diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.c b/src/util/vircgroup.c
index c7ebf8d2706f8e87d2f2ba5fefd0e70023e2f3d7..fce380ab5f6f7ea87462a6ce5d818d4a3625555b 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.c
@@ -3137,6 +3137,7 @@ virCgroupRemoveRecursively(char *grppath)
     DIR *grpdir;
     struct dirent *ent;
     int rc = 0;
+    int direrr;
 
     grpdir = opendir(grppath);
     if (grpdir == NULL) {
@@ -3147,17 +3148,11 @@ virCgroupRemoveRecursively(char *grppath)
         return rc;
     }
 
-    for (;;) {
+    /* This is best-effort cleanup: we want to log failures with just
+     * VIR_ERROR instead of normal virReportError */
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(grpdir, &ent, NULL)) > 0) {
         char *path;
 
-        errno = 0;
-        ent = readdir(grpdir);
-        if (ent == NULL) {
-            if ((rc = -errno))
-                VIR_ERROR(_("Failed to readdir for %s (%d)"), grppath, errno);
-            break;
-        }
-
         if (ent->d_name[0] == '.') continue;
         if (ent->d_type != DT_DIR) continue;
 
@@ -3170,6 +3165,11 @@ virCgroupRemoveRecursively(char *grppath)
         if (rc != 0)
             break;
     }
+    if (direrr < 0) {
+        rc = -errno;
+        VIR_ERROR(_("Failed to readdir for %s (%d)"), grppath, errno);
+    }
+
     closedir(grpdir);
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Removing cgroup %s", grppath);
@@ -3373,6 +3373,7 @@ virCgroupKillRecursiveInternal(virCgroupPtr group,
     DIR *dp;
     virCgroupPtr subgroup = NULL;
     struct dirent *ent;
+    int direrr;
     VIR_DEBUG("group=%p path=%s signum=%d pids=%p",
               group, group->path, signum, pids);
 
@@ -3396,7 +3397,7 @@ virCgroupKillRecursiveInternal(virCgroupPtr group,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    while ((ent = readdir(dp))) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dp, &ent, keypath)) > 0) {
         if (STREQ(ent->d_name, "."))
             continue;
         if (STREQ(ent->d_name, ".."))
@@ -3420,6 +3421,8 @@ virCgroupKillRecursiveInternal(virCgroupPtr group,
 
         virCgroupFree(&subgroup);
     }
+    if (direrr < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
 
  done:
     ret = killedAny ? 1 : 0;
@@ -3701,6 +3704,7 @@ int virCgroupSetOwner(virCgroupPtr cgroup,
     size_t i;
     char *base = NULL, *entry = NULL;
     DIR *dh = NULL;
+    int direrr;
 
     for (i = 0; i < VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LAST; i++) {
         struct dirent *de;
@@ -3721,7 +3725,7 @@ int virCgroupSetOwner(virCgroupPtr cgroup,
             goto cleanup;
         }
 
-        while ((de = readdir(dh)) != NULL) {
+        while ((direrr = virDirRead(dh, &de, base)) > 0) {
             if (STREQ(de->d_name, ".") ||
                 STREQ(de->d_name, ".."))
                 continue;
@@ -3738,6 +3742,8 @@ int virCgroupSetOwner(virCgroupPtr cgroup,
 
             VIR_FREE(entry);
         }
+        if (direrr < 0)
+            goto cleanup;
 
         if (chown(base, uid, gid) < 0) {
             virReportSystemError(errno,
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.c b/src/util/virfile.c
index 34811243c892b58bacd719dbfc491c9e08b88604..bb1e7ba7bb602b65bbd3982e0abb5f34043d52e7 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virfile.c
@@ -607,6 +607,7 @@ static int virFileLoopDeviceOpenSearch(char **dev_name)
     struct dirent *de;
     char *looppath = NULL;
     struct loop_info64 lo;
+    int direrr;
 
     VIR_DEBUG("Looking for loop devices in /dev");
 
@@ -616,8 +617,7 @@ static int virFileLoopDeviceOpenSearch(char **dev_name)
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    errno = 0;
-    while ((de = readdir(dh)) != NULL) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dh, &de, "/dev")) > 0) {
         /* Checking 'loop' prefix is insufficient, since
          * new kernels have a dev named 'loop-control'
          */
@@ -650,15 +650,11 @@ static int virFileLoopDeviceOpenSearch(char **dev_name)
         /* Oh well, try the next device */
         VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
         VIR_FREE(looppath);
-        errno = 0;
     }
-
-    if (errno != 0)
-        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
-                             _("Unable to iterate over loop devices"));
-    else
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                       _("Unable to find a free loop device in /dev"));
+    if (direrr < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                   _("Unable to find a free loop device in /dev"));
 
