diff --git a/src/kill_all/kill_all.c b/src/kill_all/kill_all.c
index 039c7352e..e4279bee4 100644
--- a/src/kill_all/kill_all.c
+++ b/src/kill_all/kill_all.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ static bool is_user_process(pid_t pid)
 		temp_pid = -1;
 		while (!feof(fp)) {
 			buf = NULL;
-			if (getline(&buf, &size, fp) != -1) {
+			if (xgetline(&buf, &size, fp) != -1) {
 				sscanf(buf, "PPid: %d", &temp_pid);
 				free(buf);
 			} else {
diff --git a/src/librc/librc-daemon.c b/src/librc/librc-daemon.c
index e23593b9a..90e9c1649 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-daemon.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-daemon.c
@@ -140,8 +140,7 @@ rc_find_pids(const char *exec, const char *const *argv, uid_t uid, pid_t pid)
 	if (exists("/proc/self/status")) {
 		fp = fopen("/proc/self/status", "r");
 		if (fp) {
-			while (!feof(fp)) {
-				rc_getline(&line, &len, fp);
+			while (xgetline(&line, &len, fp) != -1) {
 				if (strncmp(line, "envID:\t0", 8) == 0) {
 					openvz_host = true;
 					break;
@@ -196,8 +195,7 @@ rc_find_pids(const char *exec, const char *const *argv, uid_t uid, pid_t pid)
 				free(buffer);
 				if (!fp)
 					continue;
-				while (!feof(fp)) {
-					rc_getline(&line, &len, fp);
+				while (xgetline(&line, &len, fp) != -1) {
 					if (strncmp(line, "envID:", 6) == 0) {
 						container_pid = !(strncmp(line, "envID:\t0", 8) == 0);
 						break;
@@ -346,7 +344,7 @@ _match_daemon(const char *path, const char *file, RC_STRINGLIST *match)
 	if (!fp)
 		return false;
 
-	while ((rc_getline(&line, &len, fp))) {
+	while (xgetline(&line, &len, fp) != -1) {
 		TAILQ_FOREACH(m, match, entries)
 		    if (strcmp(line, m->value) == 0) {
 			    TAILQ_REMOVE(match, m, entries);
@@ -559,7 +557,7 @@ rc_service_daemons_crashed(const char *service)
 		if (!fp)
 			break;
 
-		while ((rc_getline(&line, &len, fp))) {
+		while (xgetline(&line, &len, fp) != -1) {
 			p = line;
 			if ((token = strsep(&p, "=")) == NULL || !p)
 				continue;
diff --git a/src/librc/librc-depend.c b/src/librc/librc-depend.c
index a48a2ada0..9dc3d5ec0 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-depend.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-depend.c
@@ -160,8 +160,7 @@ rc_deptree_load_file(const char *deptree_file)
 	RC_DEPINFO *depinfo = NULL;
 	RC_DEPTYPE *deptype = NULL;
 	char *line = NULL;
-	size_t len = 0;
-	ssize_t size;
+	size_t size;
 	char *type;
 	char *p;
 	char *e;
@@ -171,8 +170,7 @@ rc_deptree_load_file(const char *deptree_file)
 		return NULL;
 
 	deptree = make_deptree();
-	while ((size = getline(&line, &len, fp)) != -1) {
-		line[size - 1] = '\0';
+	while (xgetline(&line, &size, fp) != -1) {
 		p = line;
 		e = strsep(&p, "_");
 		if (!e || strcmp(e, "depinfo") != 0)
@@ -788,8 +786,7 @@ rc_deptree_update(void)
 	RC_STRINGLIST *config, *dupes, *types, *sorted, *visited;
 	RC_STRING *s, *s2, *s2_np, *s3, *s4;
 	char *line = NULL;
-	size_t len = 0;
-	ssize_t size;
+	size_t size;
 	char *depend, *depends, *service, *type;
 	size_t i, l;
 	bool retval = true;
@@ -811,8 +808,7 @@ rc_deptree_update(void)
 	config = rc_stringlist_new();
 
 	deptree = make_deptree();
-	while ((size = getline(&line, &len, fp)) != -1) {
-		line[size - 1] = '\0';
+	while (xgetline(&line, &size, fp) != -1) {
 		depends = line;
 		service = strsep(&depends, " ");
 		if (!service || !*service)
@@ -894,8 +890,8 @@ rc_deptree_update(void)
 	 * work for them. This doesn't stop them from being run directly. */
 	if (sys) {
 		char *nosys, *onosys;
+		size_t len = strlen(sys);
 
