diff --git a/lib/libfetch/common.c b/lib/libfetch/common.c
index ab81b5821f7..94ebfa21eda 100644
--- a/lib/libfetch/common.c
+++ b/lib/libfetch/common.c
@@ -976,13 +976,13 @@ fetch_read(conn_t *conn, char *buf, size_t len)
 		else
 #endif
 			rlen = fetch_socket_read(conn->sd, buf, len);
-		if (rlen > 0) {
+		if (rlen >= 0) {
 			break;
 		} else if (rlen == FETCH_READ_ERROR) {
-			if (errno == EINTR)
-				break;
+			fetch_syserr();
 			return (-1);
 		}
+		// assert(rlen == FETCH_READ_WAIT);
 		if (fetchTimeout > 0) {
 			gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
 			if (!timercmp(&timeout, &now, >)) {
@@ -1079,7 +1079,7 @@ fetch_writev(conn_t *conn, struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt)
 	struct timeval now, timeout, delta;
 	struct pollfd pfd;
 	ssize_t wlen, total;
-	int deltams, r;
+	int deltams;
 
 	memset(&pfd, 0, sizeof pfd);
 	if (fetchTimeout) {
@@ -1093,20 +1093,17 @@ fetch_writev(conn_t *conn, struct iovec *iov, int iovcnt)
 	while (iovcnt > 0) {
 		while (fetchTimeout && pfd.revents == 0) {
 			gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
-			delta.tv_sec = timeout.tv_sec - now.tv_sec;
-			delta.tv_usec = timeout.tv_usec - now.tv_usec;
-			if (delta.tv_usec < 0) {
-				delta.tv_usec += 1000000;
-				delta.tv_sec--;
-			}
-			if (delta.tv_sec < 0) {
+			if (!timercmp(&timeout, &now, >)) {
 				errno = ETIMEDOUT;
 				fetch_syserr();
 				return (-1);
 			}
-			deltams = delta.tv_sec * 1000 + delta.tv_usec / 1000;;
+			timersub(&timeout, &now, &delta);
+			deltams = delta.tv_sec * 1000 +
+			    delta.tv_usec / 1000;
 			errno = 0;
-			if ((r = poll(&pfd, 1, deltams)) == -1) {
+			pfd.revents = 0;
+			if (poll(&pfd, 1, deltams) < 0) {
 				if (errno == EINTR && fetchRestartCalls)
 					continue;
 				return (-1);
diff --git a/lib/libfetch/http.c b/lib/libfetch/http.c
index fc43a97fbdb..676cbb76d96 100644
--- a/lib/libfetch/http.c
+++ b/lib/libfetch/http.c
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ http_growbuf(struct httpio *io, size_t len)
 /*
  * Fill the input buffer, do chunk decoding on the fly
  */
-static int
+static ssize_t
 http_fillbuf(struct httpio *io, size_t len)
 {
 	ssize_t nbytes;
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ http_fillbuf(struct httpio *io, size_t len)
 	if (io->chunksize == 0) {
 		switch (http_new_chunk(io)) {
 		case -1:
-			io->error = 1;
+			io->error = EPROTO;
 			return (-1);
 		case 0:
 			io->eof = 1;
@@ -276,10 +276,12 @@ http_readfn(void *v, char *buf, int len)
 
 	/* empty buffer */
 	if (!io->buf || io->bufpos == io->buflen) {
-		if (http_fillbuf(io, len) < 1) {
-			if (io->error == EINTR)
+		if ((rlen = http_fillbuf(io, len)) < 0) {
+			if ((errno = io->error) == EINTR)
 				io->error = 0;
 			return (-1);
+		} else if (rlen == 0) {
+			return (0);
 		}
 	}