diff --git a/base/error.jl b/base/error.jl
index 1ec4baf41804e..5ad40247da736 100644
--- a/base/error.jl
+++ b/base/error.jl
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ end
 errno() = ccall(:jl_errno, Int32, ())
 strerror(e::Integer) = ccall(:jl_strerror, Any, (Int32,), e)::ByteString
 strerror() = strerror(errno())
-system_error(p, b::Bool) = b ? error(SystemError(string(p))) : nothing
+system_error(p, b::Bool) = b ? throw(SystemError(cstring(p))) : nothing
 
 ## assertion functions and macros ##
 
diff --git a/base/file.jl b/base/file.jl
index f16a20084ec80..06c0e1cf0b65b 100644
--- a/base/file.jl
+++ b/base/file.jl
@@ -3,18 +3,11 @@
 function cwd()
     b = Array(Uint8,1024)
     p = ccall(:getcwd, Ptr{Uint8}, (Ptr{Uint8}, Uint), b, length(b))
-    if p == C_NULL
-        error("current directory has been deleted (or has a really long name)")
-    end
+    system_error("cwd", p==C_NULL)
     cstring(p)
 end
 
-function cd(dir::String)
-    if ccall(:chdir, Int32, (Ptr{Uint8},), dir) == -1
-        throw(SystemError("cd"))
-    end
-    cwd()
-end
+cd(dir::String) = (system_error("cd", ccall(:chdir, Int32, (Ptr{Uint8},), dir)==-1); cwd())
 
 # do stuff in a directory, then return to current directory