-		len = strlen(sys);
 		nosys = xmalloc(len + 2);
 		nosys[0] = '-';
 		for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
diff --git a/src/librc/librc-misc.c b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
index 6c0fcbe73..846280fc4 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-misc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ rc_proc_getent(const char *ent RC_UNUSED)
 	FILE *fp;
 	char *proc = NULL, *p, *value = NULL, *save;
 	size_t i, len;
-	ssize_t size;
 
 	if (!exists("/proc/cmdline"))
 		return NULL;
@@ -142,11 +141,10 @@ rc_proc_getent(const char *ent RC_UNUSED)
 		return NULL;
 
 	i = 0;
-	if ((size = getline(&proc, &i, fp)) == -1) {
+	if (xgetline(&proc, &i, fp) == -1) {
 		free(proc);
 		return NULL;
 	}
-	proc[size - 1] = '\0';
 	save = proc;
 
 	len = strlen(ent);
@@ -184,7 +182,7 @@ rc_config_list(const char *file)
 	if (!(fp = fopen(file, "r")))
 		return list;
 
-	while ((rc_getline(&buffer, &len, fp))) {
+	while (xgetline(&buffer, &len, fp) != -1) {
 		p = buffer;
 		/* Strip leading spaces/tabs */
 		while ((*p == ' ') || (*p == '\t'))
diff --git a/src/librc/librc.c b/src/librc/librc.c
index b54496410..12011d3a3 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc.c
@@ -175,7 +175,8 @@ file_regex(const char *file, const char *regex)
 {
 	FILE *fp;
 	char *line = NULL;
-	size_t size = 0, len = 0;
+	size_t size = 0;
+	ssize_t len = 0;
 	regex_t re;
 	bool retval = true;
 	int result;
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@ file_regex(const char *file, const char *regex)
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	while ((len = rc_getline(&line, &size, fp))) {
+	while ((len = xgetline(&line, &size, fp)) != -1) {
 		char *str = line;
 		/* some /proc files have \0 separated content so we have to
 		   loop through the 'line' */
@@ -702,19 +703,22 @@ rc_service_extra_commands(const char *service)
 	snprintf(cmd, l, OPTSTR, svc);
 	free(svc);
 
-	if ((fp = popen(cmd, "r"))) {
-		rc_getline(&buffer, &len, fp);
+	if (!(fp = popen(cmd, "r"))) {
+		free(cmd);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	if (xgetline(&buffer, &len, fp) != -1) {
 		p = buffer;
 		commands = rc_stringlist_new();
 
 		while ((token = strsep(&p, " ")))
 			if (token[0] != '\0')
 				rc_stringlist_add(commands, token);
-
-		pclose(fp);
-		free(buffer);
 	}
 
+	pclose(fp);
+	free(buffer);
 	free(cmd);
 	return commands;
 }
@@ -726,7 +730,7 @@ rc_service_description(const char *service, const char *option)
 	char *svc;
 	char *cmd;
 	char *desc = NULL;
-	size_t len = 0;
+	size_t size = 0;
 	FILE *fp;
 	size_t l;
 
@@ -741,7 +745,10 @@ rc_service_description(const char *service, const char *option)
 	snprintf(cmd, l, DESCSTR, svc, *option ? "_" : "", option);
 	free(svc);
 	if ((fp = popen(cmd, "r"))) {
-		rc_getline(&desc, &len, fp);
+		if (xgetline(&desc, &size, fp) == -1) {
+			free(desc);
+			desc = NULL;
+		}
 		pclose(fp);
 	}
 	free(cmd);
diff --git a/src/mountinfo/mountinfo.c b/src/mountinfo/mountinfo.c
index 820182334..001fe08ae 100644
--- a/src/mountinfo/mountinfo.c
+++ b/src/mountinfo/mountinfo.c
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ find_mounts(struct args *args)
 	list = rc_stringlist_new();
 
