diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index 4c81057a89..d67b30429c 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ int readlinkat_malloc(int fd, const char *p, char **ret) {
         size_t l = PATH_MAX;
 
         assert(p);
-        assert(ret);
 
         for (;;) {
                 _cleanup_free_ char *c = NULL;
@@ -135,7 +134,10 @@ int readlinkat_malloc(int fd, const char *p, char **ret) {
 
                 if ((size_t) n < l) {
                         c[n] = 0;
-                        *ret = TAKE_PTR(c);
+
+                        if (ret)
+                                *ret = TAKE_PTR(c);
+
                         return 0;
                 }
 
diff --git a/src/basic/path-util.c b/src/basic/path-util.c
index 0be2b9eec8..92ee3cee2d 100644
--- a/src/basic/path-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/path-util.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ char *path_make_absolute(const char *p, const char *prefix) {
 }
 
 int safe_getcwd(char **ret) {
-        char *cwd;
+        _cleanup_free_ char *cwd = NULL;
 
         cwd = get_current_dir_name();
         if (!cwd)
@@ -71,12 +71,12 @@ int safe_getcwd(char **ret) {
 
         /* Let's make sure the directory is really absolute, to protect us from the logic behind
          * CVE-2018-1000001 */
-        if (cwd[0] != '/') {
-                free(cwd);
+        if (cwd[0] != '/')
                 return -ENOMEDIUM;
-        }
 
-        *ret = cwd;
+        if (ret)
+                *ret = TAKE_PTR(cwd);
+
         return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/basic/process-util.c b/src/basic/process-util.c
index 10aec10bfa..204a5d9490 100644
--- a/src/basic/process-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/process-util.c
@@ -472,37 +472,33 @@ int get_process_capeff(pid_t pid, char **ret) {
         return r;
 }
 
-static int get_process_link_contents(const char *proc_file, char **ret) {
+static int get_process_link_contents(pid_t pid, const char *proc_file, char **ret) {
+        const char *p;
         int r;
 
         assert(proc_file);
-        assert(ret);
 
-        r = readlink_malloc(proc_file, ret);
-        if (r == -ENOENT)
-                return -ESRCH;
-        if (r < 0)
-                return r;
+        p = procfs_file_alloca(pid, proc_file);
 
-        return 0;
+        r = readlink_malloc(p, ret);
+        return r == -ENOENT ? -ESRCH : r;
 }
 
 int get_process_exe(pid_t pid, char **ret) {
-        const char *p;
         char *d;
         int r;
 
         assert(pid >= 0);
-        assert(ret);
 
-        p = procfs_file_alloca(pid, "exe");
-        r = get_process_link_contents(p, ret);
+        r = get_process_link_contents(pid, "exe", ret);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        d = endswith(*ret, " (deleted)");
-        if (d)
-                *d = '\0';
+        if (ret) {
+                d = endswith(*ret, " (deleted)");
+                if (d)
+                        *d = '\0';
+        }
 
         return 0;
 }
@@ -572,28 +568,17 @@ int get_process_gid(pid_t pid, gid_t *ret) {
 }
 
 int get_process_cwd(pid_t pid, char **ret) {
-        const char *p;
-
         assert(pid >= 0);
-        assert(ret);
 
         if (pid == 0 || pid == getpid_cached())
                 return safe_getcwd(ret);
 
-        p = procfs_file_alloca(pid, "cwd");
-
-        return get_process_link_contents(p, ret);
+        return get_process_link_contents(pid, "cwd", ret);
 }
 
 int get_process_root(pid_t pid, char **ret) {
-        const char *p;
-
         assert(pid >= 0);
-        assert(ret);
-
-        p = procfs_file_alloca(pid, "root");
-
-        return get_process_link_contents(p, ret);
+        return get_process_link_contents(pid, "root", ret);
 }
 
 #define ENVIRONMENT_BLOCK_MAX (5U*1024U*1024U)