diff --git a/idle_scan.cc b/idle_scan.cc
index f1e288875..a85af0a72 100644
--- a/idle_scan.cc
+++ b/idle_scan.cc
@@ -339,8 +339,9 @@ static void initialize_idleproxy(struct idle_proxy_info *proxy, char *proxyName,
   }
 
   proxy->host.setHostName(name);
-  if (resolve(name, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.pf()) != 0) {
-    fatal("Could not resolve idle scan zombie host: %s", name);
+  int rc = resolve(name, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.pf());
+  if (rc != 0) {
+    fatal("Could not resolve idle scan zombie host \"%s\": %s", name, gai_strerror(rc));
   }
   proxy->host.setTargetSockAddr(&ss, sslen);
 
diff --git a/ncat/ncat_main.c b/ncat/ncat_main.c
index 7ce7896a0..33f7577eb 100644
--- a/ncat/ncat_main.c
+++ b/ncat/ncat_main.c
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ static void parseproxy(char *str, struct sockaddr_storage *ss, unsigned short de
     int httpproxy = (defport == DEFAULT_PROXY_PORT);
     unsigned short portno;
     size_t sslen;
+    int rc;
 
     ptr = str;
 
@@ -136,8 +137,9 @@ static void parseproxy(char *str, struct sockaddr_storage *ss, unsigned short de
     else
         portno = defport;
 
-    if (resolve(ptr, portno, ss, &sslen, o.af) != 0) {
-        loguser("Could not resolve proxy \"%s\".\n", ptr);
+    rc = resolve(ptr, portno, ss, &sslen, o.af);
+    if (rc != 0) {
+        loguser("Could not resolve proxy \"%s\": %s.\n", ptr, gai_strerror(rc));
         if (o.af == AF_INET6 && httpproxy)
             loguser("Did you specify the port number? It's required for IPv6.\n");
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -317,8 +319,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
             do {
                 union sockaddr_u addr;
                 size_t sslen;
-                if (resolve(a, 0, &addr.storage, &sslen, AF_INET) != 0)
-                    bye("Sorry, could not resolve source route hop %s.", a);
+                int rc;
+
+                rc = resolve(a, 0, &addr.storage, &sslen, AF_INET);
+                if (rc != 0) {
+                    bye("Sorry, could not resolve source route hop \"%s\": %s.",
+                    a, gai_strerror(rc));
+                }
                 o.srcrtes[o.numsrcrtes] = addr.in.sin_addr;
             } while (o.numsrcrtes++ <= 8 && (a = strtok(NULL, ",")));
             if (o.numsrcrtes > 8)
@@ -575,11 +582,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     /* Resolve the given source address */
     if (source) {
+        int rc;
+
         if (o.listen)
             bye("-l and -s are incompatible.  Specify the address and port to bind to like you would a host to connect to.");
 
-        if (resolve(source, 0, &srcaddr.storage, &srcaddrlen, o.af) != 0)
-            bye("Could not resolve source address %s.", source);
+        rc = resolve(source, 0, &srcaddr.storage, &srcaddrlen, o.af);
+        if (rc != 0)
+            bye("Could not resolve source address \"%s\": %s.", source, gai_strerror(rc));
     }
 
     host_list_to_set(&o.allowset, allow_host_list);
@@ -594,10 +604,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     } else {
         /* Resolve hostname if we're given one */
         if (strspn(argv[optind], "0123456789") != strlen(argv[optind])) {
+            int rc;
+
             o.target = argv[optind];
             /* resolve hostname */
-            if (resolve(o.target, 0, &targetss.storage, &targetsslen, o.af) != 0)
-                bye("Could not resolve hostname %s.", o.target);
+            rc = resolve(o.target, 0, &targetss.storage, &targetsslen, o.af);
+            if (rc != 0)
+                bye("Could not resolve hostname \"%s\": %s.", o.target, gai_strerror(rc));
             optind++;
         } else {
             if (!o.listen)
@@ -759,7 +772,7 @@ static int ncat_listen_mode(void)
             ss_len = sizeof(listenaddrs[num_listenaddrs]);
             rc = resolve("::", o.portno, &listenaddrs[num_listenaddrs].storage, &ss_len, AF_INET6);
             if (rc != 0)
-                bye("Failed to resolve default IPv6 address.");
+                bye("Failed to resolve default IPv6 address: %s.", gai_strerror(rc));
             num_listenaddrs++;
         }
 #endif
@@ -767,7 +780,7 @@ static int ncat_listen_mode(void)
             ss_len = sizeof(listenaddrs[num_listenaddrs]);
             rc = resolve("0.0.0.0", o.portno, &listenaddrs[num_listenaddrs].storage, &ss_len, AF_INET);
             if (rc != 0)
-                bye("Failed to resolve default IPv4 address.");
+                bye("Failed to resolve default IPv4 address: %s.", gai_strerror(rc));
             num_listenaddrs++;
         }
     }
diff --git a/ncat/ncat_proxy.c b/ncat/ncat_proxy.c
index 5aba2a5be..b96a91dc6 100644
--- a/ncat/ncat_proxy.c
+++ b/ncat/ncat_proxy.c
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ static int handle_connect(struct socket_buffer *client_sock,
 {
     union sockaddr_u su;
     size_t sslen = sizeof(su.storage);
-    int maxfd, s;
+    int maxfd, s, rc;
     char *line;
     size_t len;
     fd_set m, r;
@@ -438,9 +438,12 @@ static int handle_connect(struct socket_buffer *client_sock,
     if (o.debug > 1)
         logdebug("CONNECT to %s:%hu.\n", request->uri.host, request->uri.port);
 
