_pushboolean (L, 1);
-        return 1;
+  const char *path = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
+  return pushresult(L, lfs_mkdir(path), NULL);
 }
 
 
@@ -466,18 +465,8 @@ static int make_dir (lua_State *L) {
 ** @param #1 Directory path.
 */
 static int remove_dir (lua_State *L) {
-        const char *path = luaL_checkstring (L, 1);
-        int fail;
-
-        fail = rmdir (path);
-
-        if (fail) {
-                lua_pushnil (L);
-                lua_pushfstring (L, "%s", strerror(errno));
-                return 2;
-        }
-        lua_pushboolean (L, 1);
-        return 1;
+  const char *path = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
+  return pushresult(L, rmdir(path), NULL);
 }
 
 
@@ -664,26 +653,24 @@ static const char *mode2string (mode_t mode) {
 
 
 /*
-** Set access time and modification values for file
+** Set access time and modification values for a file.
+** @param #1 File path.
+** @param #2 Access time in seconds, current time is used if missing.
+** @param #3 Modification time in seconds, access time is used if missing.
 */
 static int file_utime (lua_State *L) {
-        const char *file = luaL_checkstring (L, 1);
-        struct utimbuf utb, *buf;
+  const char *file = luaL_checkstring(L, 1);
+  struct utimbuf utb, *buf;
 
-        if (lua_gettop (L) == 1) /* set to current date/time */
-                buf = NULL;
-        else {
-                utb.actime = (time_t)luaL_optnumber (L, 2, 0);
-                utb.modtime = (time_t) luaL_optinteger (L, 3, utb.actime);
-                buf = &utb;
-        }
-        if (utime (file, buf)) {
-                lua_pushnil (L);
-                lua_pushfstring (L, "%s", strerror (errno));
-                return 2;
-        }
-        lua_pushboolean (L, 1);
-        return 1;
+  if (lua_gettop (L) == 1) /* set to current date/time */
+    buf = NULL;
+  else {
+    utb.actime = (time_t) luaL_optnumber(L, 2, 0);
+    utb.modtime = (time_t) luaL_optinteger(L, 3, utb.actime);
+    buf = &utb;
+  }
+
+  return pushresult(L, utime(file, buf), NULL);
 }
 
 
@@ -820,7 +807,8 @@ static int _file_info_ (lua_State *L, int (*st)(const char*, STAT_STRUCT*)) {
         if (st(file, &info)) {
                 lua_pushnil(L);
                 lua_pushfstring(L, "cannot obtain information from file '%s': %s", file, strerror(errno));
-                return 2;
+                lua_pushinteger(L, errno);
+                return 3;
         }
         if (lua_isstring (L, 2)) {
                 const char *member = lua_tostring (L, 2);
diff --git a/tests/test.lua b/tests/test.lua
index 10810fe..591ee25 100644
--- a/tests/test.lua
+++ b/tests/test.lua
@@ -152,7 +152,10 @@ io.write(".")
 io.flush()
 
 -- Trying to get attributes of a non-existent file
-assert (lfs.attributes ("this couldn't be an actual file") == nil, "could get attributes of a non-existent file")
+local attr_ok, err, errno = lfs.attributes("this couldn't be an actual file")
+assert(attr_ok == nil, "could get attributes of a non-existent file")
+assert(type(err) == "string", "failed lfs.attributes did not return an error message")
+assert(type(errno) == "number", "failed lfs.attributes did not return error code")
 assert (type(lfs.attributes (upper)) == "table", "couldn't get attributes of upper directory")
 
 io.write(".")