diff --git a/lib/bootconfig.c b/lib/bootconfig.c
index 2da049216fe0..e88d0221a826 100644
--- a/lib/bootconfig.c
+++ b/lib/bootconfig.c
@@ -723,7 +723,8 @@ static int __init xbc_parse_kv(char **k, char *v, int op)
 		if (op == ':') {
 			unsigned short nidx = child->next;
 
-			xbc_init_node(child, v, XBC_VALUE);
+			if (xbc_init_node(child, v, XBC_VALUE) < 0)
+				return xbc_parse_error("Failed to override value", v);
 			child->next = nidx;	/* keep subkeys */
 			goto array;
 		}
diff --git a/tools/bootconfig/main.c b/tools/bootconfig/main.c
index 55d59ed507d5..643f707b8f1d 100644
--- a/tools/bootconfig/main.c
+++ b/tools/bootconfig/main.c
@@ -162,8 +162,11 @@ static int load_xbc_file(const char *path, char **buf)
 	if (fd < 0)
 		return -errno;
 	ret = fstat(fd, &stat);
-	if (ret < 0)
-		return -errno;
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		ret = -errno;
+		close(fd);
+		return ret;
+	}
 
 	ret = load_xbc_fd(fd, buf, stat.st_size);