diff --git a/libbutl/path.cxx b/libbutl/path.cxx
index 3b047302..e20380e8 100644
--- a/libbutl/path.cxx
+++ b/libbutl/path.cxx
@@ -168,14 +168,17 @@ namespace butl
     passwd* rpw;
 
     int r (getpwuid_r (getuid (), &pw, buf, sizeof (buf), &rpw));
-    if (r == -1)
-      throw_generic_error (errno);
-
-    if (r == 0 && rpw == nullptr)
-      // According to POSIX errno should be left unchanged if an entry is not
-      // found.
-      //
-      throw_generic_error (ENOENT);
+    if (rpw == nullptr)
+    {
+      if (r == 0)
+        // According to POSIX errno should be left unchanged if an entry is not
+        // found.
+        throw_generic_error (ENOENT);
+      else {
+        errno = r;
+        throw_generic_error (errno);
+      }
+    }
 
     return pw.pw_dir;
   }
diff --git a/libbutl/path.mxx b/libbutl/path.mxx
index 1ee2a66c..d55841e9 100644
--- a/libbutl/path.mxx
+++ b/libbutl/path.mxx
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ LIBBUTL_MODEXPORT namespace butl
     using char_traits_type = typename string_type::traits_type;
     using size_type = typename string_type::size_type;
 
-    // Canonical directory and path seperators.
+    // Canonical directory and path separators.
     //
 #ifdef _WIN32
     static constexpr const C directory_separator = '\\';
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ LIBBUTL_MODEXPORT namespace butl
 #endif
 
     // Directory separator tests. On some platforms there could be multiple
-    // seperators. For example, on Windows we check for both '/' and '\'.
+    // separators. For example, on Windows we check for both '/' and '\'.
     //
     static bool
     is_separator (C c)
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ LIBBUTL_MODEXPORT namespace butl
     // necessary. Otherwise, return the empty object and leave the passed
     // string untouched.
     //
-    // If extact is false, throw invalid_path if the string is not a valid
+    // If exact is false, throw invalid_path if the string is not a valid
     // path (e.g., uses an unsupported path notation on Windows).
     //
     using data_type = path_data<C>;