diff --git a/tests/check_lib.c b/tests/check_lib.c
index 154798a..8598980 100644
--- a/tests/check_lib.c
+++ b/tests/check_lib.c
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ dispatch_subcmds (
         status = subcmd_prng(argc, argv);
     } else if (0 == strcmp("watcher", cmd)) {
         status = check_watcher(argc, argv);
+    } else {
+        log_printf("bad subcmd '%s'", cmd);
     }
     return status;
 }
@@ -87,6 +89,7 @@ subcmd_hash (
         break;
 
       default:
+        log_printf("bad option '-%c'", optopt);
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -110,6 +113,7 @@ subcmd_prng (
                 "%16" SCNx64 "%16" SCNx64 "%16" SCNx64 "%16" SCNx64,
                 &seed[0], &seed[1], &seed[2], &seed[3]);
         if (cnt != 4) {
+            log_printf("bad seed '%s'", optarg);
             return -1;
         }
         break;
@@ -119,6 +123,7 @@ subcmd_prng (
         break;
 
       default:
+        log_printf("bad option '-%c'", optopt);
         return -1;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/check_lib.h b/tests/check_lib.h
index e95ccc5..4d73dbe 100644
--- a/tests/check_lib.h
+++ b/tests/check_lib.h
@@ -23,11 +23,15 @@
 
 #include "xstd.h"
 
-#define ASSERT_EXPR(cond, action_if_false)           \
-    if (!(cond)) {                                   \
-        log_printf("assertion (%s) failed", #cond);  \
-        action_if_false                              \
-    }
+#define ASSERT_EXPR_INT(expr, r, cond, action_if_false)        \
+    do {                                                       \
+        int r = (expr);                                        \
+        if (cond) {                                            \
+            break;                                             \
+        }                                                      \
+        log_printf("assertion failed: (%d == %s)", r, #expr);  \
+        action_if_false                                        \
+    } while (0)
 
 int
 check_watcher (
diff --git a/tests/check_watcher.c b/tests/check_watcher.c
index 444f4c2..9523aef 100644
--- a/tests/check_watcher.c
+++ b/tests/check_watcher.c
@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ do_check_watcher (
 #define FILE1_NAME  "foo.tmp"
 #define FILE2_NAME  "bar.tmp"
 
-#define ASSERT_EQ(val, expr)  ASSERT_EXPR((val) == (expr), goto end;)
-#define ASSERT_NE(val, expr)  ASSERT_EXPR((val) != (expr), goto end;)
+#define ASSERT_EQ(val, expr)  ASSERT_EXPR_INT(expr, r_, (val) == r_, goto end;)
+#define ASSERT_NE(val, expr)  ASSERT_EXPR_INT(expr, r_, (val) != r_, goto end;)
 
-    unsigned long msecs = 100;
-    int           tries = 5;
+    unsigned long msecs = 50;
+    int           tries = 10;
     if (flags & WATCHER_FALLBACK) {
         msecs = 2500;
         tries = 2;
@@ -63,12 +63,15 @@ do_check_watcher (
 
     int status = -1;
     int fd     = -1;
+    struct watcher *w = NULL;
 
     fd = openat(dirfd, FILE1_NAME, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT, 0600);
     ASSERT_NE(-1, fd);
 
-    struct watcher *w = watcher_create(dirfd, FILE1_NAME, flags);
-    ASSERT_NE(NULL, w);
+    w = watcher_create(dirfd, FILE1_NAME, flags);
+    if (w == NULL) {
+        goto end;
+    }
     // Check for spurious zero returns.
     ASSERT_EQ(-ETIMEDOUT, wait_for_watcher(w, &ts, tries));
 
@@ -79,7 +82,9 @@ do_check_watcher (
 #if defined(__FreeBSD__)
     // For kevent() EVFILT_VNODE, ftruncate() only triggers NOTE_ATTRIB,
     // which we don't want to watch.
-    check_truncate = flags & WATCHER_FALLBACK;
+    if (!(flags & WATCHER_FALLBACK)) {
+        check_truncate = false;
+    }
 #endif
     if (check_truncate) {
         ASSERT_EQ(0, ftruncate(fd, 0));
@@ -90,10 +95,19 @@ do_check_watcher (
     ASSERT_NE(-1, fd2);
     close(fd2);
 
+    bool close_fd = false;
+#if defined(__linux__)
     // FAN_DELETE_SELF won't fire if the watched file
     // is still opened somewhere.
-    close(fd);
-    fd = -1;
+    if (!(flags & WATCHER_FALLBACK)) {
+        close_fd = true;
+    }
+#endif
+    if (close_fd) {
+        close(fd);
+        fd = -1;
+    }
+
     ASSERT_EQ(0, renameat(dirfd, FILE2_NAME, dirfd, FILE1_NAME));
     ASSERT_EQ(0, wait_for_watcher(w, &ts, tries));
 
@@ -165,18 +179,22 @@ check_watcher (
         break;
 
       default:
+        log_printf("bad option '-%c'", optopt);
         return -1;
     }
     argc -= optind;
     if (argc < 1) {
+        log_puts("path not specified");
         return -1;
     }
     argv += optind;
 
     int dirfd = open(argv[0], O_RDONLY | O_DIRECTORY);
     if (dirfd < 0) {
+        log_printf("failed to open '%s'", argv[0]);
         return -1;
     }
+
     int status = do_check_watcher(dirfd, flags);
     close(dirfd);
     return status;