-    if (resolve(request->uri.host, request->uri.port, &su.storage, &sslen, o.af) != 0) {
-        if (o.debug)
-            logdebug("Can't resolve name %s.\n", request->uri.host);
+    rc = resolve(request->uri.host, request->uri.port, &su.storage, &sslen, o.af);
+    if (rc != 0) {
+        if (o.debug) {
+            logdebug("Can't resolve name \"%s\": %s.\n",
+		request->uri.host, gai_strerror(rc));
+	}
         return 504;
     }
 
@@ -530,7 +533,7 @@ static int handle_method(struct socket_buffer *client_sock,
     union sockaddr_u su;
     size_t sslen = sizeof(su.storage);
     int code;
-    int s;
+    int s, rc;
 
     if (strcmp(request->uri.scheme, "http") != 0) {
         if (o.verbose)
@@ -543,9 +546,12 @@ static int handle_method(struct socket_buffer *client_sock,
         return 400;
     }
 
-    if (resolve(request->uri.host, request->uri.port, &su.storage, &sslen, o.af) != 0) {
-        if (o.debug)
-            logdebug("Can't resolve name %s:%d.\n", request->uri.host, request->uri.port);
+    rc = resolve(request->uri.host, request->uri.port, &su.storage, &sslen, o.af);
+    if (rc != 0) {
+        if (o.debug) {
+            logdebug("Can't resolve name %s:%d: %s.\n",
+                request->uri.host, request->uri.port, gai_strerror(rc));
+        }
         return 504;
     }
 
diff --git a/nmap.cc b/nmap.cc
index 28151aab9..b3ac53520 100644
--- a/nmap.cc
+++ b/nmap.cc
@@ -996,12 +996,11 @@ void parse_options(int argc, char **argv) {
           /* Try to resolve it */
           struct sockaddr_in decoytemp;
           size_t decoytemplen = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in);
-          if (resolve(p, 0, (sockaddr_storage*)&decoytemp, &decoytemplen, AF_INET) == 0) {
-            o.decoys[o.numdecoys] = decoytemp.sin_addr;
-            o.numdecoys++;
-          } else {
-            fatal("Failed to resolve decoy host: %s (must be hostname or IP address)", p);
-          }
+          int rc = resolve(p, 0, (sockaddr_storage*)&decoytemp, &decoytemplen, AF_INET);
+          if (rc != 0)
+            fatal("Failed to resolve decoy host \"%s\": %s", p, gai_strerror(rc));
+          o.decoys[o.numdecoys] = decoytemp.sin_addr;
+          o.numdecoys++;
         }
         if (q) {
           *q = ',';
@@ -1338,8 +1337,12 @@ void  apply_delayed_options() {
   size_t sslen;
 
   if (o.spoofsource) {
-    if (resolve(delayed_options.spoofSource, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.af()) != 0)
-      fatal("Failed to resolve/decode supposed %s source address %s.", (o.af() == AF_INET) ? "IPv4" : "IPv6", delayed_options.spoofSource);
+    int rc = resolve(delayed_options.spoofSource, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.af());
+    if (rc != 0) {
+      fatal("Failed to resolve/decode supposed %s source address \"%s\": %s",
+        (o.af() == AF_INET) ? "IPv4" : "IPv6", delayed_options.spoofSource,
+        gai_strerror(rc));
+    }
     o.setSourceSockAddr(&ss, sslen);
   }
   // After the arguments are fully processed we now make any of the timing
@@ -1631,10 +1634,12 @@ int nmap_main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     struct sockaddr_storage ss;
     struct route_nfo rnfo;
     size_t sslen;
+    int rc;
 
     dst = route_dst_hosts[i].c_str();
-    if (resolve(dst, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.af()) != 0)
-      fatal("Can't resolve %s.", dst);
+    rc = resolve(dst, 0, &ss, &sslen, o.af());
+    if (rc != 0)
+      fatal("Can't resolve %s: %s.", dst, gai_strerror(rc));
 
     printf("%s\n", inet_ntop_ez(&ss, sslen));
 
diff --git a/nmap_dns.cc b/nmap_dns.cc
index f0aa8348f..8aa9ddfed 100644
--- a/nmap_dns.cc
+++ b/nmap_dns.cc
@@ -820,7 +820,8 @@ static void add_dns_server(char *ipaddrs) {
 
   for (hostname = strtok(ipaddrs, " ,"); hostname != NULL; hostname = strtok(NULL, " ,")) {
 
-    if (resolve(hostname, 0, (struct sockaddr_storage *) &addr, &addr_len, PF_UNSPEC) != 0) continue;
+    if (resolve(hostname, 0, (struct sockaddr_storage *) &addr, &addr_len, PF_UNSPEC) != 0)
+      continue;
 
     for(servI = servs.begin(); servI != servs.end(); servI++) {
       tpserv = *servI;