diff --git a/src/basic/compress.c b/src/basic/compress.c
index e0a6b74233..7cb12988dc 100644
--- a/src/basic/compress.c
+++ b/src/basic/compress.c
@@ -376,15 +376,14 @@ int decompress_blob_xz(
                 size_t used;
 
                 ret = sym_lzma_code(&s, LZMA_FINISH);
-
                 if (ret == LZMA_STREAM_END)
                         break;
-                else if (ret != LZMA_OK)
+                if (ret != LZMA_OK)
                         return -ENOMEM;
 
                 if (dst_max > 0 && (space - s.avail_out) >= dst_max)
                         break;
-                else if (dst_max > 0 && space == dst_max)
+                if (dst_max > 0 && space == dst_max)
                         return -ENOBUFS;
 
                 used = space - s.avail_out;
@@ -510,20 +509,22 @@ int decompress_blob(
                 size_t* dst_size,
                 size_t dst_max) {
 
-        if (compression == COMPRESSION_XZ)
+        switch (compression) {
+        case COMPRESSION_XZ:
                 return decompress_blob_xz(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 dst, dst_size, dst_max);
-        else if (compression == COMPRESSION_LZ4)
+        case COMPRESSION_LZ4:
                 return decompress_blob_lz4(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 dst, dst_size, dst_max);
-        else if (compression == COMPRESSION_ZSTD)
+        case COMPRESSION_ZSTD:
                 return decompress_blob_zstd(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 dst, dst_size, dst_max);
-        else
+        default:
                 return -EPROTONOSUPPORT;
+        }
 }
 
 int decompress_startswith_xz(
@@ -734,27 +735,30 @@ int decompress_startswith(
                 size_t prefix_len,
                 uint8_t extra) {
 
-        if (compression == COMPRESSION_XZ)
+        switch (compression) {
+
+        case COMPRESSION_XZ:
                 return decompress_startswith_xz(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 buffer,
                                 prefix, prefix_len,
                                 extra);
 
-        else if (compression == COMPRESSION_LZ4)
+        case COMPRESSION_LZ4:
                 return decompress_startswith_lz4(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 buffer,
                                 prefix, prefix_len,
                                 extra);
-        else if (compression == COMPRESSION_ZSTD)
+        case COMPRESSION_ZSTD:
                 return decompress_startswith_zstd(
                                 src, src_size,
                                 buffer,
                                 prefix, prefix_len,
                                 extra);
-        else
+        default:
                 return -EBADMSG;
+        }
 }
 
 int compress_stream_xz(int fdf, int fdt, uint64_t max_bytes, uint64_t *ret_uncompressed_size) {
@@ -1318,10 +1322,10 @@ int decompress_stream(const char *filename, int fdf, int fdt, uint64_t max_bytes
 
         if (endswith(filename, ".lz4"))
                 return decompress_stream_lz4(fdf, fdt, max_bytes);
-        else if (endswith(filename, ".xz"))
+        if (endswith(filename, ".xz"))
                 return decompress_stream_xz(fdf, fdt, max_bytes);
-        else if (endswith(filename, ".zst"))
+        if (endswith(filename, ".zst"))
                 return decompress_stream_zstd(fdf, fdt, max_bytes);
-        else
-                return -EPROTONOSUPPORT;
+
+        return -EPROTONOSUPPORT;
 }
diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
index ec06ea8e20..229a19d8e7 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/journal-file.c
@@ -1842,8 +1842,11 @@ static int journal_file_append_data(
 
         assert(f);
 
+        /* Return a recognizable error for data that is submitted for *writing*. Note that we leave EBADMSG
+         * for bad messages we *read*. And EINVAL is too generic an error (which might be triggered by all
+         * kinds of other places). Hence use a separate EUCLEAN here. */
         if (!data || size == 0)
-                return -EINVAL;
+                return -EUCLEAN;
 
         hash = journal_file_hash_data(f, data, size);
 
@@ -1855,7 +1858,7 @@ static int journal_file_append_data(
 
         eq = memchr(data, '=', size);
         if (!eq)
-                return -EINVAL;
+                return -EUCLEAN;
 
         osize = journal_file_data_payload_offset(f) + size;
         r = journal_file_append_object(f, OBJECT_DATA, osize, &o, &p);
@@ -4456,10 +4459,11 @@ int journal_file_copy_entry(
                         return r;
                 assert(r > 0);
 
-                if (l == 0)
-                        return -EBADMSG;
-
                 r = journal_file_append_data(to, data, l, &u, &h);
+                if (r == -EUCLEAN) {
+                        log_debug_errno(r, "Entry item %"PRIu64" invalid, skipping over it: %m", i);
+                        continue;
+                }
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;