diff --git a/src/journal/journalctl-show.c b/src/journal/journalctl-show.c
index d4a7c730c5..eac93b222d 100644
--- a/src/journal/journalctl-show.c
+++ b/src/journal/journalctl-show.c
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ typedef struct Context {
 static void context_done(Context *c) {
         assert(c);
 
-        c->synchronize_varlink = sd_varlink_flush_close_unref(c->synchronize_varlink);
-        c->event = sd_event_unref(c->event);
+        sd_varlink_flush_close_unref(c->synchronize_varlink);
+        sd_event_unref(c->event);
         sd_journal_close(c->journal);
 }
 
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ static int on_first_event(sd_event_source *s, void *userdata) {
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        if (arg_follow && !arg_reverse && !arg_cursor && !arg_after_cursor && !arg_cursor_file && !arg_since_set) {
+        if (arg_follow && !arg_reverse && !c->has_cursor && !arg_since_set) {
                 r = sd_journal_get_cursor(c->journal, /* ret_cursor= */ NULL);
                 if (r == -EADDRNOTAVAIL) {
                         /* If we shall operate in --follow mode, and we are unable to get a cursor after
@@ -350,8 +350,10 @@ static int on_synchronize_reply(
 
         assert(vl);
 
-        if (error_id)
+        if (error_id) {
                 log_warning("Failed to synchronize on Journal, ignoring: %s", error_id);
+                (void) sd_notifyf(/* unset_environment= */ false, "VARLINKERROR=%s", error_id);
+        }
 
         r = show_and_fflush(c);
         if (r < 0)
@@ -377,7 +379,7 @@ static int on_signal(sd_event_source *s, const struct signalfd_siginfo *si, void
 
         r = varlink_connect_journal(&vl);
         if (r < 0) {
-                log_error_errno(r, "Failed to connect to Journal Varlink IPC interface, ignoring: %m");
+                log_error_errno(r, "Failed to connect to Journal Varlink IPC interface, skipping synchronization: %m");
                 goto finish;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/journal/journald-sync.c b/src/journal/journald-sync.c
index 657a493723..972f37bfc1 100644
--- a/src/journal/journald-sync.c
+++ b/src/journal/journald-sync.c
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ SyncReq* sync_req_free(SyncReq *req) {
                         LIST_REMOVE(pending_rqlen, req->manager->sync_req_pending_rqlen, req);
         }
 
-        req->idle_event_source = sd_event_source_disable_unref(req->idle_event_source);
+        sd_event_source_disable_unref(req->idle_event_source);
 
         sd_varlink_unref(req->link);
 
diff --git a/src/run/run.c b/src/run/run.c
index 4005d26d45..876e436a5d 100644
--- a/src/run/run.c
+++ b/src/run/run.c
@@ -2438,7 +2438,7 @@ static int start_transient_service(sd_bus *bus) {
 
         _cleanup_(journal_terminate) PidRef journal_pid = PIDREF_NULL;
         if (arg_verbose)
-                (void) journal_fork(arg_runtime_scope, (const char**) STRV_MAKE(c.unit), &journal_pid);
+                (void) journal_fork(arg_runtime_scope, STRV_MAKE(c.unit), &journal_pid);
 
         r = bus_call_with_hint(bus, m, "service", &reply);
         if (r < 0)
diff --git a/src/shared/fork-journal.c b/src/shared/fork-journal.c
index ccefc74df0..883d9b5195 100644
--- a/src/shared/fork-journal.c
+++ b/src/shared/fork-journal.c
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ static int on_child_notify(sd_event_source *s, int fd, uint32_t revents, void *u
         return 0;
 }
 
-int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, const char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidref) {
+int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidref) {
         int r;
 
         assert(scope >= 0);
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, const char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidr
         if (!is_main_thread())
                 return -EPERM;
 
-        if (strv_isempty((char**) units))
+        if (strv_isempty(units))
                 return 0;
 
         _cleanup_(sd_event_unrefp) sd_event *event = NULL;
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, const char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidr
                         _exit(EXIT_MEMORY);
                 }
 
-                r = invoke_callout_binary(argv[0], (char**) argv);
+                r = invoke_callout_binary(argv[0], argv);
                 log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to invoke journalctl: %m");
                 _exit(EXIT_EXEC);
         }
diff --git a/src/shared/fork-journal.h b/src/shared/fork-journal.h
index c7ff87b8f7..1825a7f5eb 100644
--- a/src/shared/fork-journal.h
+++ b/src/shared/fork-journal.h
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@
 #include "runtime-scope.h"
 #include "set.h"
 
-int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, const char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidref);
+int journal_fork(RuntimeScope scope, char * const *units, PidRef *ret_pidref);
 
 void journal_terminate(PidRef *pidref);
diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl-start-unit.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl-start-unit.c
index 7e81afae00..1cb2a6db46 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl-start-unit.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl-start-unit.c
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ int verb_start(int argc, char *argv[], void *userdata) {
                 ret = enqueue_marked_jobs(bus, w);
         else {
                 if (arg_verbose)
-                        (void) journal_fork(arg_runtime_scope, (const char**) names, &journal_pid);
+                        (void) journal_fork(arg_runtime_scope, names, &journal_pid);
 
                 STRV_FOREACH(name, names) {
                         _cleanup_(sd_bus_error_free) sd_bus_error error = SD_BUS_ERROR_NULL;