 	buffer = NULL;
-	while (getline(&buffer, &size, fp) != -1) {
+	while (xgetline(&buffer, &size, fp) != -1) {
 		netdev = -1;
 		p = buffer;
 		from = strsep(&p, " ");
diff --git a/src/openrc/rc.c b/src/openrc/rc.c
index 5bee9e6cf..096e77329 100644
--- a/src/openrc/rc.c
+++ b/src/openrc/rc.c
@@ -335,11 +335,11 @@ static char *get_krunlevel(void)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (getline(&buffer, &i, fp) != -1) {
-		i = strlen(buffer);
-		if (buffer[i - 1] == '\n')
-			buffer[i - 1] = 0;
+	if (xgetline(&buffer, &i, fp) == -1) {
+		free(buffer);
+		buffer = NULL;
 	}
+
 	fclose(fp);
 	return buffer;
 }
diff --git a/src/shared/helpers.h b/src/shared/helpers.h
index dee41b75a..ce0ba633f 100644
--- a/src/shared/helpers.h
+++ b/src/shared/helpers.h
@@ -165,4 +165,16 @@ RC_UNUSED RC_PRINTF(2,3) static int xasprintf(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...)
 	return len;
 }
 
+RC_UNUSED static ssize_t xgetline(char **restrict lineptr, size_t *restrict n, FILE *restrict stream)
+{
+	ssize_t ret = getline(lineptr, n, stream);
+	if (ret == -1)
+		return -1;
+
+	if ((*lineptr)[ret - 1] == '\n')
+		(*lineptr)[--ret] = '\0';
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 #endif
diff --git a/src/shared/misc.c b/src/shared/misc.c
index 28f4e2352..45409574a 100644
--- a/src/shared/misc.c
+++ b/src/shared/misc.c
@@ -183,17 +183,14 @@ env_config(void)
 	free(e);
 
 	if ((fp = fopen(RC_KRUNLEVEL, "r"))) {
-		if (getline(&buffer, &size, fp) != -1) {
-			l = strlen (buffer) - 1;
-			if (buffer[l] == '\n')
-				buffer[l] = 0;
+		if (xgetline(&buffer, &size, fp) != -1)
 			setenv("RC_DEFAULTLEVEL", buffer, 1);
-		}
+		free(buffer);
 		fclose(fp);
-	} else
+	} else {
 		setenv("RC_DEFAULTLEVEL", RC_LEVEL_DEFAULT, 1);
+	}
 
-	free(buffer);
 	if (sys)
 		setenv("RC_SYS", sys, 1);
 
diff --git a/src/shared/selinux.c b/src/shared/selinux.c
index 213a00f13..67f84d3c8 100644
--- a/src/shared/selinux.c
+++ b/src/shared/selinux.c
@@ -261,7 +261,6 @@ static int read_context_file(const char *filename, char **context)
 	char *p;
 	char *p2;
 	size_t len = 0;
-	ssize_t read;
 
 	xasprintf(&filepath, "%s/%s", selinux_contexts_path(), filename);
 
@@ -272,7 +271,7 @@ static int read_context_file(const char *filename, char **context)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	while ((read = getline(&line, &len, fp)) != -1) {
+	while (xgetline(&line, &len, fp) != -1) {
 		/* cut off spaces before the string */
 		p = line;
 		while (isspace(*p) && *p != '\0')
diff --git a/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c b/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
index 027435adb..5868dd377 100644
--- a/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
+++ b/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		fp = fopen(exec_file, "r");
 		if (fp) {
 			line = NULL;
-			if (getline(&line, &size, fp) == -1)
+			if (xgetline(&line, &size, fp) == -1)
 				eerrorx("%s: %s", applet, strerror(errno));
 			p = line;
 			fclose(fp);
@@ -754,10 +754,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 				/* Strip leading spaces */
 				while (*p == ' ' || *p == '\t')
 					p++;
-				/* Remove the trailing newline */
-				len = strlen(p) - 1;
-				if (p[len] == '\n')
-					p[len] = '\0';
 				token = strsep(&p, " ");
 				free(exec_file);
 				xasprintf(&exec_file, "%s", token);