diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f52b5cdcf4..af84248e33 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 - Deprecated `IpAddr`, `Ipv4Addr`, and `Ipv6Addr` in favor of their equivalents
   from the standard library.
   (#[1685](https://github.com/nix-rust/nix/pull/1685))
+- `uname` now returns a `Result` instead of blindly assuming the call never fails.
+- Getters on the `UtsName` struct now return a `&OsStr` instead of `&str`.
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/src/features.rs b/src/features.rs
index ed80fd714b..6108098610 100644
--- a/src/features.rs
+++ b/src/features.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ pub use self::os::*;
 
 #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "android"))]
 mod os {
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
     use crate::sys::utsname::uname;
+    use crate::Result;
 
     // Features:
     // * atomic cloexec on socket: 2.6.27
@@ -22,15 +24,15 @@ mod os {
         *dst += (b - b'0') as usize;
     }
 
-    fn parse_kernel_version() -> usize {
-        let u = uname();
+    fn parse_kernel_version() -> Result<usize> {
+        let u = uname()?;
 
         let mut curr:  usize = 0;
         let mut major: usize = 0;
         let mut minor: usize = 0;
         let mut patch: usize = 0;
 
-        for b in u.release().bytes() {
+        for &b in u.release().as_bytes() {
             if curr >= 3 {
                 break;
             }
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ mod os {
             }
         }
 
-        if major >= 3 {
+        Ok(if major >= 3 {
             VERS_3
         } else if major >= 2 {
             if minor >= 7 {
@@ -68,29 +70,29 @@ mod os {
             }
         } else {
             VERS_UNKNOWN
-        }
+        })
     }
 
-    fn kernel_version() -> usize {
+    fn kernel_version() -> Result<usize> {
         static mut KERNEL_VERS: usize = 0;
 
         unsafe {
             if KERNEL_VERS == 0 {
-                KERNEL_VERS = parse_kernel_version();
+                KERNEL_VERS = parse_kernel_version()?;
             }
 
-            KERNEL_VERS
+            Ok(KERNEL_VERS)
         }
     }
 
     /// Check if the OS supports atomic close-on-exec for sockets
     pub fn socket_atomic_cloexec() -> bool {
-        kernel_version() >= VERS_2_6_27
+        kernel_version().map(|version| version >= VERS_2_6_27).unwrap_or(false)
     }
 
     #[test]
     pub fn test_parsing_kernel_version() {
-        assert!(kernel_version() > 0);
+        assert!(kernel_version().unwrap() > 0);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/sys/utsname.rs b/src/sys/utsname.rs
index 98edee0428..5bd3a539ae 100644
--- a/src/sys/utsname.rs
+++ b/src/sys/utsname.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 //! Get system identification
 use std::mem;
-use libc::{self, c_char};
-use std::ffi::CStr;
-use std::str::from_utf8_unchecked;
+use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
+use libc::c_char;
+use crate::{Errno, Result};
 
 /// Describes the running system.  Return type of [`uname`].
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
@@ -10,47 +11,48 @@ use std::str::from_utf8_unchecked;
 pub struct UtsName(libc::utsname);
 
 impl UtsName {
-    /// Name of the operating system implementation
-    pub fn sysname(&self) -> &str {
-        to_str(&(&self.0.sysname as *const c_char ) as *const *const c_char)
+    /// Name of the operating system implementation.
+    pub fn sysname(&self) -> &OsStr {
+        cast_and_trim(&self.0.sysname)
     }
 
     /// Network name of this machine.
-    pub fn nodename(&self) -> &str {
-        to_str(&(&self.0.nodename as *const c_char ) as *const *const c_char)
+    pub fn nodename(&self) -> &OsStr {
+        cast_and_trim(&self.0.nodename)
     }
 