  cleanup:
     if (fd != -1) {
@@ -781,6 +777,7 @@ virFileNBDDeviceFindUnused(void)
     DIR *dh;
     char *ret = NULL;
     struct dirent *de;
+    int direrr;
 
     if (!(dh = opendir(SYSFS_BLOCK_DIR))) {
         virReportSystemError(errno,
@@ -789,8 +786,7 @@ virFileNBDDeviceFindUnused(void)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    errno = 0;
-    while ((de = readdir(dh)) != NULL) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dh, &de, SYSFS_BLOCK_DIR)) > 0) {
         if (STRPREFIX(de->d_name, "nbd")) {
             int rv = virFileNBDDeviceIsBusy(de->d_name);
             if (rv < 0)
@@ -801,15 +797,11 @@ virFileNBDDeviceFindUnused(void)
                 goto cleanup;
             }
         }
-        errno = 0;
     }
-
-    if (errno != 0)
-        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
-                             _("Unable to iterate over NBD devices"));
-    else
-        virReportSystemError(EBUSY, "%s",
-                             _("No free NBD devices"));
+    if (direrr < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+    virReportSystemError(EBUSY, "%s",
+                         _("No free NBD devices"));
 
  cleanup:
     closedir(dh);
@@ -918,6 +910,7 @@ int virFileDeleteTree(const char *dir)
     struct dirent *de;
     char *filepath = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
+    int direrr;
 
     if (!dh) {
         virReportSystemError(errno, _("Cannot open dir '%s'"),
@@ -925,8 +918,7 @@ int virFileDeleteTree(const char *dir)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    errno = 0;
-    while ((de = readdir(dh)) != NULL) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dh, &de, dir)) > 0) {
         struct stat sb;
 
         if (STREQ(de->d_name, ".") ||
@@ -956,14 +948,9 @@ int virFileDeleteTree(const char *dir)
         }
 
         VIR_FREE(filepath);
-        errno = 0;
     }
-
-    if (errno) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno, _("Cannot read dir '%s'"),
-                             dir);
+    if (direrr < 0)
         goto cleanup;
-    }
 
     if (rmdir(dir) < 0 && errno != ENOENT) {
         virReportSystemError(errno,
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevtap.c b/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
index 03bb4185694e4eda6ed0a3dbf71489f1d66362e6..0b444fad39627481b96b83cb539fa3a5f7e80f5f 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevtap.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2007-2013 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2007-2014 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ virNetDevTapGetRealDeviceName(char *ifname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    while ((dp = readdir(dirp)) != NULL) {
+    while (virDirRead(dirp, &dp, "/dev") > 0) {
         if (STRPREFIX(dp->d_name, "tap")) {
             struct ifreq ifr;
             if (virAsprintf(&devpath, "/dev/%s", dp->d_name) < 0) {
@@ -139,14 +139,8 @@ virNetDevTapGetRealDeviceName(char *ifname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
             VIR_FREE(devpath);
             VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
         }
-
-        errno = 0;
     }
 
-    if (errno != 0)
-        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s",
-                             _("Unable to iterate over TAP devices"));
-
  cleanup:
     VIR_FREE(devpath);
     VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
diff --git a/src/util/virpci.c b/src/util/virpci.c
index af0bfa8b38f424125e84f42f3210f31b2846b92b..e0f2344286bfdcc07cf04b6b66852c4a6ce351c9 100644
--- a/src/util/virpci.c
+++ b/src/util/virpci.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virpci.c: helper APIs for managing host PCI devices
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2013 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ virPCIDeviceIterDevices(virPCIDeviceIterPredicate predicate,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while ((ret = virDirRead(dir, &entry, PCI_SYSFS "devices")) > 0) {
         unsigned int domain, bus, slot, function;
         virPCIDevicePtr check;
         char *tmp;
@@ -1907,6 +1907,7 @@ int virPCIDeviceFileIterate(virPCIDevicePtr dev,
     DIR *dir = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
     struct dirent *ent;
+    int direrr;
 
     if (virAsprintf(&pcidir, "/sys/bus/pci/devices/%04x:%02x:%02x.%x",
                     dev->domain, dev->bus, dev->slot, dev->function) < 0)
@@ -1918,7 +1919,7 @@ int virPCIDeviceFileIterate(virPCIDevicePtr dev,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    while ((ent = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dir, &ent, pcidir)) > 0) {
         /* Device assignment requires:
          *   $PCIDIR/config, $PCIDIR/resource, $PCIDIR/resourceNNN,
          *   $PCIDIR/rom, $PCIDIR/reset
@@ -1935,6 +1936,8 @@ int virPCIDeviceFileIterate(virPCIDevicePtr dev,
             VIR_FREE(file);
         }
     }
+    if (direrr < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
 
     ret = 0;
 
