diff --git a/builtin_set.cpp b/builtin_set.cpp
index a29696be1..7eec8eb4b 100644
--- a/builtin_set.cpp
+++ b/builtin_set.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static int my_env_set( const wchar_t *key, wcstring_list_t &val, int scope )
 			int show_hint = 0;
 			
 			struct stat buff;
-			const wchar_t *dir = val[ i ].c_str();
+			const wchar_t *dir = val[i].c_str();
 			
 			if( wstat( dir, &buff ) )
 			{
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ static int my_env_set( const wchar_t *key, wcstring_list_t &val, int scope )
 			if( error )
 			{
 				const wchar_t *colon;
-				
                 append_format(stderr_buffer, _(BUILTIN_SET_PATH_ERROR), L"set", dir, key);
 				colon = wcschr( dir, L':' );
 				
diff --git a/common.cpp b/common.cpp
index 0bdb2035b..38ca4d434 100644
--- a/common.cpp
+++ b/common.cpp
@@ -460,10 +460,13 @@ wcstring vformat_string(const wchar_t *format, va_list va_orig)
 
 void append_format(wcstring &str, const wchar_t *format, ...)
 {
+    /* Preserve errno across this call since it likes to stomp on it */
+    int err = errno;
 	va_list va;
 	va_start( va, format );
     str.append(vformat_string(format, va));
 	va_end( va );
+    errno = err;
 }
 
 wchar_t *wcsvarname( const wchar_t *str )
diff --git a/wutil.cpp b/wutil.cpp
index 6ef3642f3..2e087aa83 100644
--- a/wutil.cpp
+++ b/wutil.cpp
@@ -372,6 +372,9 @@ const wchar_t *wgettext( const wchar_t *in )
 {
 	if( !in )
 		return in;
+        
+	// preserve errno across this since this is often used in printing error messages
+	int err = errno;
 	
     wgettext_init_if_necessary();
     
@@ -384,6 +387,7 @@ const wchar_t *wgettext( const wchar_t *in )
         char *out = gettext(mbs_in.c_str());
         val = new wcstring(format_string(L"%s", out));
     }
+	errno = err;
 	return val->c_str();
 }