     /// Release level of the operating system.
-    pub fn release(&self) -> &str {
-        to_str(&(&self.0.release as *const c_char ) as *const *const c_char)
+    pub fn release(&self) -> &OsStr {
+        cast_and_trim(&self.0.release)
     }
 
     /// Version level of the operating system.
-    pub fn version(&self) -> &str {
-        to_str(&(&self.0.version as *const c_char ) as *const *const c_char)
+    pub fn version(&self) -> &OsStr {
+        cast_and_trim(&self.0.version)
     }
 
     /// Machine hardware platform.
-    pub fn machine(&self) -> &str {
-        to_str(&(&self.0.machine as *const c_char ) as *const *const c_char)
+    pub fn machine(&self) -> &OsStr {
+        cast_and_trim(&self.0.machine)
     }
 }
 
 /// Get system identification
-pub fn uname() -> UtsName {
+pub fn uname() -> Result<UtsName> {
     unsafe {
-        let mut ret = mem::MaybeUninit::uninit();
-        libc::uname(ret.as_mut_ptr());
-        UtsName(ret.assume_init())
+        let mut ret = mem::MaybeUninit::zeroed();
+        Errno::result(libc::uname(ret.as_mut_ptr()))?;
+        Ok(UtsName(ret.assume_init()))
     }
 }
 
-#[inline]
-fn to_str<'a>(s: *const *const c_char) -> &'a str {
-    unsafe {
-        let res = CStr::from_ptr(*s).to_bytes();
-        from_utf8_unchecked(res)
-    }
+fn cast_and_trim(slice: &[c_char]) -> &OsStr {
+    let length = slice.iter().position(|&byte| byte == 0).unwrap_or(slice.len());
+    let bytes = unsafe {
+        std::slice::from_raw_parts(slice.as_ptr().cast(), length)
+    };
+
+    OsStr::from_bytes(bytes)
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -58,18 +60,18 @@ mod test {
     #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
     #[test]
     pub fn test_uname_linux() {
-        assert_eq!(super::uname().sysname(), "Linux");
+        assert_eq!(super::uname().unwrap().sysname(), "Linux");
     }
 
     #[cfg(any(target_os = "macos", target_os = "ios"))]
     #[test]
     pub fn test_uname_darwin() {
-        assert_eq!(super::uname().sysname(), "Darwin");
+        assert_eq!(super::uname().unwrap().sysname(), "Darwin");
     }
 
     #[cfg(target_os = "freebsd")]
     #[test]
     pub fn test_uname_freebsd() {
-        assert_eq!(super::uname().sysname(), "FreeBSD");
+        assert_eq!(super::uname().unwrap().sysname(), "FreeBSD");
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/common/mod.rs b/test/common/mod.rs
index 84a0b4fa30..544a1ae3f0 100644
--- a/test/common/mod.rs
+++ b/test/common/mod.rs
@@ -111,15 +111,15 @@ cfg_if! {
                 let version_requirement = VersionReq::parse($version_requirement)
                         .expect("Bad match_version provided");
 
-                let uname = nix::sys::utsname::uname();
-                println!("{}", uname.sysname());
-                println!("{}", uname.nodename());
-                println!("{}", uname.release());
-                println!("{}", uname.version());
-                println!("{}", uname.machine());
+                let uname = nix::sys::utsname::uname().unwrap();
+                println!("{}", uname.sysname().to_str().unwrap());
+                println!("{}", uname.nodename().to_str().unwrap());
+                println!("{}", uname.release().to_str().unwrap());
+                println!("{}", uname.version().to_str().unwrap());
+                println!("{}", uname.machine().to_str().unwrap());
 
                 // Fix stuff that the semver parser can't handle
-                let fixed_release = &uname.release().to_string()
+                let fixed_release = &uname.release().to_str().unwrap().to_string()
                     // Fedora 33 reports version as 4.18.el8_2.x86_64 or
                     // 5.18.200-fc33.x86_64.  Remove the underscore.
                     .replace("_", "-")