diff --git a/process.c b/process.c
index 75cb2c3..bab2fa7 100644
--- a/process.c
+++ b/process.c
@@ -58,8 +58,10 @@ struct child_process * childproc_alloc(char *const argv[], const char *pwd)
 int childproc_free(struct child_process *child)
 {
 	/* child already running, return error */
-	if (child->pid != 0)
+	if (child->pid != 0) {
+		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_free(): process [pid:%d] already running", child->pid);
 		return -1;
+	}
 
 	int i;
 	for (i = 0; child->argv[i] != NULL; i++)
@@ -76,12 +78,12 @@ pid_t childproc_fork(struct child_process *child, void (*exit_cb)(struct child_p
 {
 	struct stat stat_buf;
 	if (stat(child->argv[0], &stat_buf) != 0) {
-		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): stat()");
+		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): stat()");
 		return -1;
 
 	/* not a regular file, or not executable */
 	} else if (!S_ISREG(stat_buf.st_mode) || !(stat_buf.st_mode & (S_IXUSR | S_IXGRP | S_IXOTH))) {
-		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): stat()");
+		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): stat()");
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -100,7 +102,7 @@ pid_t childproc_fork(struct child_process *child, void (*exit_cb)(struct child_p
 	int child_pipes[3][2];
 	if (child->fd[STDIN_FILENO] == -1) {
 		if (pipe(child_pipes[STDIN_FILENO]) < 0) {
-			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): pipe(STDIN_FILENO)");
+			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): pipe(STDIN_FILENO)");
 			return -1;
 		}
 
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ pid_t childproc_fork(struct child_process *child, void (*exit_cb)(struct child_p
 
 	if (child->fd[STDOUT_FILENO] == -1) {
 		if (pipe(child_pipes[STDOUT_FILENO]) < 0) {
-			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): pipe(STDOUT_FILENO)");
+			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): pipe(STDOUT_FILENO)");
 			return -1;
 		}
 
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ pid_t childproc_fork(struct child_process *child, void (*exit_cb)(struct child_p
 
 	if (child->fd[STDERR_FILENO] == -1) {
 		if (pipe(child_pipes[STDERR_FILENO]) < 0) {
-			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): pipe(STDERR_FILENO)");
+			log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): pipe(STDERR_FILENO)");
 			return -1;
 		}
 
@@ -169,7 +171,7 @@ pid_t childproc_fork(struct child_process *child, void (*exit_cb)(struct child_p
 		exit(1);
 
 	} else if (child->pid < 0) { /* fork error */
-		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(): fork()");
+		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "childproc_fork(): fork()");
 		return -1;
 
 	} else { /* parent */
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ void childproc_cleanup(void)
 		int status = 0;
 		int ret = waitpid(child->pid, &status, WNOHANG);
 		if (ret == -1) {
-			log_print(LOG_WARN, "sigchld_handler(): waitpid(%d)", child->pid);
+			log_print(LOG_WARN, "childproc_cleanup(): waitpid(%d)", child->pid);
 			continue;
 
 		} else if (ret != 0 && WIFEXITED(status)) {
diff --git a/torrentfile.c b/torrentfile.c
index 3875a92..ca61d8e 100644
--- a/torrentfile.c
+++ b/torrentfile.c
@@ -80,10 +80,12 @@ int destroy_torrent(struct torrent_file *torrent)
 	/* remove us from list */
 	list_del(&torrent->list);
 
-	/* check if we're seeding, destroy after sigchld */
+	/* check if we're still seeding, and deferr the destroy after sigchld */
 	if (torrent->child != NULL) {
 		torrent->destroy = 1;
-		kill(SIGTERM, torrent->child->pid);
+		if (kill(SIGTERM, torrent->child->pid) < 0)
+			log_print(LOG_WARN, "failed to kill ctorrent [pid:%d]", torrent->child->pid);
+
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -102,6 +104,7 @@ static void child_exit(struct child_process *child, int exit_code, void *privdat
 	close(child->fd[STDOUT_FILENO]);
 	close(child->fd[STDERR_FILENO]);
 
+	/* destroy was deferred until our child died, so do it now */
 	if (torrent->destroy)
 		destroy_torrent(torrent);
 }
@@ -132,6 +135,9 @@ int seed_torrent(struct torrent_file *torrent)
 	char *const args[] = { (char *)ctorrent_bin, "-S", (char *)statserv, "-f", buf, NULL };
 
 	torrent->child = childproc_alloc(args, searchpath);
+	if (torrent->child == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
 	if (childproc_fork(torrent->child, child_exit, torrent) < 0) {
 		log_print(LOG_ERROR, "spawn_child(%s)", args[0]);
 		childproc_free(torrent->child);