@@ -1961,6 +1964,7 @@ virPCIDeviceAddressIOMMUGroupIterate(virPCIDeviceAddressPtr orig,
     DIR *groupDir = NULL;
     int ret = -1;
     struct dirent *ent;
+    int direrr;
 
     if (virAsprintf(&groupPath,
                     PCI_SYSFS "devices/%04x:%02x:%02x.%x/iommu_group/devices",
@@ -1973,7 +1977,7 @@ virPCIDeviceAddressIOMMUGroupIterate(virPCIDeviceAddressPtr orig,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    while ((errno = 0, ent = readdir(groupDir)) != NULL) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(groupDir, &ent, groupPath)) > 0) {
         virPCIDeviceAddress newDev;
 
         if (ent->d_name[0] == '.')
@@ -1989,12 +1993,8 @@ virPCIDeviceAddressIOMMUGroupIterate(virPCIDeviceAddressPtr orig,
         if ((actor)(&newDev, opaque) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
     }
-    if (errno != 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno,
-                             _("Failed to read directory entry for %s"),
-                             groupPath);
+    if (direrr < 0)
         goto cleanup;
-    }
 
     ret = 0;
 
@@ -2638,7 +2638,7 @@ virPCIGetNetName(char *device_link_sysfs_path, char **netname)
     if (dir == NULL)
         goto out;
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while (virDirRead(dir, &entry, pcidev_sysfs_net_path) > 0) {
         if (STREQ(entry->d_name, ".") ||
             STREQ(entry->d_name, ".."))
             continue;
diff --git a/src/util/virscsi.c b/src/util/virscsi.c
index 572b818e05a4dbcdd6e180e70f7d6d43c4e8de4f..9a0205ff886a55836de249c5a29180eea48d0a79 100644
--- a/src/util/virscsi.c
+++ b/src/util/virscsi.c
@@ -133,12 +133,13 @@ virSCSIDeviceGetSgName(const char *sysfs_prefix,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while (virDirRead(dir, &entry, path) > 0) {
         if (entry->d_name[0] == '.')
             continue;
 
-        if (VIR_STRDUP(sg, entry->d_name) < 0)
-            goto cleanup;
+        /* Assume a single directory entry */
+        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(sg, entry->d_name));
+        break;
     }
 
  cleanup:
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ virSCSIDeviceGetDevName(const char *sysfs_prefix,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while (virDirRead(dir, &entry, path) > 0) {
         if (entry->d_name[0] == '.')
             continue;
 
diff --git a/src/util/virusb.c b/src/util/virusb.c
index d959f5fd5c7742b3381f444a5dad2f2cc27dba98..8244771a9f5c1f85745af9b59723bfc42bb858a0 100644
--- a/src/util/virusb.c
+++ b/src/util/virusb.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virusb.c: helper APIs for managing host USB devices
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2013 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ virUSBDeviceSearch(unsigned int vendor,
     struct dirent *de;
     virUSBDeviceListPtr list = NULL, ret = NULL;
     virUSBDevicePtr usb;
+    int direrr;
 
     if (!(list = virUSBDeviceListNew()))
         goto cleanup;
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ virUSBDeviceSearch(unsigned int vendor,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    while ((de = readdir(dir))) {
+    while ((direrr = virDirRead(dir, &de, USB_SYSFS "/devices")) > 0) {
         unsigned int found_prod, found_vend, found_bus, found_devno;
         char *tmpstr = de->d_name;
 
@@ -197,6 +198,8 @@ virUSBDeviceSearch(unsigned int vendor,
         if (found)
             break;
     }
+    if (direrr < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
     ret = list;
 
  cleanup:
diff --git a/src/util/virutil.c b/src/util/virutil.c
index 9be15907b881aecd598a9c0fe3c75c124c1cec48..875e2b0f1a7ecb19878f1a320e1e17948cba292b 100644
--- a/src/util/virutil.c
+++ b/src/util/virutil.c
@@ -1867,7 +1867,7 @@ virGetFCHostNameByWWN(const char *sysfs_prefix,
             p = buf;                                  \
     } while (0)
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while (virDirRead(dir, &entry, prefix) > 0) {
         if (entry->d_name[0] == '.')
             continue;
 
@@ -1949,7 +1949,7 @@ virFindFCHostCapableVport(const char *sysfs_prefix)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    while ((entry = readdir(dir))) {
+    while (virDirRead(dir, &entry, prefix) > 0) {
         unsigned int host;
         char *p = NULL;